25
Owner’s Manual
Owner’
s Manual
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. This is all totally above board
and in full accord with the hallowed standards dictated
by the AES (Audio Engineering Society).
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
applications:
• Balanced mono circuits. When wired as a
balanced connector, a 1⁄4" TRS jack or plug
is connected tip to signal high (hot), ring to
signal low (cold), and sleeve to ground (earth).
• Stereo Headphones, and rarely, stereo
microphones 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.
Appendix B: Connections
They must be separated into a left cord and a
right cord, which are plugged into the two mic
preamps.
You can cook up your own adapter for a stereo
microphone adapter. “Y” two cables out of a
female 1⁄4" TRS jack to two male XLR plugs,
one for the Right signal and one for the Left.
• 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
available 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
equipment and in many other applications (Figure D).
They are unbalanced and electrically identical to a
1⁄4" TS phone plug or jack. 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
