Audio Cables

There are many kinds of audio cables. We will only cover some of them here - the ones used by ARTC.

An audio cable usually conveys analog electrical signals through cables made of copper wires. Digital cabling is rarely used by ARTC (currently) except of computer interfaces. We will put off talking about those for now.

A cable is usually described by the following attributes:

• The length of the cable (often given in feet or inches)
• The connectors (ends) of the cable
• The number of channels in the cable (Mono or Stereo)

Length of Cable

• Very Short - a few inches to about a foot
• Short - a few feet long
• Medium - between 6 and 10 feet
• Long - more than 10 feet
• REALLY long - something that can stretch across a stage or longer

Cable Connectors

This is the heart of cable descriptions. A cable connector is usually described by

• The diameter of the metal part of the connector
• Its shape
• Its sex (male and female) - this is left as an exercise for the reader.

Since there are two ends of a cable it can have completely different connectors on each end.

Let's look at some connectors

Phono Connectors

Phono connectors are the most common connectors for analog audio that connects one audio processor to another.

RCA Phono

The RCA phono connector was invented by the company RCA to connect phonograph players to other sound equipment. It is mostly used with non-professional equipment (home audio). ARTC does not use this connected much but in the past we used it with some "home equipment" (like cassette players and CD players).

Male end Female end

1/4" Phono

This is the most commonly used analog phono connector in professional audio. It is sometimes just called a "phono plug".

Male end Female end

(Please note that the just the ends on the left of each picture are the 1/4" Phono ends!)

1/8" Phono

Originally invented for small, portable home audio devices it has become very popular in some parts of professional audio because of its convenience.

XLR Connectors

Used a lot in professional audio. These are used to connect microphones to mixers, and snake, and can be used to connect speakers.