Important Studio Cables…What??

Important Studio Cables

• This is Subrina from Singapore but currently in Seattle, Washington State, welcome to my presentation on “Important Studio Cables”. I picked this topic because on various occasions, I have struggled with understanding the usage of cables.

• I hope that by teaching this topic, I would obtain a much better perspective on the use of cables and in the course of doing so, allow you to grasp a thing or two you may not know about cables.

Objectives

• Types of cables used in studios

• Usage of these cables

Types of Cables

Cables

Analog

Digital

When we are thinking about cables, the very first question we need to ask ourselves is; what is the difference between analog and digital cables?

Analog vs Digital

• Analog cables work by transmitting information through stream of electricity, and…

• Digital cables work by transmitting information through a long string of 1’s and 0’s (aka binary code).

Balanced vs Unbalanced

The next thing to keep in mind; balanced and

unbalanced cables. What is the difference?

Let us think in terms of :

• Performance

• Design

Balanced vs Unbalanced

In terms of performance:-Balanced cables are relatively immune to noise frominterference such as radio frequencies, electronic equipment,etc. This is why they are the standard for pro audio.

In terms of design:-• BALANCED cables have 3 wires:• Signal (+)• Signal (-)• Ground

• While UNBALANCED cables have only 2:• Signal• Ground

Analog Connectors• On either end of

a balanced analog cable, you will find 1 of 3 connectors:

• XLR Male – which connects to various hardware inputs.

• XLR Female – which connects to the microphone, and various hardware outputs.

• TRS – which connects to both inputs AND outputs.

Analog Connectors

Each of these connectors has 3 contact points which carrysignals from the positive,negative, and ground wirespreviously mentioned.

• XLR male has 3 pins• XLR female has 3 holes• TRS has 3 surfaces known as Tip, Ring, and Sleeve

Unbalanced analog cables typically only use one connector,which is the TS connectors commonly seen oninstrument/guitar cables. So what is the difference between TRSand TS?

TRS vs TS Connectors

TRS connectors have 3 contact points, while TS

connectors have only 2.The extra 3rd contact point on a

TRS connector is what allows it to carry a balanced signal.

The balanced wiring for TRS :

• Tip = Positive

• Ring = Negative

• Sleeve = Ground

• While the unbalanced wiring

• for TS :

• Tip = Positive

• Sleeve = Ground

Digital Cables

The Disadvantage.There are oh so many of them! Current ones are always being replaced by newer ones as technology evolves.

The Advantage.Unlike the analog cables, you do not need to know much about how they work in order to use them.

The 3 Interface Cables

The one cable that every studio must have

is one of the following 3:-

• USB - the standard for budget interfaces, it has the slowest data transfer of the 3, but still works well enough for home studios.

• Firewire - typically seen on pricier interfaces, it offers significantly faster speeds than USB.

• Thunderbolt - only seen on newer high-end interfaces, it offers unprecedented data transfer rates, previously only seen on dedicated PCIe processing cards.

Digital Cables

Other digital cables include:

1. Midi cables – used by electronic musicians

MIDI cables transfer data between various electronic instruments and related

digital devices…

Digital Cables

2. Optical Cables - Also known as lightpipe cables, can

carry multiple channels of digital audio through a single cable.

Digital Cables

3. BNC cables - Identical to the coaxial cables used to connect your cable TV…

But with a different name and purpose…

BNC cables are used in the studio to sync

the internal clocks of multiple digital

devices, whenever two or more

are connected.

Digital Cables4. AES/EBU cables – the peculiar of all cables..

AES/EBU cables use the XLR connectors of an analog mic cable…

To transmit the S/PDIF signal of a digital optical cable.

While not common with budget gear, they are often used on higher-end

interfaces and other hardware.

Something to take note of:-

The term “AES/EBU” is actually an

Audio signal (NOT cable),that can work

with several different connectors including:

• Optical

• BNC

• RCA

• XLR

Thank you!

I hope you have found my presentation helpful

in one way or another. Thank you for taking the

time to review!