This may seem like a stupid question, and probably is. Please bear with me. I have 1/4in. tip/sleeve connector jacks and 2-wire shielded audio cable, from which I intend to make an instrument audio cable.
The question: what do I do with the shield?
1
-
it's not ideal, but send both cores to the tip & the shield to the sleeve.– TetsujinAug 26, 2015 at 8:39
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
Generally speaking a shield should not carry signal. It should be grounded at one end, usually the source but in this case probably at the input. That would mean connecting the hot signal line to the tip and the return signal line plus the shield to the 1/4" sleeve, assuming that the sleeve is at ground on the input, and leaving the shield unconnected at the source.
This is not ideal but without a way to separate chassis and signal grounds -- having only two conductors -- it's probably the best you can do.
-
“Generally speaking a shield should not carry signal.” You're right in principle, but in practice most instrument connections are unbalanced and always use ground as the negative signal wire. Why proper balanced connections over XLR have never become the norm, I have no idea. Aug 28, 2015 at 10:08
-
@leftaroundabout A wise man said the answer to "why" is almost always "money". (-:– Jim MackAug 29, 2015 at 14:34