9
Introduction
This note, originally written in 1985, continues to be one of our most useful
references. It’s popularity stems from the continual and perpetual difficulty
of hooking up audio equipment without suffering through all sorts of bizarre
noises, hums, buzzes, whistles, etc.— not to mention the extreme financial,
physical and psychological price. As technology progresses it is inevitable that
electronic equipment and its wiring should be subject to constant improve-
ment. Many things
have
improved in the audio industry since 1985, but
unfortunately wiring isn’t one of them. However, finally the Audio Engineer-
ing Society (AES) has issued a standards document for interconnection of pro
audio equipment. It is AES48, titled “
AES48-2005: AES standard on inter-
connections —Grounding and EMC practices — Shields of connectors in audio
equipment containing active circuitry
.”
Rane’s policy is to accommodate rather than dictate. However, this docu-
ment contains suggestions for external wiring changes that should ideally only
be implemented by trained technical personnel. Safety regulations require
that all original grounding means provided from the factory be left intact for
safe operation. No guarantee of responsibility for incidental or consequential
damages can be provided.
(In other words, don’t modify cables, or try your own
version of grounding unless you really understand exactly what type of output and
input you have to connect.)
