Type and Usage of Important Studio Cables

Introduction

Hi, My name is Tan Qin Han and I came from the little red dot otherwise known as Singapore in South East Asia. It is a tropical country where every day we get either the sun or the rain. I took up this course mainly due to self-interest to learn more about music production.

Topic

The topic that I will be talking about in this assignment will be the type and usage of important studio cables. This is as because studio cables are an integral part of the music production process. And they are also the main reasons when things go wrong, it is mainly due to a faulty connections

1/4 Inch TS Cable

The first cable I am going to talk about is the 1/4 Inch TS Cable otherwise known as the Single Conductor Cable. It is a single conductor cable comprises of a tip and a sleeve. It is otherwise known as an unbalanced cable because it doesn't rejects noise from the surrounding. 

 1/4 Inch TRS Cable

The next cable I am going to talk about is the 1/4 Inch TRS cable. It is a duo conductors cable with a tip, a ring and a sleeve. It differs from the TS cable in that it can rejects noise from the surrounding or cable be use as a stereo cable like your headphone. It is also known as a balanced cable.

XLR Cable

The next cable I am going to touch on is the XLR Cable. It is similar to the TRS Cable in that it has 2 conductors. It has the chasis, which is mainly used as the shield and a positive and negative terminals. It is typically connected to your microphone. It also has a locking device at its side.

Direct Box

I am going to touch on the direct box next. The direct box is a very useful device for converting a 1/4 inch TS Cable to a XLR Cable. This is very useful in making long runs of connections and hence reduces the noise of the connection. The direct box is can be also used to have 2 output, from a TS cable (Input 1) to a XLR Cable (Output 1) and a TRS Cable (Thru 1).

8 Inch Cable

There are other connections such as the 8 inch cables which is similar to the TRS cable and we see it frequently in our headphones and phones.

RCA Cable

The RCA Cable shown here is typically used for home consumer devices such as your TV, DVD players etc. However, do take note of the gain setting of these devices as most are set to work at -10dBv.

Other Connectors

There are other connections that allows us to interconnect digital devices. Devices such as S/PDIF in which signals is transmitted via fibre optic cables with TOSLINK connections. It is mainly used in home theatres.

The MIDI which allows a large variaty of electronics musical instruments, computers and other devices to connect and communicate with each other.

There are also other connections such as the Fire Wire and your typical USB cable that allows connections to your computer.

Reflections

I am not your typical music professional and but I do enjoy singing and playing the piano for quite a bit. I am learning a lot at this course and I hope that you do the same and enjoy the course!

Cya Next Week!