Post by Slinger on Aug 24, 2022 15:12:56 GMT
This is not meant to be overly technical, I'm not qualified. I could copy and paste a load of facts, figures, and equations but, honestly, why bother?
XLR Connectors are generally associated with audio devices such as microphones (mostly those which require 48v phantom power to run), speakers, amplifiers, and soundboards, professional audio/studio applications in other words, however, they are also used with lighting control, low-voltage power supplies.
Indeed, all of my interfaces, which connect instruments and microphones to my PC-based studio have an unbalanced standard jack input for my guitar, and a 3-pin XLR connection for a microphone, with a switch to turn the 48v phantom power on and off, depending on the microphone's needs. Because some do and some don't the 3-pin XLR connection has become standard for professional-type microphones in particular, and the 48v has become switchable. There is a new breed of USB microphones - probably encouraged by the advent of computer-based formats, such as "Podcasting" - which can do away with the need for a separate interface, and can be connected directly to PCs or Macs.
A Bit Of Basic History
The XLR connector was invented by James H. Cannon, founder of Cannon Electric in Los Angeles, California (now part of ITT Corporation), and for this reason, it was sometimes colloquially known as a Cannon plug or Cannon connector, so if you're as old as me, you now know why you might have heard them called that.
Originally manufactured as the Cannon X series, by 1950 a latching mechanism was added (Cannon XL) and by 1955 a version surrounding the female contacts with a synthetic rubber polychloroprene (neoprene) insulation using the part number prefix XLR. There was also an XLP series which used hard plastic insulation but was otherwise the same. ITT Cannon originally manufactured XLR connectors in two locations: Kanagawa, Japan and Melbourne, Australia. The Australian operation was sold to Alcatel Components in 1992 and then acquired by Amphenol in 1998. ITT Cannon continues to manufacture XLR connectors in Japan.
The Switchcraft corporation later started manufacturing compatible connectors, followed by Neutrik.
Neutrik made a number of improvements to the connector and its second-generation design (known as the X-series) had just four parts for the cable connector and eliminated the small screws used by both Cannon and Switchcraft, which were prone to working loose, falling out and becoming lost. I can vouch for that.
Some Applications etc.
Three-pin XLR connectors are by far the most common style and are an industry standard for balanced audio signals, although XLR is available additionally in 4, 5, 6, and 7-pin variations.
As mentioned in the introduction, 3-pin XLR is used for microphones, and it's also often used to connect speaker cabinets to guitar amps, and also for the Direct Injection (DI) of signals directly from the amp (or instrument) to a mixing desk which is running a PA system. The speakers connected to a PA are also quite likely to be connected via XLR, although Speakon cables are also often used.
Stuff can get pretty messy, pretty quickly when you have a full band on stage, all miked up. Drums, by themselves, can get by with two mics, but in the big leagues, we're talking 5-plus easily. The lead guitarist will want a clean feed, a feed from his pedal board(s) and his amp will likely be double-miked too, and so forth.
Did I say messy?
Now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty, and the reason why XLR cables are used in professional situations, onstage and in recording studios, around the world.
The Holy Grail
An XLR cable has 2 identical signals, plus a ground signal, whereas a typical 6.3mm or 1/4" Tip & Sleeve (TS) cable - like most pro instruments use - only has one copy of the audio signal which makes it more susceptible to noise and crosstalk.
Here's what happens: one of the signals on an XLR cable is basically inverted and sent completely out of phase with the other. It is flipped 180 degrees essentially.
When two signals are inverted and flipped from each other, it creates a noise cancellation at the other end, resulting in happy smiling faces for you and me. This is not usually a necessity for your home stereo system unless you have way too much equipment and you can't be arsed to lay your cables neatly, and separately. Wiring looms and cable-snakes look extra-neat, but are likely to be bloody awful for your SQ.
What Exactly *IS* Crosstalk?
Audio flowing through cables carries an electrical charge. This flow of audio creates changing magnetic fields. When these magnetic fields cut across conductors, voltages are induced into them. This voltage in the conductor is the crosstalk.
Crosstalk can occur in all types of electronic setups. Most commonly, it occurs through improper cabling (see the above dog's breakfast). Anytime a high-level signal runs next to a low-level signal, crosstalk is bound to happen. For example, if an electric guitar cable is run parallel to a low-level cable, a high amount of crosstalk will appear in the low-level (microphone) cable. As these cables are all coming into your system directly from the source, when you turn up the gain on the mixer, you also increase the volume of the crosstalk feedback.
Imagine if the cabling in that rat's-nest image above was composed of unbalanced cables. You'd probably be hearing a lot more than just the local taxi firm ordering its cabbies about drowning out the band.
Summing Up
That is why 3-pin XLR was picked up by the music industry. Yes, it has the advantage of being a firm fit, and almost impossible to yank out by accident when your stoned roadie trips over it, but mostly it was to allow greater lengths of audio cables to carry their signals without them becoming as corrupt as your manager on the way.
Balanced cables can support much longer cable runs; 50 to 100 feet (15-30 meters) is not uncommon, though even shorter runs will often use balanced wiring to protect against noise. One can even buy "repeaters" for longer runs still.
The wiring for microphones and the interconnect cables between consoles, signal processors, amps, etc., in a professional sound system or recording studio environment are typical of the balanced variety, and the standard connectors designed for use with balanced signals are XLR (and TRS or “tip-ring-sleeve”).
Just as a "for-insrtance," imagine a traditional band setup for Bruce Springsteen at Wembley (although I think they use in-ear monitors nowadays), and . That's...
Bruce Springsteen – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, synthesizer, glockenspiel
Patti Scialfa – vocals, acoustic guitar
Roy Bittan – piano, keyboards, accordion, backing vocals
Nils Lofgren – guitar, slide guitar, accordion, backing vocals
Steven Van Zandt – guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
Garry Tallent – bass, backing vocals
Max Weinberg – drums
Soozie Tyrell – violin, backing vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar
Jake Clemons – tenor and baritone saxophone, percussion, backing vocals
Charles Giordano – organ, accordion, synthesizer
That's 10 people, shed-loads of instruments, plus 8 of them will have at least one vocal mic too, and although in-ear monitors are becoming much more popular there may be quite a few monitor speakers (so the individual band members can hear themselves) dotted about the stage too. They all have cables, and those cables all have to travel from the centre of the Wembly pitch, to wherever the Mixing Desk is set up, usually a fair distance away.
Those cables better be XLR
XLR Connectors are generally associated with audio devices such as microphones (mostly those which require 48v phantom power to run), speakers, amplifiers, and soundboards, professional audio/studio applications in other words, however, they are also used with lighting control, low-voltage power supplies.
Indeed, all of my interfaces, which connect instruments and microphones to my PC-based studio have an unbalanced standard jack input for my guitar, and a 3-pin XLR connection for a microphone, with a switch to turn the 48v phantom power on and off, depending on the microphone's needs. Because some do and some don't the 3-pin XLR connection has become standard for professional-type microphones in particular, and the 48v has become switchable. There is a new breed of USB microphones - probably encouraged by the advent of computer-based formats, such as "Podcasting" - which can do away with the need for a separate interface, and can be connected directly to PCs or Macs.
A Bit Of Basic History
The XLR connector was invented by James H. Cannon, founder of Cannon Electric in Los Angeles, California (now part of ITT Corporation), and for this reason, it was sometimes colloquially known as a Cannon plug or Cannon connector, so if you're as old as me, you now know why you might have heard them called that.
Originally manufactured as the Cannon X series, by 1950 a latching mechanism was added (Cannon XL) and by 1955 a version surrounding the female contacts with a synthetic rubber polychloroprene (neoprene) insulation using the part number prefix XLR. There was also an XLP series which used hard plastic insulation but was otherwise the same. ITT Cannon originally manufactured XLR connectors in two locations: Kanagawa, Japan and Melbourne, Australia. The Australian operation was sold to Alcatel Components in 1992 and then acquired by Amphenol in 1998. ITT Cannon continues to manufacture XLR connectors in Japan.
The Switchcraft corporation later started manufacturing compatible connectors, followed by Neutrik.
Neutrik made a number of improvements to the connector and its second-generation design (known as the X-series) had just four parts for the cable connector and eliminated the small screws used by both Cannon and Switchcraft, which were prone to working loose, falling out and becoming lost. I can vouch for that.
Some Applications etc.
Three-pin XLR connectors are by far the most common style and are an industry standard for balanced audio signals, although XLR is available additionally in 4, 5, 6, and 7-pin variations.
As mentioned in the introduction, 3-pin XLR is used for microphones, and it's also often used to connect speaker cabinets to guitar amps, and also for the Direct Injection (DI) of signals directly from the amp (or instrument) to a mixing desk which is running a PA system. The speakers connected to a PA are also quite likely to be connected via XLR, although Speakon cables are also often used.
Stuff can get pretty messy, pretty quickly when you have a full band on stage, all miked up. Drums, by themselves, can get by with two mics, but in the big leagues, we're talking 5-plus easily. The lead guitarist will want a clean feed, a feed from his pedal board(s) and his amp will likely be double-miked too, and so forth.
Did I say messy?
Now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty, and the reason why XLR cables are used in professional situations, onstage and in recording studios, around the world.
The Holy Grail
An XLR cable has 2 identical signals, plus a ground signal, whereas a typical 6.3mm or 1/4" Tip & Sleeve (TS) cable - like most pro instruments use - only has one copy of the audio signal which makes it more susceptible to noise and crosstalk.
Here's what happens: one of the signals on an XLR cable is basically inverted and sent completely out of phase with the other. It is flipped 180 degrees essentially.
When two signals are inverted and flipped from each other, it creates a noise cancellation at the other end, resulting in happy smiling faces for you and me. This is not usually a necessity for your home stereo system unless you have way too much equipment and you can't be arsed to lay your cables neatly, and separately. Wiring looms and cable-snakes look extra-neat, but are likely to be bloody awful for your SQ.
What Exactly *IS* Crosstalk?
Audio flowing through cables carries an electrical charge. This flow of audio creates changing magnetic fields. When these magnetic fields cut across conductors, voltages are induced into them. This voltage in the conductor is the crosstalk.
Crosstalk can occur in all types of electronic setups. Most commonly, it occurs through improper cabling (see the above dog's breakfast). Anytime a high-level signal runs next to a low-level signal, crosstalk is bound to happen. For example, if an electric guitar cable is run parallel to a low-level cable, a high amount of crosstalk will appear in the low-level (microphone) cable. As these cables are all coming into your system directly from the source, when you turn up the gain on the mixer, you also increase the volume of the crosstalk feedback.
Imagine if the cabling in that rat's-nest image above was composed of unbalanced cables. You'd probably be hearing a lot more than just the local taxi firm ordering its cabbies about drowning out the band.
Summing Up
That is why 3-pin XLR was picked up by the music industry. Yes, it has the advantage of being a firm fit, and almost impossible to yank out by accident when your stoned roadie trips over it, but mostly it was to allow greater lengths of audio cables to carry their signals without them becoming as corrupt as your manager on the way.
Balanced cables can support much longer cable runs; 50 to 100 feet (15-30 meters) is not uncommon, though even shorter runs will often use balanced wiring to protect against noise. One can even buy "repeaters" for longer runs still.
The wiring for microphones and the interconnect cables between consoles, signal processors, amps, etc., in a professional sound system or recording studio environment are typical of the balanced variety, and the standard connectors designed for use with balanced signals are XLR (and TRS or “tip-ring-sleeve”).
Just as a "for-insrtance," imagine a traditional band setup for Bruce Springsteen at Wembley (although I think they use in-ear monitors nowadays), and . That's...
Bruce Springsteen – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, synthesizer, glockenspiel
Patti Scialfa – vocals, acoustic guitar
Roy Bittan – piano, keyboards, accordion, backing vocals
Nils Lofgren – guitar, slide guitar, accordion, backing vocals
Steven Van Zandt – guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
Garry Tallent – bass, backing vocals
Max Weinberg – drums
Soozie Tyrell – violin, backing vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar
Jake Clemons – tenor and baritone saxophone, percussion, backing vocals
Charles Giordano – organ, accordion, synthesizer
That's 10 people, shed-loads of instruments, plus 8 of them will have at least one vocal mic too, and although in-ear monitors are becoming much more popular there may be quite a few monitor speakers (so the individual band members can hear themselves) dotted about the stage too. They all have cables, and those cables all have to travel from the centre of the Wembly pitch, to wherever the Mixing Desk is set up, usually a fair distance away.
Those cables better be XLR
NAS📶 > Gustard x26p DAC > Benchmark LA4 Pre-Amp > NAD M22-V2 Amplifier > Revel F228Be Speakers
