Mono & Stereo Jacks

[beowolverine93]

What is the difference between a mono and stereo jack?

 

[Cagey]

Mono jacks have two connections, while stereo jacks have 3. They're more frequently referred to as TS or TRS jacks, for Tip/Sleeve and Tip/Ring/Sleeve. That refers to where the connections are on the plug.

 

[beowolverine93]

Is one better than the other?

 

[Cagey]

No, they just have different uses.

 

[beowolverine93]

Which are? Thanks for the photos by the way.

 

[deajo]

whoa...one sec...i have a stereo jack in my strat (LR Bags piezo X Bridge) with preamp.  Do I have to use a special cord with that output jack?

I have been using just normal cords with minimal success...it does allow me to blend the piezo and magnetic pickups, but i was under the impression
I could split the signal with a "Y" cord (if that makes any sense)...i wanted to send the magnetic signal to my tube amp and the piezo signal to my acoustic amp
...i bought a "Y" cord...it doesn't split the signal...i can't remember if it was a stereo "Y" cord or not (or if one is even available)

anyways, any help on this subject is greatly appreciated...i was never one for reading manuals  :doh:

 

[Cagey]

Which are? Thanks for the photos by the way.

Well, I believe they were originally designed for telephony switchboards, so it's a very robust design that'll take a lot of abuse. The TS jack is most often used to connect single-channel signal ports, while the TRS does dual-channel. So, in the case of audio, that usually translates into mono or stereo signals.

You don't have to use them that way, though. Any signal you want can go on those conductors. It's just a good idea to use similar signals so you don't trash one line by contacting the other while plugging/unplugging the connector.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Frequently stereo jacks are used as mechanical on/off switches.  All of the grounds go to the sleeve, and then the batteries negative pole goes to the ring.  This way the circuit is not complete until you put your cord into the guitar, and the sleeve on the mono plug connects the sleeve and the ring on the stereo jack.  So that is why you are supposed to unplug guitars/basses with powered pickup systems, pedals, and so on.  It is a cleaver way of adding a switch at a budget price.
Patrick

 

[Cagey]

whoa...one sec...i have a stereo jack in my strat (LR Bags piezo X Bridge) with preamp.  Do I have to use a special cord with that output jack?

I have been using just normal cords with minimal success...it does allow me to blend the piezo and magnetic pickups, but i was under the impression
I could split the signal with a "Y" cord (if that makes any sense)...i wanted to send the magnetic signal to my tube amp and the piezo signal to my acoustic amp
...i bought a "Y" cord...it doesn't split the signal...i can't remember if it was a stereo "Y" cord or not (or if one is even available)

anyways, any help on this subject is greatly appreciated...i was never one for reading manuals  :doh:

It depends how it's wired, but it's very common for the magnetic and piezo signals to be on separate lines so you can do just what you did. The "Y" cord you used may or may not have broken those lines out to separate channels. You can get them either way.

 

[deajo]

whoa...one sec...i have a stereo jack in my strat (LR Bags piezo X Bridge) with preamp.  Do I have to use a special cord with that output jack?

I have been using just normal cords with minimal success...it does allow me to blend the piezo and magnetic pickups, but i was under the impression
I could split the signal with a "Y" cord (if that makes any sense)...i wanted to send the magnetic signal to my tube amp and the piezo signal to my acoustic amp
...i bought a "Y" cord...it doesn't split the signal...i can't remember if it was a stereo "Y" cord or not (or if one is even available)

anyways, any help on this subject is greatly appreciated...i was never one for reading manuals  :doh:

It depends how it's wired, but it's very common for the magnetic and piezo signals to be on separate lines so you can do just what you did. The "Y" cord you used may or may not have broken those lines out to separate channels. You can get them either way.

thanks Cagey, thats the second time you helped me out today...the guitar was wired by a very respectable shop here in Toronto called 12th fret...i am pretty sure he would have split it...that wiring was far too complicated for me to figure out...i will update this project as it developes...i was just about ready to rip that piezo bridge out of that guitar...or even install a second output (cringes) when i happened upon this post...the piezo bridge will live to see another day (for now)...it's been a real love/hate relationship with that thing so far

 

[line6man]

[/center]

This is not a standard 1/4" TS jack. It is a jack with a break terminal, which carries the signal at the tip, only when nothing is inserted into the jack. These types of jacks are used in applications such as dual mono output guitars, which combine two signals to one jack when only one connector is inserted.

 

[AndyG]

Which are? Thanks for the photos by the way.

Well, I believe they were originally designed for telephony switchboards, so it's a very robust design that'll take a lot of abuse. The TS jack is most often used to connect single-channel signal ports, while the TRS does dual-channel. So, in the case of audio, that usually translates into mono or stereo signals.

You don't have to use them that way, though. Any signal you want can go on those conductors. It's just a good idea to use similar signals so you don't trash one line by contacting the other while plugging/unplugging the connector.

TRS jacks are also used for balanced signals in pro audio gear.  Manufacturers started using TRS jacks to save space on their gear (instead of using XLR's).  The tip carries the "hot" signal, the ring carries the "cold" signal (inverse phase), and the sleeve is the ground.  They are also used as insert jacks, where the tip is the send, and the ring is the return.  The other end of the cable would have 2 seperate connectors (input and output).

 

[line6man]

Which are? Thanks for the photos by the way.

Well, I believe they were originally designed for telephony switchboards, so it's a very robust design that'll take a lot of abuse. The TS jack is most often used to connect single-channel signal ports, while the TRS does dual-channel. So, in the case of audio, that usually translates into mono or stereo signals.

You don't have to use them that way, though. Any signal you want can go on those conductors. It's just a good idea to use similar signals so you don't trash one line by contacting the other while plugging/unplugging the connector.

TRS jacks are also used for balanced signals in pro audio gear.  Manufacturers started using TRS jacks to save space on their gear (instead of using XLR's).  The tip carries the "hot" signal, the ring carries the "cold" signal (inverse phase), and the sleeve is the ground.  They are also used as insert jacks, where the tip is the send, and the ring is the return.  The other end of the cable would have 2 seperate connectors (input and output).

Additionally, many of the people who are paranoid about batteries dying on their guitars opt for external DC power supplies to provide for the active components of onboard buffers, preamps and active pickups. (Of course, this is fudging ridiculous, but that's another topic.) Relative to the ground potential at the sleeve terminal, a positive direct current source is often run through the ring terminal. A notable example of this application is the Line6 Variax guitars, and their external power supplies. I believe that EMG has recently introduced a stompbox power supply unit, as well.

 

[Rickgrxbass]

Which are? Thanks for the photos by the way.

Well, I believe they were originally designed for telephony switchboards, so it's a very robust design that'll take a lot of abuse. The TS jack is most often used to connect single-channel signal ports, while the TRS does dual-channel. So, in the case of audio, that usually translates into mono or stereo signals.

You don't have to use them that way, though. Any signal you want can go on those conductors. It's just a good idea to use similar signals so you don't trash one line by contacting the other while plugging/unplugging the connector.

TRS jacks are also used for balanced signals in pro audio gear.  Manufacturers started using TRS jacks to save space on their gear (instead of using XLR's).  The tip carries the "hot" signal, the ring carries the "cold" signal (inverse phase), and the sleeve is the ground.  They are also used as insert jacks, where the tip is the send, and the ring is the return.  The other end of the cable would have 2 seperate connectors (input and output).

Additionally, many of the people who are paranoid about batteries dying on their guitars opt for external DC power supplies to provide for the active components of onboard buffers, preamps and active pickups. (Of course, this is fricking ridiculous, but that's another topic.) Relative to the ground potential at the sleeve terminal, a positive direct current source is often run through the ring terminal. A notable example of this application is the Line6 Variax guitars, and their external power supplies. I believe that EMG has recently introduced a stompbox power supply unit, as well.

And I haven't been able to find it again, but I vaguely remember an article in Bass Player years ago about rigging up an XLR jack onto a bass in order to use a phantom power source to drive a preamp  :icon_scratch:

 

[line6man]

Which are? Thanks for the photos by the way.

Well, I believe they were originally designed for telephony switchboards, so it's a very robust design that'll take a lot of abuse. The TS jack is most often used to connect single-channel signal ports, while the TRS does dual-channel. So, in the case of audio, that usually translates into mono or stereo signals.

You don't have to use them that way, though. Any signal you want can go on those conductors. It's just a good idea to use similar signals so you don't trash one line by contacting the other while plugging/unplugging the connector.

TRS jacks are also used for balanced signals in pro audio gear.  Manufacturers started using TRS jacks to save space on their gear (instead of using XLR's).  The tip carries the "hot" signal, the ring carries the "cold" signal (inverse phase), and the sleeve is the ground.  They are also used as insert jacks, where the tip is the send, and the ring is the return.  The other end of the cable would have 2 seperate connectors (input and output).

Additionally, many of the people who are paranoid about batteries dying on their guitars opt for external DC power supplies to provide for the active components of onboard buffers, preamps and active pickups. (Of course, this is fricking ridiculous, but that's another topic.) Relative to the ground potential at the sleeve terminal, a positive direct current source is often run through the ring terminal. A notable example of this application is the Line6 Variax guitars, and their external power supplies. I believe that EMG has recently introduced a stompbox power supply unit, as well.

And I haven't been able to find it again, but I vaguely remember an article in Bass Player years ago about rigging up an XLR jack onto a bass in order to use a phantom power source to drive a preamp  :icon_scratch:

If you ignore the rest of my scribblings in this picture, the middle circuit shows how you could phantom power through XLR.