Best cables for monitors?

[Clayton]

Hey, at the moment im using the unbalanced for my monitors, but just about to get balanced ones.

XLR too TRS or TRS too TRS

Which is better or is there nothing in it?
I tend to get a buzz/hiss when i turn my monitors upto a certain level at the moment.

Im using KRK Rokit 5

Thanks

Jordan

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

TRS sucks big time and should be avoided when possible; professional grade gear doesn't use them at all. Use XLR whenever you have the option.

[jayhwk]

What device is upstream of the KRK Rokits?

My favorite cable is Whirlwind, but it's expensive. Audiopile.net has some nice ones that are a lot cheaper and made in Korea. Whatever you get, the connectors should be made by Neutrik.

[mostapha]

TRS sucks big time and should be avoided when possible; professional grade gear doesn't use them at all. Use XLR whenever you have the option.

Uhh…what?

http://c804221.r21.cf2.rackcdn.com/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/a/l/alh-gsr24_4_1.jpg
Literally the first thing I thought of. It's a $10,000 medium format recording console by Allen & Heath.

There's no difference between TRS and XLR unless something you need to connect doesn't have one or the other…then, the one it has is the right one. If you have a choice…just pick one. If you're making your own cables, XLRs are marginally easier to wire. And I like Canare cables and Canare or Neutrik connectors. When I'm too lazy/cheap, I use Live Wire because they sound the same as every other cable and come with a lifetime warranty.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Uhh…what?

http://c804221.r21.cf2.rackcdn.com/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/a/l/alh-gsr24_4_1.jpgPerfect example. TRS was invented for use in telephone switchboards over 100 years ago. It was a more or less adequate connector for that use, but not for most of what it's been adopted for since, mainly because they're too fragile. They were phased out for microphone use when real mixing consoles and low impedance mics arrived on the scene circa 1970, because that industry started with a clean slate. They should have been for most other applications as well.

[Clayton]

Thanks for the info games!

[light-o-matic]

Assuming that the "TRS" jacks on your equipment are in fact TRS and therefore balanced (rather than TR jacks which are not balanced, but look the same on the outside), you will have NO difference in sound with TRS vs XLR.

But I prefer XLR for the reasons stated above: XLR is a tighter, harder to break connector. It is also a locking connector so it will not pull out when you don't want it to (usually).

But I use TRS all the time.. for certain purposes, there is no choice.. the booth outputs on many mixers are TRS, the main outputs on some DJ mixers, and the main outputs on many controllers and sound interfaces (eg VCI-300) are TRS. And the many outputs on regular live sound consoles which are TRS (as mentioned already). I have a bunch of TRS to XLR (male and female) cables to deal with these. These connectors DO WORK FINE if you keep them clean and make sure the cable is dressed so that it does not pull out.

So, yea, XLR is the preferred choice and a better investment. But TRS can work fine too. In a non-challenging situation such as home use, there's not that much difference.

And BTW, low impedance balanced mic connectors have been around LONG before the 1970's. Balanced audio has been the standard since the telephone was invented in the late 1800's. Canon O and X series connectors, which were the predecessor to the XLR, were in use in the 1950's. I had some Shure Model 55 mics, which were introduced in 1939, used a three pin balanced connector.. not an XLR.. I think it was an Amphenol product.. but very similar in function to the connector we use now. I still own a 55 and a 55S.. I've made cables for both of them with the old connector on one end, and XLR on the other...

The Crystal microphone was (is) a naturally high impedance mic and these came into wide use as public address and two way radio mics, and for a while there was a really awful single-pin screw-on connector by Amphenol which was used for these, which was thoroughly unreliable. Between the high impedance of the input and the bad design of the connector, there were huge radio and noise interference problems with these. It is really great that these connectors and mics aren't around much anymore.

Here are some interesting links:
http://www.soundfirst.com/xlr.html
http://micdoctor.artgraham.net/pdf/unidyne.pdf

[Divercity]

TRS sucks big time and should be avoided when possible; professional grade gear doesn't use them at all. Use XLR whenever you have the option.



Yea na.. TRS is fine. Just make sure you use balanced cabling


TRS was done once and done right, There is nothing wrong with TRS cabling and the majority of synths on the market have it built in.

[Divercity]

Perfect example. TRS was invented for use in telephone switchboards over 100 years ago. It was a more or less adequate connector for that use, but not for most of what it's been adopted for since, mainly because they're too fragile. They were phased out for microphone use when real mixing consoles and low impedance mics arrived on the scene circa 1970, because that industry started with a clean slate. They should have been for most other applications as well.

Midi is a grandad now but no one ever complains about it? It was made correctly the first time.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Midi is a grandad now but no one ever complains about it? It was made correctly the first time.

So was TRS, for telephone switchboards. For studio patch bays they aren't too bad. For rough usage applications, which is anything on the road, not so much. That's why mic connectors and board/device to amp interconnects were replaced by XLR, and 1/4" speaker connectors by Speakon.

[ampnation]

The main problems with TRS in my opinion are:
1) Easier to come loose accidentally
2) When they do come loose accidentally, the deepest two jack conductors pass over the "first" conductors in the jack, they're connecting to the wrong part and this causes nasty noise. With XLR, all 3 conductors come loose at one time and don't pass over the "wrong" conductor in the process.
3) The only other thing an XLR can be confused with is DMX which isn't as big a deal as say accidentally plugging a TS plug into something expecting a TRS or vice versa, esp. since TS is usually an instrument cable.

So when I have the opportunity to use XLR, that's what I use. I only use TRS when I have to.

[mostapha]

Perfect example. TRS was invented for use in telephone switchboards over 100 years ago. It was a more or less adequate connector for that use, but not for most of what it's been adopted for since, mainly because they're too fragile. They were phased out for microphone use when real mixing consoles and low impedance mics arrived on the scene circa 1970, because that industry started with a clean slate. They should have been for most other applications as well.

My modern medium-format allen & heath recording console with 3 TRS connections per channel, plus more on the main section was a perfect example of why TRS cables aren't used in professional contexts anymore?

Am I confused?


So was TRS, for telephone switchboards.

I thought that's what TT (as in Telephone Type) connectors were for. Yes, they're TRS, but they're also smaller.

If you're not going to yank out the cable (and honestly, how often does that happen to monitors and DJ mixers?) there's no real difference between TRS and XLR in terms of sound quality.

Yes, XLR is better…but if you don't understand why, you'll be chasing it when you [i]really[i] don't need to.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

My modern medium-format allen & heath recording console with 3 TRS connections per channel, plus more on the main section was a perfect example of why TRS cables aren't used in professional contexts anymore?

Am I confused?Do you use it on the road? If so durability would be a concern, not to mention patch cords being yanked out by the wandering masses.