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#42
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Terry King wrote in message
so they designed the "UA" series which were D shaped connectors. Mics such as the EV 666 and 654 used these........ The 654 and 666 had XLR's; I have a 654 in my hand. I have never seen a microphone with a built-in-the-case UA connector. ************************************************** ******************** Update on that! Ray Rayburn has showed me four!! so, I am corrected on that, although we agree the 654 has XLR. Take a look at: http://www.k-bay106.com/e-v_667.jpg for a EV 667 AND the EV preamp, all with UA connectors... Yup, that's a UA series "D" connector, just as sure as it's shape. J_West |
#43
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
"Mike Rivers" wrote ...
My father (before I was born) worked as an electrician in a shipyard, and wired up a bunch of pyrometers backwards because his boss insisted that the red wire was positive and told him to wire them that way. The other (the real positive) wire was white. Didn't matter (to the boss) what the instruction sheet said. He knew better. The wire colors of traditional thermocouples indicate which type they are (J, K, etc.) and coincidentally also the "polarity". They have never followed the electronics tradition of black= negative, red=positive. |
#44
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Since there isn't a standard for speaker connections, I don't know
that there's ever been a convention for polarity vs. color or even number if the terminals are numbered. Seems to me that I've heard that the terminal that has the positive voltage on it when the speaker cone moves out (toward the listener) is defined as positive. If you put a microphone in front of a speaker with the cone moving in that direction, it should make pin 2 go positive with respect to pin 3. This is the consensus -- except when the drivers don't have the same polarity. In a three-way system, you'd go with the midrange. In a two-way system, it would probably be the woofer, as the woofer (in such systems) generally caries most (or all) of the midrange. |
#45
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Mike Rivers wrote:
In article writes: Is it? I thought Pin 3 Hot was un-American. I thought I was brit-bashing. Oh well. Pin 3 hot was the American standard. The famous MX-10 mixer had Pin 2 of the XLR output connectors grounded so you'd get voltage between pins 3 and 2. It was the Europeans who were building things with Pin 2 hot. The convention for microphones has always been Pin 2 positive with respect to Pin 3 for pressure toward the diaphragm, but not everyone followed that convention, particularly companies like Beyer and AKG. That's pretty ****ed up right there. So, both Americans and Europeans were inconsistent between microphones and everything else? This means that if any European or US company built stand-alone mic preamps back then, "correct" wiring would dictate an inversion between input and output? ulysses |
#46
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Terry King wrote:
Jeez, who the heck wanted to know about this?? Sorry... (Raised hand) |
#47
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
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#48
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
So, both Americans and Europeans
were inconsistent between microphones and everything else Back in the 1970's I attended the AES Convention where the membership voted to adopt the standard of "Pin 2 Hot." This was done largely at the request of the groups UK and European members. Up until this point, most American gear was wired Pin 3 hot. This change of convention to the new standard was very inconvenient, but viewed by most in the US as something we simply had to do. Or so we thought. Shortly after the new convention was adopted, many UK manufacturers, Soundcraft and Midas among others, started delivering consoles with "Pin 3 Hot." I've owned several of them. What possessed them to switch is still a mystery to me. Some were even wired with balanced inputs, pin two positive, but outputs unbalanced pin 3 hot. The question of whether pin two was connected to ground or just left floating, connected to nothing at all was also un-standardized. Some were, some weren't. You see, in those days it was fairly common to have balanced inputs and unbalanced outputs via an XLR. This made for many years of confusion, and the need to carry around lots of polarity reversing adapters am "magic" adapter cables to make things work. You younger guys take a lot for granted these days when you buy a workable mixer for well under $500, and everything is more or less like it should be. It wasn't always the case. Chuck |
#49
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- (un) Official Answer
"Justin Ulysses Morse" wrote in message m... Dave Turner wrote: ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: ITT Cannon - Contact Us Date: Monday 17 Nov 2003 12:14 pm From: Technical Query To: '" Hello David As far as I know the XLR is just a series part number, it may have had an original meaning, however we have no info here on it. regards John Embleton Technical Support ITT Industries, Cannon Connector Division, Basingstoke. UK So that's the official answer. Official? It's not even an answer. He might just as well have said, "Who cares?" or "None of your damn business." Ray A. Rayburn gives further information which ties in with this at http://www.soundfirst.com/xlr.html which gives Now this explanation makes much more sense. But having been around the internet awhile I have learned the important truth that just because a story sounds plausible, or has been written, doesn't make it true. This explanation has been repeated by a few other people but for all I know they could have all gotten it from a single unreliable source. Since every other explanation I've heard has been obvious bull****, this is the one I'll choose to believe until I find evidence to contradict it. Not that it really matters. What does "NC3FD" stand for? ulysses I just happend across this, this morning. From http://www.soundfirst.com/xlr.html Richard At one time Cannon (now ITT Cannon) made a large circular connector series that was popular for microphones called the P series. Mics used the 3 pin P3 version. Some loudspeakers use the P4 or P8 versions of this connector to this day. In an attempt to make a smaller connector for the microphone market Cannon came out with the UA series. These were "D" shaped instead of circular and were used on such mics as the Electro-Voice 666, 666R, and 655C. There was a desire for a smaller yet connector. Someone pointed out the small circular Cannon X series. The problem with this was it had no latch. Cannon rearranged the pins and added a latch, and the XL (X series with Latch) was born. This is the connector others such as Switchcraft and later Neutrik have copied. Later Cannon modified the female end only to put the contacts in a Resilient Rubber compound. They called this new version the XLR series. No other company has copied this feature. It is amusing that XLR has become the generic term since what everyone else copied was the XL and not the XLR! |
#50
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- (un) Official Answer
Did you ever see that movie "Groundhog Day"?
In article , rich rookie wrote: "Justin Ulysses Morse" wrote in message m... Dave Turner wrote: ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: ITT Cannon - Contact Us Date: Monday 17 Nov 2003 12:14 pm From: Technical Query To: '" Hello David As far as I know the XLR is just a series part number, it may have had an original meaning, however we have no info here on it. regards John Embleton Technical Support ITT Industries, Cannon Connector Division, Basingstoke. UK So that's the official answer. Official? It's not even an answer. He might just as well have said, "Who cares?" or "None of your damn business." Ray A. Rayburn gives further information which ties in with this at http://www.soundfirst.com/xlr.html which gives Now this explanation makes much more sense. But having been around the internet awhile I have learned the important truth that just because a story sounds plausible, or has been written, doesn't make it true. This explanation has been repeated by a few other people but for all I know they could have all gotten it from a single unreliable source. Since every other explanation I've heard has been obvious bull****, this is the one I'll choose to believe until I find evidence to contradict it. Not that it really matters. What does "NC3FD" stand for? ulysses I just happend across this, this morning. From http://www.soundfirst.com/xlr.html Richard At one time Cannon (now ITT Cannon) made a large circular connector series that was popular for microphones called the P series. Mics used the 3 pin P3 version. Some loudspeakers use the P4 or P8 versions of this connector to this day. In an attempt to make a smaller connector for the microphone market Cannon came out with the UA series. These were "D" shaped instead of circular and were used on such mics as the Electro-Voice 666, 666R, and 655C. There was a desire for a smaller yet connector. Someone pointed out the small circular Cannon X series. The problem with this was it had no latch. Cannon rearranged the pins and added a latch, and the XL (X series with Latch) was born. This is the connector others such as Switchcraft and later Neutrik have copied. Later Cannon modified the female end only to put the contacts in a Resilient Rubber compound. They called this new version the XLR series. No other company has copied this feature. It is amusing that XLR has become the generic term since what everyone else copied was the XL and not the XLR! |
#51
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- (un) Official Answer
I'm still there.
"Justin Ulysses Morse" wrote in message m... Did you ever see that movie "Groundhog Day"? |
#52
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- (un) Official Answer
I can see that.
In article , rich rookie wrote: I'm still there. "Justin Ulysses Morse" wrote in message m... Did you ever see that movie "Groundhog Day"? |
#53
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Did anyone actually anwer the original question?
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#54
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
There were lots of answers, but none seemed to be (as Zaphod Beeblebrox would
say) "definitively definitive." Did anyone actually anwer the original question? |
#55
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- (un) Official Answer
"rich rookie" wrote in message news:yN6vb.7326 company has copied this feature. It is amusing that XLR has become the generic term since what everyone else copied was the XL and not the XLR! Naaa, they leeft the R on, because people looking for a *small* connector would be put off by XL ! geoff |
#56
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
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#57
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Did anyone actually anwer the original question?
Yes. It's a part designation. It doesn't have to mean anything, and apparently it doesn't, thought it seems to be in the same family as the part designation for other connectors that have some similarities. Like the popular IC, the 5534. What does that mean? But "XLR" looks as if it might be an initialization. 5534 doesn't and isn't. |
#58
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message ... Did anyone actually anwer the original question? Yes. It's a part designation. It doesn't have to mean anything, and apparently it doesn't, thought it seems to be in the same family as the part designation for other connectors that have some similarities. Like the popular IC, the 5534. What does that mean? But "XLR" looks as if it might be an initialization. 5534 doesn't and isn't. And the 'NE' before '5534' definitely is . geoff |
#59
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Mike Rivers wrote: In article writes: As far as I know the XLR is just a series part number, it may have had an original meaning, however we have no info here on it. That seems to be as good an answer as any. There apparently was an XL series of connector that was the same size and layout, but with a hard insert. The XLR had a somewhat flexible rubber base for the insert, and that's where the "R" came from (according to other folklore, sometimes traceable to ITT Cannon). I even have at least one old XL connector. Yup, hard plastic insert. Cable gland is screwed on. R for rubber sounds plausible. Graham |
#60
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Geoff Wood wrote:
"Mike Rivers" wrote in message news:znr1069087689k@trad... In article writes: As far as I know the XLR is just a series part number, it may have had an original meaning, however we have no info here on it. That seems to be as good an answer as any. There apparently was an XL series of connector that was the same size and layout, but with a hard insert. The XLR had a somewhat flexible rubber base for the insert, and that's where the "R" came from (according to other folklore, sometimes traceable to ITT Cannon). Xtremely Large Round ?!! It's the EPs that are extremely large and round ! Graham |
#61
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
I even have at least one old XL connector. Yup, hard plastic insert.
But I've bought XLRs with hard inserts. In fact, I don't ever remember seeing one with a flexible insert. |
#62
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Richard Crowley wrote:
The wire colors of traditional thermocouples indicate which type they are (J, K, etc.) and coincidentally also the "polarity". They have never followed the electronics tradition of black= negative, red=positive. Depends on what country the thermocouples are from. http://www.omega.com/techref/thermcolorcodes.html I had to deal with these in a multinational factory--parts from different parts of Europe, Japan, USA, and a mix of mostly K and J, and nothing labeled. |
#63
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
In article ,
William Sommerwerck wrote: I even have at least one old XL connector. Yup, hard plastic insert. But I've bought XLRs with hard inserts. In fact, I don't ever remember seeing one with a flexible insert. I bet they weren't really XLRs at all, but A3Ms or something. It's been a long time since I have seen anyone else using the Cannon connectors, although Newark still stocks them and I like them a lot. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#64
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
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#65
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Pooh Bear wrote:
Mike Rivers wrote: In article writes: As far as I know the XLR is just a series part number, it may have had an original meaning, however we have no info here on it. That seems to be as good an answer as any. There apparently was an XL series of connector that was the same size and layout, but with a hard insert. The XLR had a somewhat flexible rubber base for the insert, and that's where the "R" came from (according to other folklore, sometimes traceable to ITT Cannon). I even have at least one old XL connector. Yup, hard plastic insert. Cable gland is screwed on. R for rubber sounds plausible. Plausible, but far from certain. What is known is that XLR was a Cannon (before ITT) part number. I've heard people say that LR may have stood for "long reach" too, which is also plausible, but unestablished. Usually, the only way you'd ever find out what it "meant" would be to get the skinny from some old timer in the Cannon engineering department. Typically, part names/numbers come from two sources. One is the engineering department where they are given names just for project/ID purposes. Numbers often come from the numbering of projects, such as IC development 709 etc. Names usually make sense at some level IF one knows the thinking at the time. For example it COULD have been "Experimental, Low Impedance, Rubber Insert connector project" Which thence got shortened to XLR. (X is a common letter used to mean experimental). BUT as I said ONLY an old-timer at Cannon would know for sure. The letters could just as easily have been something else. Maybe even referring to internal names, departments etc., they had at Cannon. The Second place part names come from is the marketing dept. In such a case, the name would be choosen for "hype" Hence the "X"...you know like the X-1 rocket ship etc.! And the "LR" could be anything made up just so as to sound cool and not create confusion with other parts (either in house or competitor). As for the "true" story, only an engineer who was there at the time could say for sure. I'm old enough to have seen XLR as the cannon part number, but I never worked at Cannon and have no inside info as to the reasons for the name. Benj (Who in those days preferred Amphenol connectors which were considerably cheaper than Cannon and worked as well, IMHO) -- Due to SPAM innundation above address is turned off! |
#66
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
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#67
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
In article , wrote:
As for the "true" story, only an engineer who was there at the time could say for sure. The only thing I know is that the letter "R" stood for "resilient socket insulator" which differentiated it from the older phenolic insulated "XL" model. -- Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN 615.385.8051 Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control http://www.hyperback.com/olhsson.html Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined! |
#68
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
"Bob Olhsson" wrote in ...
The only thing I know is that the letter "R" stood for "resilient socket insulator" which differentiated it from the older phenolic insulated "XL" model. They probably used "R" for "rubber", but the marketing gerbs changed it to "resilient" to make it sound more refined. :-) |
#69
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
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#70
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
(Mike Rivers) wrote in message
I suppose that XLR could stand for something, but I imagine that if it actually did, someone would know. This is a pretty historic part number. Hasn't this been answered? ...... A few times. X = A small circular plug in the Cannon connector series that was not originally designed for microphones, but was later adapted, due to it's small size. Cannon originally made a large circular connector, the "P" (pin) series. Microphones used a 3 pin design of that. Speakers used (and still do) a 4 or 8 pin version of that series......... They wanted a smaller connector so they designed the "UA" series which were D shaped connectors. Mics such as the EV 666 and 654 used these........ In their desire for an even smaller mic connector they went with a small circular connector that cannon had around called the "X" series. L = Latch.... The X series had no latch, so they added one R = Rubber .... The XL series connector became popluar and cannon later embedded the contacts in rubber to insulate them. XLR J_West Read more here from Ray Rayburn, a very knowlegable audio technician ....... http://www.soundfirst.com/xlr.html |
#71
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
I cant remember where but I once read that XLR meant "extra low resistance"
the connector was originally designed for instrumentation work before being taken up by the audio industry originally made by ITT cannon hence they where called cannons when I started in the audio world in the late seventies and where available in 2 to 8 way versions John Deans "Mike Rivers" wrote in message news:znr1069625531k@trad... In article writes: Plausible, but far from certain. What is known is that XLR was a Cannon (before ITT) part number. I've heard people say that LR may have stood for "long reach" too, which is also plausible, but unestablished. Usually, the only way you'd ever find out what it "meant" would be to get the skinny from some old timer in the Cannon engineering department. Who really cares? It's a part number and it doesn't have to mean anything, and probably doesn't, really. We have: LA-2 (Leveling Amplifier) RNC 1773 (Really Nice Compressor and the year McQ was born - not really, but I forget the meaning of 1773, but it does have a meaning) 3630 (Address of the Alesis factory at the time) AG-440 (Audio General) I suppose that XLR could stand for something, but I imagine that if it actually did, someone would know. This is a pretty historic part number. -- I'm really Mike Rivers ) However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over, lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo |
#72
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
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#73
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
The question is similar to the question of what BNC or DVD stands for.
Most answers look for what the letters could stand for rather than how they originated. I'm only interested in what inspired the choice in the first place, and that is not always easy to determine. The meaning of XLR may never be known, unless Cannon was thoughtful about documenting it; we may have to settle for a plausible explanation and hope for the best. If the designer of the connector is still alive, he might be able to help. In the case of DVD, we're fortunate. Most of us were around when the acronym was invented and know the history. DVD stands for "Digital Video Disc." Digital Versatile Disc was simply a revision applied when the disc began to be used for other purposes. I suspect that most definitions of XLR fall into the same category (as do the choices for BNC.) We may never know for sure. Norm Strong |
#74
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
e(X)aggerated (L)ong-term (R)eliability
I have a pair of AKG C460s with unreliable XLR connections, leading to phantom power-introduced noise if the cables are moved. They're about 10 years old and got a lot of use, but it seems the male XLR pins on the mics are worn enough to compromise the contact quality. New female XLRs on the cables still don't make solid connection. -Jay -- x------- Jay Kadis ------- x---- Jay's Attic Studio ----x x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x x-------- http://ccrma-www.stanford.edu/~jay/ ----------x |
#75
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Geoff Wood -nospam wrote:
But "XLR" looks as if it might be an initialization. 5534 doesn't and isn't. And the 'NE' before '5534' definitely is . Are you going to tell me it's supposed to stand for "NEve"? ulysses |
#76
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
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#77
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
My recollection was that it was the other way around. The original
name was Digital Versatile Disk, but since the primary application (for the masses) was for video, people who never knew otherwise figured that it stood for Digital Video Disk, and there you are. Nope. V was originally Video. It was changed to Versatile when the ROM potential became apparent. |
#78
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
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#79
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
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#80
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What Does "XLR" Mean? -- Official Answer
Actually, I'm told that BNC stands for "Bayonet N Connector." If you inspect
an "N" connector, you will see that the inside closely resembles a BNC but it has a huge external screw on ring to secure it. The BNC uses a much smaller bayonet ring to secure it. The large housing of the N connector makes it suitable for use with large cables like 5/8" antenna transmission line. The much smaller BNC is limited to smaller cables like RG-59, which makes it a great choice for video. |
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