Audio Cable Types: What you REALLY Need to Know

There are A LOT of audio cable types out there, so I put together a short guide for you with which to navigate the sea of cables that cover stages and studios worldwide.

¼ Inch Instrument Cable

This cable needs no introduction. It is the cable everyone thinks of when the guitarist says, “Man, I forgot my cable…” One stripe on the tip, this cable is for connecting electric instruments. It carries one signal and a ground.

¼ Inch TRS Cable (Balanced)

This cable looks just like a regular instrument cable, BUT IT IS NOT! Two stripes on the tip, a balanced TRS cable carries two signals and a ground. Carrying two copies of the signal is what makes a TRS cable balanced. The second copy of the signal is sent with a reversed polarity that, when inverted at the destination, cancels out any noise interference the cable may have picked up. In order to enjoy this benefit, however, you need to be certain that the equipment at both ends of the cable is balanced as well. There is no benefit to using a balanced cable on an unbalanced signal.

XLR Microphone Cable (Balanced)

This is a very common cable in production – live and in the studio. It is a balanced, three-pronged cable that is well suited for running signals over longer distances. It also locks, so there’s no accidentally pulling the plug in a live situation.

RCA Cable

These are everywhere, though more common in the DJ and consumer electronics world. They are the cables you plug into the little white and red sockets on the back of your TV’s soundbar. DJs use them to connect their media players (or other gear) to their mixers. They usually come in stereo pairs, while some come with a third (yellow) cable for video signals.

3.5mm / 1/8 Inch Headphone Cable

You know this cable better than any. This is what your iPod headphones have. It’s stereo, and it’s tiny. It’s actually a balanced type of cable, but instead of sending two copies of the same signal, it often sends a stereo signal over the single cable.

Y-Cables

A “Y-Cable” duplicates a single signal and sends it to two locations. It kind of looks like an insert/breakout cable, but it’s not. If you try to use it as one, you will be disappointed.

Stereo Breakout/ Insert  Cables

These cables have one end balanced, the other ends unbalanced. This cable will take a stereo signal and physically split it into left and right. This is for when you want to take your iPod and plug it into a mixer, or a similar application. Another function of these cables is as an insert, that is one “side” sends a mono signal, while the other “side” returns a mono signal. This is for creating external effects loops on mixing consoles.

Speakon Cable

This is a funny looking cable that has one application – connect the speaker to the amplifier (or to another speaker, if you’re daisy-chaining). These speaker cables are designed to carry higher loads than your standard quarter inch cable. They are also designed to hide any electrical components behind fat pieces of plastic on either end that also function as connection locks. This eliminates the chances of electrocution when using an intact cable.

S/PDIF Cable (Coaxial)

This looks like an RCA cable, but with two big differences: It is a stereo (2 channels) and it is digital.  You can tell them apart because a S/PDIF cable is orange-tipped as opposed to red, white, or yellow. Another variety of S/PDIF (also called TOSLINK) is an optical cable, so they look more like our next cable…

Optical/Lightpipe Cable

These are tiny fiber-optic cables that carry multiple (usually 8) channels. In the studio, they are most often used to chain audio interfaces so as to increase the number of available physical inputs for a DAW or digital mixing console.

Conclusion

That about does it for your standard audio cables. I didn’t go into the available adapters, hybrid cables, snakes or stageboxes, as they can all be categorized as one or more of the cable types listed above. For a more in-depth dive into audio cable types, their capabilities and more, check out Audio Cables 101 by ehomerecordingstudio.com.

It’s good practice to keep a notebook with information on different cable types and other studio components as you go – if only to clarify the things you learn. I hope this article has cleared up a few things when it comes to pro audio. Until next time!

Did I miss a cable? Send your questions to me here and I’ll look into answering them for you. Perhaps I’ll even use it as a topic for a future article!

-Chris Lazaga
AudioMunk