Owner's Manual
29
“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.
1
⁄
4
" TRS Phone Plugs and Jacks
“TRS” stands for Tip-Ring-Sleeve, the three
connections available on a “stereo”
1
⁄
4
" or “balanced”
phone jack or plug. See Figure B.
TRS jacks and plugs are used in several different ap-
plications:
• Balanced mono circuits. When wired as a bal
-
anced connector, a 1⁄4" TRS jack or plug is con-
nected tip to signal high (hot), ring to signal
low (cold), and sleeve to ground (earth).
• Stereo Headphones, and rarely, stereo micro
-
phones 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 micro phones. They
must be separated into a left cord and a right
cord, which are plugged into two mic preamps.
Appendix B: Connections
• 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 avail-
able on a “mono” 1⁄4" phone jack or plug. See Figure C.
TS jacks and plugs are used in many different
applications, always unbalanced. The tip is connected to
the audio signal and the sleeve to ground (earth). Some
examples:
• Unbalanced microphones
• 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 equip-
ment 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
TIP
SLEEVE
TIP
SLEEVE
SLEEVE
TIP
SLEEVE
TIP
RING
RING
TIP
SLEEVE
RING
Figure C: TS Plug
2
2
3
1
1
SHIELD
COLD
HOT
SHIELD
COLD
HOT
3
SHIELD
COLD
HOT
3
2
1
Figure A: XLR Connectors
SLEEVE
TIP
TIP
SLEEVE
TIP
SLEEVE
SLEEVE
TIP
SLEEVE
TIP
RING
RING
TIP
SLEEVE
RING
Figure B:
1
⁄
4
" TRS Plugs
TIP
SLEEVE
TIP
SLEEVE
Figure D: RCA Plug
Figure E: Does not appear in this owner's manual, due
to a contractual obligation, but performs nightly at the
downtown Woodinville Cocoa Rooms and Tea Bar
