adaptor...XLR vs. 1/4 inch?

[Carlos Medrano]

Background.
I have the Mackie SRM450 powered speakers. I have a Phonic MM1202
mixer.
The Phonic mixer has balanced 1/4inch main outputs. The mackie
speakers have XLR inputs.
Can I just go to a music store and buy balanced adaptors (1/4inch male
to male XLR) and not have to worry about anything? Or is it better to
have a mixer that has balanced XLR outputs? I am using this for big
room djing gigs. This whole thing about balancing and if 1/4inch is
better than XLR has me thinking.
I am thinking about the adaptor because its cheaper in the long run
but am i gonna affect sound quality? ANd yes we are talking about loud
sound amplification.

thanks for any advice.

[Troy]

If your mixer ouputs are ballanced TRS just make a cable.Go buy the TRS ends
and cut off the XLR ends wire em up and a little solder and your off.The
adapters would be fine also but I try to avoid adapters where possible.They
may cause you problems in the long run,like losing one while setting up for
a gig,or one giving out on you at the last minute.




Carlos Medrano > wrote in message
m...
> Background.
> I have the Mackie SRM450 powered speakers. I have a Phonic MM1202
> mixer.
> The Phonic mixer has balanced 1/4inch main outputs. The mackie
> speakers have XLR inputs.
> Can I just go to a music store and buy balanced adaptors (1/4inch male
> to male XLR) and not have to worry about anything? Or is it better to
> have a mixer that has balanced XLR outputs? I am using this for big
> room djing gigs. This whole thing about balancing and if 1/4inch is
> better than XLR has me thinking.
> I am thinking about the adaptor because its cheaper in the long run
> but am i gonna affect sound quality? ANd yes we are talking about loud
> sound amplification.
>
> thanks for any advice.

[Mainlander]

In article >, alternate-
says...
> If your mixer ouputs are ballanced TRS just make a cable.Go buy the TRS ends
> and cut off the XLR ends wire em up and a little solder and your off.The
> adapters would be fine also but I try to avoid adapters where possible.They
> may cause you problems in the long run,like losing one while setting up for
> a gig,or one giving out on you at the last minute.

The main issue I have with adapters is
(a) sometimes they are wired wrongly like pin 2 is cold instead of hot
(b) mechanical issues, like they weigh a lot more than a plug and could
put an extra load on the contacts of the sockets.

[Arny Krueger]

"Mainlander" <*@*.*> wrote in message
. nz
> In article >,
> alternate- says...

>> If your mixer outputs are balanced TRS just make a cable.Go buy the
>> TRS ends and cut off the XLR ends wire em up and a little solder and
>> your off.The adapters would be fine also but I try to avoid adapters
>> where possible.They may cause you problems in the long run,like
>> losing one while setting up for a gig,or one giving out on you at
>> the last minute.

> The main issue I have with adapters is
> (a) sometimes they are wired wrongly like pin 2 is cold instead of hot

So you've then got a polarity inversion. As long as all speaker inputs are
inverted, there isn't a problem.

> (b) mechanical issues, like they weigh a lot more than a plug and
> could put an extra load on the contacts of the sockets.

Entirely valid. Isn't it nice that it was recommended that you make up a
cable. If you don't want to do that, you can get suitable cables from a good
professional cable supplier like www.markertek.com .

[Carlos Medrano]

Thanks for a response.
I think i'm gonna pass on building my own and just buy adaptors (and an extra
but my next question is...
Building or having an adaptor that is TRS to XLR is that just as good as is you
had a mixer with XLR outs? I know that adaptor is gonna work but in a technical
sense (sound, frequency, performance), is it the same?



"Troy" > wrote in message >...
> If your mixer ouputs are ballanced TRS just make a cable.Go buy the TRS ends
> and cut off the XLR ends wire em up and a little solder and your off.The
> adapters would be fine also but I try to avoid adapters where possible.They
> may cause you problems in the long run,like losing one while setting up for
> a gig,or one giving out on you at the last minute.
>
>
>
>
> Carlos Medrano > wrote in message
> m...
> > Background.
> > I have the Mackie SRM450 powered speakers. I have a Phonic MM1202
> > mixer.
> > The Phonic mixer has balanced 1/4inch main outputs. The mackie
> > speakers have XLR inputs.
> > Can I just go to a music store and buy balanced adaptors (1/4inch male
> > to male XLR) and not have to worry about anything? Or is it better to
> > have a mixer that has balanced XLR outputs? I am using this for big
> > room djing gigs. This whole thing about balancing and if 1/4inch is
> > better than XLR has me thinking.
> > I am thinking about the adaptor because its cheaper in the long run
> > but am i gonna affect sound quality? ANd yes we are talking about loud
> > sound amplification.
> >
> > thanks for any advice.

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> Building or having an adaptor that is TRS to XLR is that just as good as is you
> had a mixer with XLR outs?

It's electrically the same. As to whether it's as good, well an XLR
with proper latching hardware isn't as likely to get pulled out as a
TRS plug, but today many XLRs don't have latches. So, yeah, except for
strange, esoteric stuff, yes, it's just as good.

However there are some considerations. If your mixer outputs are
unbalanced on TS jacks (not TRS), and you're connecting them to
balanced inputs, you won't get the noise rejection benefits of making
a balanced connection.

Also, often, for the same meter indication on the mixer, the output
level at an XLR connector will be substantially greater than a 1/4"
unbalanced TS jack, and sometimes a 1/4" TRS jack. So without knowing
exactly what's connected to the mixer on the INSIDE of that jack you
don't know.

Also, there are adapaters with transformers and adapters which are
wired directly. Most of the time (but again, it depends on the mixer)
you'll want the kind without the transformer built in. This is good,
because it's cheaper. A cheap transformer will definitely degrade the
sound and you probably won't like it. A good transformer will also
change the sound, but you might like it.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )