This video is a look at the 5 adapters that I seem to need/use frequently for one reason or another. Whether it is to split a feed for recording, to tie a couple of amp inputs to one output, to extend a Speakon cable, or to turn a snake cable channel around... these all come in handy. Since it's talking about TRS to XLR, and devices with only a balanced TRS out and no XLR out, besides talking about adapters to swap that over to XLR I also included a clip from a previous video explaining a typical balanced I/O circuit and how it works. Amazon links to the adapters are in the video text box. If anyone has been using a 3.5mm TRS to 1/4" TRS and connecting to a single channel on the mixer, then check out this video: ►Connecting an MP3 Player to a Mixer - Don't Make This Mistake!: th-cam.com/video/UiauwFEFe_k/w-d-xo.html Suggested videos: ►Analog Audio Over Ethernet Cables via Adapers: th-cam.com/video/FW6c4ROQbLc/w-d-xo.html ►5 Tips for Better Live Vocal Mixes: th-cam.com/video/oP4sdpkkNhY/w-d-xo.html ►How to EQ a Kick Drum: th-cam.com/video/CQg1_-ZJ4MU/w-d-xo.html ►How to EQ a Snare Drum: th-cam.com/video/J_WC68vyht4/w-d-xo.html ►How to EQ Toms: th-cam.com/video/nSLJqnlJe60/w-d-xo.html ►Cable Management For Live Audio: th-cam.com/video/nYZ9nrPGswo/w-d-xo.html ►Patch Order and Input Lists For Live Sound: th-cam.com/video/FE2KRj8vEEc/w-d-xo.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ►Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/livesoundproduction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a junior engineer growing my skill set, your videos are some of the most practical and useful that I found. Keep making them, and I’ll keep learning!
I'm still at a level where a commonly needed audio adapter is... one I don't have... :) But through a combination of purchasing and soldering, I'm slowly growing my survival kit..!
I would add the following: a few of those tiny ts-trs converters for mobile phones, a XLR splitter but with a transformer (instead of the simple cable XY), I use a coulple of small stageline splitters. Then, maybe some really important ones, the XLR to TS connectors. I've found occasions when some keyboards had outputs not balanced and I was forced to use those becasuse i didn't have any extra instrument cables at hand. Some times if you go record a simple gig, you are not able to bring a whole heavy rack of things with thosands of cables "just in case" because maybe you're on your own or you simply don't have the space in a tiny bar, so all this sort of converters are priceless.
One of these days I should do a video like this but focus on the workbox. I have a lot of adapters and things in the workbox that really fills a lot of voids that maybe my briefcase doesn't have.
I found one I had to build myself. Had an AM radio station tower 700 feet from the stage. Distorted radio was in the mains off the snake from FOH. Made an RF filter using bifilar wound chokes of 15mH to cut the 30V P-P RF. Used one choke for the balanced signal and a 2nd one on just the shield to keep RF current out of the equipment. The speaker management unit could not take the high RF levels, so 3 filters were used for LR main and subs. It was the worst RF environment for audio I had worked. The filters worked perfectly with no attenuation of the balanced signals. It cut the common mode RF by more than 50 DB which eliminated the problem. At the event, unfortunately some guest bands had some issues with in ears and unbalanced signals on stage, so it was a problem. Building some unbalanced versions for the bands next year. It will use the bifilar wound choke on the signal and shield as a very aggressive version of a ferrite bead on the cable.
I use the XLR split on guitar cab mic to input 2 channels into the desk. Some bands with one guitar can sound a little empty, so I pan one channel slightly and add 5-10ms delay to fill out the room - then I ride the centred channel for solos. XLR turnaround’s have saved me a few times to add an extra sends into a stage box / snake.
Yeah, the turnarounds are handy for snake issues. I didn't even think to mention coms in the video... But there can be times where you need a last minute com feed going down the snake, and you need to find a line and you're using the ones you need. Enter the turnaround! ;)
Alan, I’m always learning something from your videos. Thank you. As a drummer I find having angled XLR adapters very helpful to minimize drum mic cables interfering with cymbals.
I recently added a battery operated Bluetooth audio receiver. This is for fundraisers where guest bands show up and often need to play a track from their phone. Many new phones do not have a headphone jack and some older phones have defective jacks, so connecting with Bluetooth is a major plus. I've used this at both the American Cancer Society "Relay for Life" events for the organizers to play tracks at activities, and at the State Fair for some of the bands and activities at the stage such as a kid's fashion pageant. Where people used to bring the tracks to the event on a thumb drive, it is now common for them to bring it on a phone. Being able to support is is a plus.
I keep a Bluetooth receiver in my Pelican. I haven't had to use it, but fair season is coming up where there will be the exact scenario you just described of local dance groups for the kids getting some time on the free stage, and things like that. I'm going to make sure I have that BT receiver with me because until I read your comment, I don't know that I would've thought about it for the fair. But that makes perfect sense. So if I wouldn't happen to have my Pelican (which sometimes I don't there), I wouldn't have it.
@@AlanHamiltonAudio I bought my BT receivers (several for testing quality) last spring, and ended up using them 3 times for a Relay for Life event and twice at a county fair. Didn't need it at the state fair. Found I prefer the rechargeable black square Chinese ones for sound and 6 hours of run time. Total time used at the events was under 40 minutes, so no issues with battery life when turned on only when needed.
One more comment from me on the same video... :) About 3.5 mm TRS: Many phones/devices have recessed jacks, so you need a small outer diameter on the plug. Many "classic" TRS -> RCA cables (from your 90's survival kit) are simply too big. Sometimes a knife can fix the problem, or you just make sure to buy the right cable...
I keep a few of the narrow 3.5mm style 3.5mm to RCA cables around as well. I don't really run into recessed jacks on the devices per se' (though I'm sure they are around), but instead the jacks essentially become recessed from people/companies adding protective cases to the devices with small access holes that then get in the way of the more heavy duty and larger 3.5mm TRS plugs. But these smaller molded ends don't typically see much abuse anyway like an XLR/Mic cable might so survive typical use scenarios. I try to keep one of these cables with every console just to be prepared.
Yes and YES to all of the above. Lately, I've added an inline -10db pad (to solve an issue with the 91A kick drum condenser mic being way too hot.) Also, having extra XLR jumpers (like a 3 footer) is super handy when you've run a cable....and you're short by THAT much.
I have a -10 or 15dB pad in the briefcase and another one or two in the workbox. I also have some pin 1 lifts, but they rarely get used to the point I can't remember the last time I used one. So, they didn't make the top 5.
G'day Allen, i've got the xr16 Behringer digital mixer' i've bought 8 female XLR to trs adaptors to run a 16 channel stage snake to the line inputs on the back of the mixer.
Great video. We have similar kit and some else) RCA to XLR M and RCA to XLR F. It helps to take long RCA for djs or connect local sound system (commercial zone amplifiers) or (when use XLR/6.3TRS) to take RCA/6.3TRS with custom length 3.5 TRS to 2x XLR M. Universal cable (if to use any adaptors with it) for constructions any cables for pc, dslr cameras, recorders etc.
I have those too, but just don't use them much so they didn't make the frequently used list. I like having the around, but just don't do much of the type of gig where they are needed. But good to have them in you need them!
You can use XLR Y adapters to passively mix dynamic microphones if you wire them in series. A friend of mine made a series mic mix cable with the mics out of phase for interviews with the mics sitting back-to-back on a small table between the interviewer and interviewee. Maybe you could mix balanced outputs with a resistive network since many outputs today are like 100 ohms or less and many inputs are 10K or greater. Probably 4 100 ohm resistors in the signal lines of the female ends would do the trick, allowing you to parallel at the male end without excessively loading either output. I can't think of an application where straight parallel wiring would be the right thing to use with a 2 XLR female Y cable. Were I still doing this I might make a couple series mic mix Y cables and a couple resistive line mix Y cables. The resistive line mix cables could be useful if you wanted to put a stereo keyboard feed onto one mixer channel. The series mic mix cable might be useful to put 2 mics on a leslie cabinet into a single mixer channel. How do you use your 2 XLR female to XLR male Y cables and how are they wired? Have you ever used stereo mics with 5 pin XLR? Then you need a 5 pin to 3-pin Y adapter to hook them to a pair of standard 3-pin inputs. You can make 5-pin mic cables out of StarQuad; use the Blues for one channel and the Whites for the other for lowest crosstalk. And if you have long 5-pin mic cables, you can use them to replace 2 normal mic cables even if you're not using a stereo mic with a 3-pin to 5-pin Y adapter. On a similar topic, there are little 4-pair mini snake boxes which are sold by Parts Express. They use very flexible shielded cat 5 cable, a way to run 4 mics in a single cable which might allow less cables on stage. I can see this as a good way to drive an amp rack with a house mix and 2 or 3 monitor mixes... You could probably just mount the RJ-45 right on the connector panel and maybe even in your snake box. Neutrik makes both 8-pin RJ45 with ground connectors which can interoperate with normal sheilded RJ45s, as well as 10-pin connectors designed for Ethernet + DC power. The Parts Express stuff uses the Neutrik RJ45s.
Yes. I have a video about the Cat5e to XLR adapters. VERY handy. Plus, since I have a lot of Cat5e STP Supercat with Ethercons of various lengths, having a collect of fan outs and boxes for making quick snakes is really handy and I always have a spare cable to use for them. I have a couple of 75' Cat5e STP Ethercons married that one takes drive from one side of the stage to amps on the other side, via Ethernet to XLR fanouts, and the other carries control signal between processors and the router. I also use the Supercat for DMX and for ARTnet. And also have some ethernet/ethercon to 5 Pin DMX fan outs too.
Regarding 3.5 mm TRS -> RCA -> TS: I find that those RCA-TS adapters are sometimes a bit "flimsy"... So don't buy the cheapest ones, and make sure you get a good/tight connection! And if you - like myself - know that you will regularly need a 3.5 mm TRS -> 2 x TS connection - get (or build) such a cable.
Good point. I usually give the RCAs a bit of a squeeze once (before the first use, if needed) so they fit them tightly. I have several of those 1/4" TS to Female RCA adapters. I've got different mixers, and work with even more mixers. Plus, do service calls where the MP3 player is a bit of a test tool too. Sometimes into who knows what console, and sometimes into a box mixer or 70V system. So having flexibility for those situations is why I use what I do. But if I was working with one system and/or mixer, there'd be no need in the flexibility versus just having the cable I need... and maybe a backup. Really, the only problems I've had with them is either from getting a case closed on them... or... losing them.
A battery powered Bluetooth receiver!! So many phones no longer have headphone jacks that the 3.5mm stereo to RCA cables are really becoming quite useless. The one I use is about 2.25" x 2.25" x 0.75" made by Taotronics, but I'm sure there are many other similar products. I have this velcro-ed into my mixer rack with 3M industrial "velcro", the plastic stuff that actually goes "snap" and locks the two surfaces together. This way it's solidly attached to the rack, but can easily be removed for service or testing. The battery powered aspect is VERY important, here's why... Most modern electronic devices are powered by small switching power supplies, aka "chargers". Most of these "chargers" produce absolutely horrendous amounts of unfiltered high frequency electrical "noise", which WILL enter the circuits of the device and can produce something akin to the old school sound of a modem connecting in the audio output. This holds true for cell phones too... if performers show up with phones that are nearly discharged, and you have to plug them in to a charger for the duration of the show, you may / almost certainly will get some horrible background noise in the FoH mix. I suggest having a battery bank available as a charging device just for this type of situation. Rule of thumb is keep low quality audio devices on battery, never on AC power.
Alan, your videos are so informative and helpful. Thank you for all the work you do. I have a question that I can’t wrap my head around. For my live shows I have a VERY stereo image, every instrument is stereo. I use two EV evolve speakers and just monitor myself by standing to the side of them. Sometimes when I need to be super loud I want to stand farther behind the main speakers and want to have a single mono monitor speaker. I want the monitor to be the exact same mix as the mains, everything exactly the same eq effects mix. But just mono. If I take one XLR out of one of the aux outs it’s gonna be either L or R. Is there an east way to get a mono summed feed of the main out of one of the aux outs?
Yes. Mostly anyway. Unfortunately, the most simple way is not available since you can't assign two busses, like both left and right to one XLR output... But there are two other ways. Probably the most simple way to get an exact, cloned but mono, mix out of an XLR out would be to make one of the busses a (mono) subgroup. By default it will still come out the same XLR out as before, although you can change it in routing if you want. By making it a subgroup it automatically adjusts the send level to unity, meaning whatever the channel fader is at is also what it will feed to the subgroup. Make sure every channel you're using is assigned to this subgroup, and the subgroup is enabled on it, including the FX RETURNS. Then in the master section for that bus you just made a subgroup it is important to make sure it is NOT assigned to left-right. You don't want it ALSO going to L-R... only to your XLR aux out that you want to monitor. CAVEAT: What won't be in that mix is any L-R processing you're using. Like if you have an FX rack compressor inserted. Or any bus compression or house EQ on the mains. But that is generally not going to be a problem because you generally don't want house EQ to be your mon EQ anyway. And, if you do want it, you can just copy the settings to the subgroup's EQ and comp. Unfortunately, you can't do that to something you've inserted into the main L-R bus since that is on the main L-R exclusively. You could insert another instance of it in the subgroup and copy settings from the mains if you have an FX rack slot to spare. The other way to do this is to use a POST FADER bus on each channel instead of pre-fader/pre-EQ, etc... In that case, to clone the channel you'd just set it at unity (which is what the subgroup setting did automatically and doesn't even allow it to be anything but unity). But, now you'd have the option to make a few things different in that buss if you needed it to. It could be an exact clone of the L-R if you assign everything at unity... or you could adjust something differently if you want. It'll still track with the channel faders and changes, but it will track from the baseline of what you set the post-fader bus at to begin with. The other caveats stay the same as the subgroup setting... Make sure in the master section it is NOT assigned to L-R. Don't forget to set your FX RETURNS to also have this selected bus send be set to post fader and at unity (or wherever you want to readjust this to be different than the house feed. Of if you want everything EXCEPT the FX from FOH, then you can do that too. FX Rack and output processing used on the mains would work the same as what I said about the subgroup method. In either of these two methods, the main LR output fader won't change your monitor mix. Which is probably good in most cases. Or won't matter. Those are the "spend no money ways" to do it. You could get a small mixer of some kind that has a couple of inputs... Use Y cables like mentioned in the video (XLR F to 2xXLR M). You'd need 2 of those connect one to each of your current mixer's L-R outs. Take one side of each Y and send it to you FOH system as normal. Take the other side of the 2 Y cables and send those to your small mixer. Adjust the gain of that mixer, set everything flat on the mixer, and set the pans to mono on the two channels you're using. Then that means, even if that secondary mixer has no dedicated mono out, the Left or Right output has the same signal. So take one line from either that left or right, and feed it to the input of your monitor setup that you want to be a mono clone of the house. This method has the 'benefit' of capturing your house EQ and any compression, including any processing you've inserted from the FX rack. That assumes you even need that. It also will capture the main fader moves of the house console. So if you 'need' those things, this would do it.
@@AlanHamiltonAudio You are the man! And an XR18 genius! This all makes perfect sense and I KNEW the answer was gonna have to do with subgroups. Which I've never used before but have watched your video about. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to type all this out. I get lots of questions on my TH-cam channel from aspiring loopers and I know how much time it takes to give a thorough answer to all the questions. Appreciate this response so much! One side question about the separate mixer solution...What if I came out the AUX 5/6 as Master LR and just plugged two XLR cables into my QSCK10s two channels and set them to the same level. Would it cause any phase issues or something like that sending L/R that are basically the same into the speaker's two inputs? Because the QSC bacially has a built in mixer does it not? I feel like this could be a simple solution but worry there is something I'm not thinking about (having to do with phase cancellation or something possibly). Again, thank you for your response!
You have shared so many invaluable tips for aspiring audio engineers, like myself, on this channel. I would be up shit creek without a paddle if not for this and other content from you. Thank you, Alan. Out of curiosity, where are you based out of? I live in Southeastern Ontario, Canada.
Using a XLR Y splitter, is it ok to have 2 connected to the outputs of a mixer? 1 splitter on the left XLR output and the other splitter on the right XLR output, so then I have 2 sets of XLR outputs instead of one, i want to connect 4 studio monitors to my sound mixer that only has 1 set of xlr outputs
I want to make 100% sure I understand your question so that I answer correctly. You want to split the LEFT XLR output with a Y cable so that you can feed 2 LEFT powered speakers... and you want to split the RIGHT XLR output with a Y cable so that you can feed 2 powered speakers from the right XLR output of the mixer? Correct? If so... yes... perfectly fine. No problem at all.
Typically, it's the monitor console's responsibility to provide phantom power (as a general rule for consistency). And if you have that plan in place then for transformer splits, you know to connect FOH to the ISO side of the split. But it doesn't matter at all even with passive splits. Even BOTH consoles can supply phantom power at the same time, and not hurt a thing. Console inputs are perfectly fine to 'see' phantom power coming from another console. Even with both consoles having it on. And the condenser mic or DI connected to that will be perfectly fine too... They can take phantom power from either console or both at the same time. It's not really a worry, even if you accidentally engage it and don't know it. So, the only real consideration is just having a system for your normal workflow... That all said, and along these lines, it does matter with an isolated split. But only because the transformer won't pass phantom. You want to consistently have the same position always connected to the ISO side of the split each time so that one tech or the other knows phantom is their responsibility. Of course you can declare that even day of the show before line check... the A1 just says to the A2 "You got phantom today".
Hey so I just bought a few of those RCA to TS adapters….. I haven’t tried yet, but I have a crap ton of RCA snakes……. How well will those adapters work for recording purposes?? I have lots of rack mounts and equipment and don’t always have enough cables - those adapters could really help me out Any ideas??
They should work and probably be 100% fine. Especially in a recording environment. RCA cables normally couldn't take the abuse of getting walked on and pulled on stage (over and over), but for in the studio where they won't get that kind of regular abuse, as long as they are quiet and shielded well, they should be fine with TS adapters. Especially if we're taking short distances and not 30'-50'+ or anything like that.
Alan, Another great and useful video. But, you've added the background music back into some videos. I find it distracting and prefer to just be listening to your commentary - which is why I subscribe, watch and value your videos. You provide a lot of very useful information. The background music, not so much :
Those round speakon adapters are no good. I cracked one , looked inside and was surprised to see skinny 20 awg wire . I only use Neutrik speakon connectors/ adapters
Interesting. I might have to sacrifice a couple to get a look inside of both kinds. Technically, a smaller gauge wire for that short of a distance is pretty negligible. It's not exactly analogous to a valve on a water line, partially closing up. I'd rather see at least 18ga though. But it makes me wonder what Neutrik does inside theirs. For a comparison, think about speakers that are directly fused or use a bulb as part of their protection circuit. I mostly use the Neutrik because that is what I have in the workbox, but I added these Amazon ones to the Pelican because there are times I have my Pelican with me and one rig but the workbox is in another venue with another rig. I haven't really had any problems with them. Having a couple of rigs out is one reason there's the redundancy you see between some things in the Pelican case and the workbox... and even the XLR case. Plus, sometimes one thing is just closer than the other. Thanks for the info.
This video is a look at the 5 adapters that I seem to need/use frequently for one reason or another. Whether it is to split a feed for recording, to tie a couple of amp inputs to one output, to extend a Speakon cable, or to turn a snake cable channel around... these all come in handy. Since it's talking about TRS to XLR, and devices with only a balanced TRS out and no XLR out, besides talking about adapters to swap that over to XLR I also included a clip from a previous video explaining a typical balanced I/O circuit and how it works.
Amazon links to the adapters are in the video text box.
If anyone has been using a 3.5mm TRS to 1/4" TRS and connecting to a single channel on the mixer, then check out this video:
►Connecting an MP3 Player to a Mixer - Don't Make This Mistake!:
th-cam.com/video/UiauwFEFe_k/w-d-xo.html
Suggested videos:
►Analog Audio Over Ethernet Cables via Adapers:
th-cam.com/video/FW6c4ROQbLc/w-d-xo.html
►5 Tips for Better Live Vocal Mixes:
th-cam.com/video/oP4sdpkkNhY/w-d-xo.html
►How to EQ a Kick Drum:
th-cam.com/video/CQg1_-ZJ4MU/w-d-xo.html
►How to EQ a Snare Drum:
th-cam.com/video/J_WC68vyht4/w-d-xo.html
►How to EQ Toms:
th-cam.com/video/nSLJqnlJe60/w-d-xo.html
►Cable Management For Live Audio:
th-cam.com/video/nYZ9nrPGswo/w-d-xo.html
►Patch Order and Input Lists For Live Sound:
th-cam.com/video/FE2KRj8vEEc/w-d-xo.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
►Facebook Group:
facebook.com/groups/livesoundproduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a junior engineer growing my skill set, your videos are some of the most practical and useful that I found. Keep making them, and I’ll keep learning!
Thank you! :)
I'm still at a level where a commonly needed audio adapter is... one I don't have... :) But through a combination of purchasing and soldering, I'm slowly growing my survival kit..!
...and it didn't get mentioned in the video, but sometimes the adapter you need is the one you make on the fly from a few other adapters! ;)
I would add the following: a few of those tiny ts-trs converters for mobile phones, a XLR splitter but with a transformer (instead of the simple cable XY), I use a coulple of small stageline splitters. Then, maybe some really important ones, the XLR to TS connectors. I've found occasions when some keyboards had outputs not balanced and I was forced to use those becasuse i didn't have any extra instrument cables at hand. Some times if you go record a simple gig, you are not able to bring a whole heavy rack of things with thosands of cables "just in case" because maybe you're on your own or you simply don't have the space in a tiny bar, so all this sort of converters are priceless.
One of these days I should do a video like this but focus on the workbox. I have a lot of adapters and things in the workbox that really fills a lot of voids that maybe my briefcase doesn't have.
I found one I had to build myself. Had an AM radio station tower 700 feet from the stage. Distorted radio was in the mains off the snake from FOH. Made an RF filter using bifilar wound chokes of 15mH to cut the 30V P-P RF. Used one choke for the balanced signal and a 2nd one on just the shield to keep RF current out of the equipment. The speaker management unit could not take the high RF levels, so 3 filters were used for LR main and subs. It was the worst RF environment for audio I had worked. The filters worked perfectly with no attenuation of the balanced signals. It cut the common mode RF by more than 50 DB which eliminated the problem. At the event, unfortunately some guest bands had some issues with in ears and unbalanced signals on stage, so it was a problem. Building some unbalanced versions for the bands next year. It will use the bifilar wound choke on the signal and shield as a very aggressive version of a ferrite bead on the cable.
I use the XLR split on guitar cab mic to input 2 channels into the desk. Some bands with one guitar can sound a little empty, so I pan one channel slightly and add 5-10ms delay to fill out the room - then I ride the centred channel for solos.
XLR turnaround’s have saved me a few times to add an extra sends into a stage box / snake.
Yeah, the turnarounds are handy for snake issues. I didn't even think to mention coms in the video... But there can be times where you need a last minute com feed going down the snake, and you need to find a line and you're using the ones you need. Enter the turnaround! ;)
Alan, I’m always learning something from your videos. Thank you. As a drummer I find having angled XLR adapters very helpful to minimize drum mic cables interfering with cymbals.
That's a good one. Thanks!
I recently added a battery operated Bluetooth audio receiver. This is for fundraisers where guest bands show up and often need to play a track from their phone. Many new phones do not have a headphone jack and some older phones have defective jacks, so connecting with Bluetooth is a major plus. I've used this at both the American Cancer Society "Relay for Life" events for the organizers to play tracks at activities, and at the State Fair for some of the bands and activities at the stage such as a kid's fashion pageant. Where people used to bring the tracks to the event on a thumb drive, it is now common for them to bring it on a phone. Being able to support is is a plus.
I keep a Bluetooth receiver in my Pelican. I haven't had to use it, but fair season is coming up where there will be the exact scenario you just described of local dance groups for the kids getting some time on the free stage, and things like that. I'm going to make sure I have that BT receiver with me because until I read your comment, I don't know that I would've thought about it for the fair. But that makes perfect sense. So if I wouldn't happen to have my Pelican (which sometimes I don't there), I wouldn't have it.
@@AlanHamiltonAudio I bought my BT receivers (several for testing quality) last spring, and ended up using them 3 times for a Relay for Life event and twice at a county fair. Didn't need it at the state fair. Found I prefer the rechargeable black square Chinese ones for sound and 6 hours of run time. Total time used at the events was under 40 minutes, so no issues with battery life when turned on only when needed.
One more comment from me on the same video... :) About 3.5 mm TRS: Many phones/devices have recessed jacks, so you need a small outer diameter on the plug. Many "classic" TRS -> RCA cables (from your 90's survival kit) are simply too big. Sometimes a knife can fix the problem, or you just make sure to buy the right cable...
I keep a few of the narrow 3.5mm style 3.5mm to RCA cables around as well.
I don't really run into recessed jacks on the devices per se' (though I'm sure they are around), but instead the jacks essentially become recessed from people/companies adding protective cases to the devices with small access holes that then get in the way of the more heavy duty and larger 3.5mm TRS plugs.
But these smaller molded ends don't typically see much abuse anyway like an XLR/Mic cable might so survive typical use scenarios. I try to keep one of these cables with every console just to be prepared.
My go to is the XLR turn around. I use them in the snake for backline and vocal monitors. They save me from having a sloppy stage.
Yes and YES to all of the above. Lately, I've added an inline -10db pad (to solve an issue with the 91A kick drum condenser mic being way too hot.) Also, having extra XLR jumpers (like a 3 footer) is super handy when you've run a cable....and you're short by THAT much.
I have a -10 or 15dB pad in the briefcase and another one or two in the workbox.
I also have some pin 1 lifts, but they rarely get used to the point I can't remember the last time I used one. So, they didn't make the top 5.
G'day Allen, i've got the xr16 Behringer digital mixer' i've bought 8 female XLR to trs adaptors to run a 16 channel stage snake to the line inputs on the back of the mixer.
Great video. We have similar kit and some else)
RCA to XLR M and RCA to XLR F. It helps to take long RCA for djs or connect local sound system (commercial zone amplifiers) or (when use XLR/6.3TRS) to take RCA/6.3TRS with custom length
3.5 TRS to 2x XLR M. Universal cable (if to use any adaptors with it) for constructions any cables for pc, dslr cameras, recorders etc.
I have those too, but just don't use them much so they didn't make the frequently used list. I like having the around, but just don't do much of the type of gig where they are needed. But good to have them in you need them!
You can use XLR Y adapters to passively mix dynamic microphones if you wire them in series. A friend of mine made a series mic mix cable with the mics out of phase for interviews with the mics sitting back-to-back on a small table between the interviewer and interviewee. Maybe you could mix balanced outputs with a resistive network since many outputs today are like 100 ohms or less and many inputs are 10K or greater. Probably 4 100 ohm resistors in the signal lines of the female ends would do the trick, allowing you to parallel at the male end without excessively loading either output. I can't think of an application where straight parallel wiring would be the right thing to use with a 2 XLR female Y cable. Were I still doing this I might make a couple series mic mix Y cables and a couple resistive line mix Y cables. The resistive line mix cables could be useful if you wanted to put a stereo keyboard feed onto one mixer channel. The series mic mix cable might be useful to put 2 mics on a leslie cabinet into a single mixer channel. How do you use your 2 XLR female to XLR male Y cables and how are they wired?
Have you ever used stereo mics with 5 pin XLR? Then you need a 5 pin to 3-pin Y adapter to hook them to a pair of standard 3-pin inputs. You can make 5-pin mic cables out of StarQuad; use the Blues for one channel and the Whites for the other for lowest crosstalk. And if you have long 5-pin mic cables, you can use them to replace 2 normal mic cables even if you're not using a stereo mic with a 3-pin to 5-pin Y adapter.
On a similar topic, there are little 4-pair mini snake boxes which are sold by Parts Express. They use very flexible shielded cat 5 cable, a way to run 4 mics in a single cable which might allow less cables on stage. I can see this as a good way to drive an amp rack with a house mix and 2 or 3 monitor mixes... You could probably just mount the RJ-45 right on the connector panel and maybe even in your snake box. Neutrik makes both 8-pin RJ45 with ground connectors which can interoperate with normal sheilded RJ45s, as well as 10-pin connectors designed for Ethernet + DC power. The Parts Express stuff uses the Neutrik RJ45s.
Yes. I have a video about the Cat5e to XLR adapters. VERY handy. Plus, since I have a lot of Cat5e STP Supercat with Ethercons of various lengths, having a collect of fan outs and boxes for making quick snakes is really handy and I always have a spare cable to use for them.
I have a couple of 75' Cat5e STP Ethercons married that one takes drive from one side of the stage to amps on the other side, via Ethernet to XLR fanouts, and the other carries control signal between processors and the router.
I also use the Supercat for DMX and for ARTnet. And also have some ethernet/ethercon to 5 Pin DMX fan outs too.
Regarding 3.5 mm TRS -> RCA -> TS: I find that those RCA-TS adapters are sometimes a bit "flimsy"... So don't buy the cheapest ones, and make sure you get a good/tight connection! And if you - like myself - know that you will regularly need a 3.5 mm TRS -> 2 x TS connection - get (or build) such a cable.
Good point. I usually give the RCAs a bit of a squeeze once (before the first use, if needed) so they fit them tightly. I have several of those 1/4" TS to Female RCA adapters. I've got different mixers, and work with even more mixers. Plus, do service calls where the MP3 player is a bit of a test tool too. Sometimes into who knows what console, and sometimes into a box mixer or 70V system. So having flexibility for those situations is why I use what I do. But if I was working with one system and/or mixer, there'd be no need in the flexibility versus just having the cable I need... and maybe a backup.
Really, the only problems I've had with them is either from getting a case closed on them... or... losing them.
A battery powered Bluetooth receiver!! So many phones no longer have headphone jacks that the 3.5mm stereo to RCA cables are really becoming quite useless. The one I use is about 2.25" x 2.25" x 0.75" made by Taotronics, but I'm sure there are many other similar products. I have this velcro-ed into my mixer rack with 3M industrial "velcro", the plastic stuff that actually goes "snap" and locks the two surfaces together. This way it's solidly attached to the rack, but can easily be removed for service or testing.
The battery powered aspect is VERY important, here's why... Most modern electronic devices are powered by small switching power supplies, aka "chargers". Most of these "chargers" produce absolutely horrendous amounts of unfiltered high frequency electrical "noise", which WILL enter the circuits of the device and can produce something akin to the old school sound of a modem connecting in the audio output. This holds true for cell phones too... if performers show up with phones that are nearly discharged, and you have to plug them in to a charger for the duration of the show, you may / almost certainly will get some horrible background noise in the FoH mix. I suggest having a battery bank available as a charging device just for this type of situation. Rule of thumb is keep low quality audio devices on battery, never on AC power.
I've taken to carrying a BT receiver. It comes in handy at fairs. small town festivals, and talent shows and the like.
Alan, your videos are so informative and helpful. Thank you for all the work you do. I have a question that I can’t wrap my head around. For my live shows I have a VERY stereo image, every instrument is stereo. I use two EV evolve speakers and just monitor myself by standing to the side of them. Sometimes when I need to be super loud I want to stand farther behind the main speakers and want to have a single mono monitor speaker. I want the monitor to be the exact same mix as the mains, everything exactly the same eq effects mix. But just mono. If I take one XLR out of one of the aux outs it’s gonna be either L or R. Is there an east way to get a mono summed feed of the main out of one of the aux outs?
Yes. Mostly anyway. Unfortunately, the most simple way is not available since you can't assign two busses, like both left and right to one XLR output... But there are two other ways. Probably the most simple way to get an exact, cloned but mono, mix out of an XLR out would be to make one of the busses a (mono) subgroup. By default it will still come out the same XLR out as before, although you can change it in routing if you want. By making it a subgroup it automatically adjusts the send level to unity, meaning whatever the channel fader is at is also what it will feed to the subgroup.
Make sure every channel you're using is assigned to this subgroup, and the subgroup is enabled on it, including the FX RETURNS.
Then in the master section for that bus you just made a subgroup it is important to make sure it is NOT assigned to left-right. You don't want it ALSO going to L-R... only to your XLR aux out that you want to monitor.
CAVEAT: What won't be in that mix is any L-R processing you're using. Like if you have an FX rack compressor inserted. Or any bus compression or house EQ on the mains. But that is generally not going to be a problem because you generally don't want house EQ to be your mon EQ anyway. And, if you do want it, you can just copy the settings to the subgroup's EQ and comp. Unfortunately, you can't do that to something you've inserted into the main L-R bus since that is on the main L-R exclusively. You could insert another instance of it in the subgroup and copy settings from the mains if you have an FX rack slot to spare.
The other way to do this is to use a POST FADER bus on each channel instead of pre-fader/pre-EQ, etc... In that case, to clone the channel you'd just set it at unity (which is what the subgroup setting did automatically and doesn't even allow it to be anything but unity). But, now you'd have the option to make a few things different in that buss if you needed it to. It could be an exact clone of the L-R if you assign everything at unity... or you could adjust something differently if you want. It'll still track with the channel faders and changes, but it will track from the baseline of what you set the post-fader bus at to begin with.
The other caveats stay the same as the subgroup setting... Make sure in the master section it is NOT assigned to L-R. Don't forget to set your FX RETURNS to also have this selected bus send be set to post fader and at unity (or wherever you want to readjust this to be different than the house feed. Of if you want everything EXCEPT the FX from FOH, then you can do that too.
FX Rack and output processing used on the mains would work the same as what I said about the subgroup method.
In either of these two methods, the main LR output fader won't change your monitor mix. Which is probably good in most cases. Or won't matter.
Those are the "spend no money ways" to do it. You could get a small mixer of some kind that has a couple of inputs... Use Y cables like mentioned in the video (XLR F to 2xXLR M). You'd need 2 of those connect one to each of your current mixer's L-R outs. Take one side of each Y and send it to you FOH system as normal. Take the other side of the 2 Y cables and send those to your small mixer. Adjust the gain of that mixer, set everything flat on the mixer, and set the pans to mono on the two channels you're using. Then that means, even if that secondary mixer has no dedicated mono out, the Left or Right output has the same signal. So take one line from either that left or right, and feed it to the input of your monitor setup that you want to be a mono clone of the house.
This method has the 'benefit' of capturing your house EQ and any compression, including any processing you've inserted from the FX rack. That assumes you even need that. It also will capture the main fader moves of the house console. So if you 'need' those things, this would do it.
@@AlanHamiltonAudio You are the man! And an XR18 genius! This all makes perfect sense and I KNEW the answer was gonna have to do with subgroups. Which I've never used before but have watched your video about. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to type all this out. I get lots of questions on my TH-cam channel from aspiring loopers and I know how much time it takes to give a thorough answer to all the questions. Appreciate this response so much! One side question about the separate mixer solution...What if I came out the AUX 5/6 as Master LR and just plugged two XLR cables into my QSCK10s two channels and set them to the same level. Would it cause any phase issues or something like that sending L/R that are basically the same into the speaker's two inputs? Because the QSC bacially has a built in mixer does it not? I feel like this could be a simple solution but worry there is something I'm not thinking about (having to do with phase cancellation or something possibly). Again, thank you for your response!
You have shared so many invaluable tips for aspiring audio engineers, like myself, on this channel. I would be up shit creek without a paddle if not for this and other content from you. Thank you, Alan. Out of curiosity, where are you based out of?
I live in Southeastern Ontario, Canada.
Thanks!! I'm in Indiana.
Great video..!! They are connections I have except the Sescom that I plan to get.
Thanks!
Using a XLR Y splitter, is it ok to have 2 connected to the outputs of a mixer? 1 splitter on the left XLR output and the other splitter on the right XLR output, so then I have 2 sets of XLR outputs instead of one, i want to connect 4 studio monitors to my sound mixer that only has 1 set of xlr outputs
I want to make 100% sure I understand your question so that I answer correctly.
You want to split the LEFT XLR output with a Y cable so that you can feed 2 LEFT powered speakers... and you want to split the RIGHT XLR output with a Y cable so that you can feed 2 powered speakers from the right XLR output of the mixer? Correct?
If so... yes... perfectly fine. No problem at all.
Fantastic video with useful info!
Thanks for watching and commenting! :)
@@AlanHamiltonAudio of course! It'd be cool to see a full tour of your Peli case & of your work box. Love all of your helpful content 😄
I can dig it ! Agreed ! I have them.. Good Video !
Right on! Thanks!
What's the best practice regarding phantom power over a passive split?
Typically, it's the monitor console's responsibility to provide phantom power (as a general rule for consistency). And if you have that plan in place then for transformer splits, you know to connect FOH to the ISO side of the split.
But it doesn't matter at all even with passive splits. Even BOTH consoles can supply phantom power at the same time, and not hurt a thing.
Console inputs are perfectly fine to 'see' phantom power coming from another console. Even with both consoles having it on. And the condenser mic or DI connected to that will be perfectly fine too... They can take phantom power from either console or both at the same time. It's not really a worry, even if you accidentally engage it and don't know it.
So, the only real consideration is just having a system for your normal workflow... That all said, and along these lines, it does matter with an isolated split. But only because the transformer won't pass phantom. You want to consistently have the same position always connected to the ISO side of the split each time so that one tech or the other knows phantom is their responsibility. Of course you can declare that even day of the show before line check... the A1 just says to the A2 "You got phantom today".
Hey so I just bought a few of those RCA to TS adapters…..
I haven’t tried yet, but I have a crap ton of RCA snakes…….
How well will those adapters work for recording purposes?? I have lots of rack mounts and equipment and don’t always have enough cables - those adapters could really help me out
Any ideas??
They should work and probably be 100% fine. Especially in a recording environment. RCA cables normally couldn't take the abuse of getting walked on and pulled on stage (over and over), but for in the studio where they won't get that kind of regular abuse, as long as they are quiet and shielded well, they should be fine with TS adapters.
Especially if we're taking short distances and not 30'-50'+ or anything like that.
@@AlanHamiltonAudio awesome - great response.
Yea definitely will be short length. Ya know, like rack mounts to patchbay type of stuff
Cool! That's what I figured. Should definitely be fine. @@danevertt3210
Alan, Another great and useful video.
But, you've added the background music back into some videos. I find it distracting and prefer to just be listening to your commentary - which is why I subscribe, watch and value your videos. You provide a lot of very useful information. The background music, not so much :
Noted!
Those round speakon adapters are no good. I cracked one , looked inside and was surprised to see skinny 20 awg wire . I only use Neutrik speakon connectors/ adapters
Interesting. I might have to sacrifice a couple to get a look inside of both kinds. Technically, a smaller gauge wire for that short of a distance is pretty negligible. It's not exactly analogous to a valve on a water line, partially closing up. I'd rather see at least 18ga though. But it makes me wonder what Neutrik does inside theirs. For a comparison, think about speakers that are directly fused or use a bulb as part of their protection circuit.
I mostly use the Neutrik because that is what I have in the workbox, but I added these Amazon ones to the Pelican because there are times I have my Pelican with me and one rig but the workbox is in another venue with another rig. I haven't really had any problems with them. Having a couple of rigs out is one reason there's the redundancy you see between some things in the Pelican case and the workbox... and even the XLR case. Plus, sometimes one thing is just closer than the other.
Thanks for the info.
Heyyy Al… 🙋🏻♀️
Hey Cindy!
🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼