Mackie PPM1012 Owner's Manual - Page 29

Owner's Manual Appendix B: Connections "XLR" Connectors Mackie mixers use 3-pin female "XLR" connectors on all microphone inputs, with pin 1 wired to the grounded (earthed) shield, pin 2 wired to the "high" ("hot" or positive polarity) side of the audio signal and pin 3 wired to the "low" ("cold" or negative polarity) side of the signal. See Figure A. Use a male "XLR"-type connector, usually found on the nether end of what is called a "mic cable," to connect to a ­female XLR jack. SHIELD 2 HOT COLD 3 1 SHIELD 1 You can cook up your own adapter for a stereo microphone adapter. "Y" two cables out of a female 1⁄4" TRS jack to two male XLR plugs, one for the Right signal and one for the Left. • Unbalanced Send/Return circuits. When wired as send/return "Y" connector, a 1⁄4" TRS jack or plug is connected tip to signal send (output from mixer), ring to signal return (input back into mixer), and sleeve to ground (earth). 1⁄4" TS Phone Plugs and Jacks "TS" stands for Tip-Sleeve, the two connections available on a "mono" 1⁄4" phone jack or plug. See Figure C. SLEEVE SLEEVE TIP Figure A: XLR Connectors COLD 3 2 HOT 1 3 2 SHIELD COLD HOT SLEEVE SLEEVE TIP 1⁄4" TRS Phone TPIP lugs and Jacks TIP "TRS" stands for Tip-Ring-Sleeve, the thSrLEeEeVE ­connections available on a "stereo" 1⁄4" or ­"balanced" phone jack or plug. See Figure B. RING SLEEVE SLEEVE RING TIP TIP Figure B: 1⁄4" TRS Plugs RING TIP SLEEVE TRS jacks and plugs are used in several ­different applications: • Balanced mono circuits. When wired as a balanced connector, a 1⁄4" TRS jack or plug is connected tip to signal high (hot), ring to signal low (cold), and sleeve to ground (earth). • Stereo Headphones, and rarely, stereo microphones and stereo line connections. When wired for stereo, a 1⁄4" TRS jack or plug is connected tip to left, ring to right and sleeve to ground (earth). Mackie mixers do not directly accept 1-plug-type stereo micro­phones. They must be separated into a left cord and a right cord, which are plugged into the two mic preamps. TIP TIP SLEEVE Figure C: TS Plug TS jacks and plugs are used in many different ­applications, always unbRaINlGanSLcEEeVEd. TShLEeEVtEipRINiGs cTIPonnected to the audio signal and the sleeve to ground (earth). Some TIP examples: RING • Unbalanced microphones TIP SLEEVE • Electric guitars and electronic instruments • Unbalanced line-level connections • Speaker connections Don't use guitar cords for speaker cables! They're not designed to handle speaker-level signals and could overheat. RCA Plugs and Jacks RCA-type plugs (also known as phono plugs) and jacks are often used in home ­stereo and video equipment and in many other applications (Figure D). They are ­unbalanced and electrically identical to a 1⁄4" TS phone plug or jack. See Figure C. Connect the signal to the center post and the ground (earth) or shield to the surrounding "basket." SLEEVE TIP SLEEVE TIP Figure D: RCA Plug Owner's Manual 29