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Get your audio cable knowledge together.
Cables matter.
Unfortunately wireless music studios aren’t a thing yet. In fact we’re connecting all kinds of old, new, analog and digital gear together more than ever.
Yeah I know, audio connectors might not be the most exciting part of your music studio setup…
But recording a clean and loud enough signal from guitars, synths, drum machines, and mics into your DAW has a lot to do with the audio cable types you choose.
So here’s an illustrated audio cable guide (I wish this was around when I was learning!). It’ll help you get a better sound when playing gigs, recording, or even just jamming.
First things first, what’s the difference between analog and digital audio cables?
Well, they both transmit audio information. The only difference is that analog cables transmit electrical audio signals while digital cables transmit digital information in binary code (zeros and ones, the language that computers speak).
Now let’s start with the most common question about analog cables…
We’ll look at which cables are balanced and which are unbalanced in a moment. But first…
The answer is no! Here’s a crucial thing to remember: all points in your cable circuit must be balanced for you to have a balanced connection. That includes the:
If just one of these is unbalanced, it’ll make your connection unbalanced. This is worth writing on a post-it and sticking it to your bathroom mirror.
I know it might be confusing for now, but keep reading!
Your gear is balanced if:
For example: microphones, some mixers, PA systems, some pro gear and synths with XLR out (like the Roland Jupiter 8 and others).
Your gear is unbalanced if:
A lot of gear is unbalanced if it has only ¼ inch outputs. It’s most likely unbalanced if it doesn’t say anything. Always check the manual or do some research if you’re not sure.
Knowing the difference between balanced and unbalanced cables is crucial for choosing the right cables in each situation. This will prevent nasty signal loss or gross noise interference in your recordings or live sets. The wrong cable might even damage your devices.
If you have balanced gear and a balanced mixer, then by all means use balanced cables that will give you a nice balanced connection!
But if you don’t have a balanced connection, remember to keep cables as short as possible.
Hot tip: for unbalanced connections keep your cables under 6 feet (about 1.8 meters) to prevent interference.
Don’t worry, I’ll go into details below about which cables are balanced and unbalanced in a second.
Phew, I’m glad we got all that out of the way. Now it’s time to demystify the most common types of audio connectors.
XLR cables are always balanced cables. They snap into place – so you won’t unplug them by mistake if you pull on them (think of all the punk shows this has saved). XLR cables can be very long without noise interference.
XLR cables are used to connect:
TRS (Tip-Ring-Sleeve) are connectors that have three wires inside (two conductors and one ground), as I’ve explained with balanced cables. They’re easy to spot because of the two rubber stripes on the connector.
TRS cables can be both balanced or unbalanced depending on how you use them. They’re the chameleons of cables.
Let me explain!
TRS cables will be balanced when you use them as mono cables between balanced devices. That’s when you use a pair of them, one for the left channel and one for right. That way in each cable, one of the conductor wires will be for the signal, and the other will help cancel the noise.
When you use a single TRS cable in stereo (left and right together in the same cable), both conductor wires inside will be used for the signal. One wire will transport the left signal and the other wire the right signal. So there’s no wire left for noise cancelling. This will be an unbalanced cable.
This situation is most common in headphone cables and headphone outputs on gear.
TS (Tip-Sleeve) connectors are always unbalanced. Why? Because they contain two wires: one conductor and one ground. They’re the ones with one rubber stripe on the connector.
TS cables are also mono. They’re handy for gear that has a mono output: guitars, mono effects pedals, some synths and drum machines. They’re super common in any music studio.
Make sure your TS cables are as short as possible – or else they might pick up noises and electrical hums.
RCA connectors mostly come in pairs to achieve stereo. Most of the time the red is used for Right (Red and Right both start with the letter R!) and the white is used for the Left channel.
RCA cables are similar to TS cables. Each RCA cable has one conductor and one ground. That means they’re always unbalanced.
So the same tip applies: keep them as short as possible.
RCA connectors are the DJ’s bread and butter. They’re the most common wires used to connect CDJs and turntables to DJ mixers.
Hot tip: When you’re plugging your CDJs and turntables, there are two types of RCA inputs: Line and Phono.
Line is for CDJs and other instruments, Phono is always for turntables.
Turntables have a much lower signal, so they need a more powerful preamp to bring them to line level (more on levels below). Always use the correct input when plugging your DJ setup to avoid noise and distortion! For more on turntables, check out Turntable Lab.
You’ll find more and more digital cables in today’s home studio.
But I’m not gonna go in depth about them because they’re more straightforward than analog. And yes, I’ve left out some of the less common ones – like AES/EBU, S/PDIF, etc.
Lots of people think that the length of digital cables doesn’t matter (some say it either works or it doesn’t). But from experience if you go really long with digital cables (several meters), there’s more chance of it working improperly. So keep it short!
MIDI cables are used to sync and communicate instructions between gear.
As I’ve written in another post, MIDI does not make or transport sound. It transmits event messages.
Today most modern gear has MIDI in, MIDI out and MIDI thru. So the important thing to remember is your MIDI signal flow.
When you’re asking yourself: should I plug my MIDI cable in the IN, OUT, or THRU jack? think about whether your machine is:
USB cables have become super common in audio production. They’re on MIDI keyboard controllers, audio interfaces, modern synths and drum machines.
They make information exchange possible between music gear and computers. USB cables also transport MIDI information.
The most widespread types of USB cables for instruments are USB A-Type (the classic flat one) and USB B-Type (the ‘square USB’).
USB connectors are following an ongoing trend in electronics towards miniaturization. Most new pieces of gear come with their own USB cable, so you don’t need to worry.
The important thing to remember is that if it stops working, it’s easy to replace – just look for the corresponding shape. They also tend to be quite fragile, so avoid keeping them plugged in and wrapping them around your gear when you transport them.
This is a scenario that will happen to you at some point.
You’re playing a show, and the PA setup has XLR connectors – which are balanced.
Your gear is unbalanced because you have a guitar, bass, or synth.
Plus, the main mixer console is very far from the stage, so long unbalanced cables will attract noise and interference.
You need to convert the unbalanced connection to a balanced one. What do you do? How do you convert an unbalanced connection to a balanced one?
This is done using a DI box.
A DI box (direct injection) is device used in recording and live audio to convert signals and match audio levels (more on levels below). It allows you to plug unbalanced gear (guitar, synth, bass) to balanced inputs on mixers and PA systems – it converts it to a balanced connection. You get noise reduction, no interference and the ability to run long cables. Thanks DI box!
You might be asking “can I plug an unbalanced TS plug into a balanced TRS jack?”
The answer is yes. Most of the time those ¼ inch (6.35 mm) inputs are both balanced and unbalanced – they’re built to switch between the two. Manufacturers often write it on the mixer itself: BAL/UNBAL.
As a general rule, read what it says on your gear and mixer! It’s as simple as that.
I promised to talk about levels. This is pretty crucial when you’re plugging your devices together.
Knowledge about audio cable types and audio levels is key when you’re recording music and playing live gigs. It’ll give you the know-how you need to plug in your setup and get your best sound.
Plus, when you’re talking to the sound person at the venue or buying something at the music store, you wanna know what you’re talking about right?
So keep this audio cable guide in your bookmarks and return to it every time you need to.
Because even though ads of gear always show instruments floating in space, the magic of music only really happens when you plug everything together.
Leticia is a lover of acid basslines and hypnotic techno. She DJs and produces under the name softcoresoft. Writer at LANDR.
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