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XLR, jack, RCA cables: connect your sound system

4 min readL'équipe Fox Rider
A black stage box with twelve numbered XLR headers, connected to a thick coiled multi-pair cable, with a sheaf of male and female XLR connectors spread out next to it.
Photo: VK1LW — Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 3.0

You plugged everything in, and the system blows. Or worse, it hums, a low hum that doesn't go away when you lower the console volume. We often blame the speaker, sometimes the room. Nine times out of ten, it’s the cabling – and more precisely the choice between two families of connections that nothing distinguishes with the naked eye.

Know before you plan: DJ equipment cannot be shipped. He withdraws and goes in person to Lyon 3 (2 Impasse du Lutin, 69003 Lyon), by appointment. The excess of €200 is paid on site at the drop-off and returned to you on return.

Symmetrical and asymmetrical: the only distinction that matters

An unbalanced link carries the signal on a single conductor, with the shield serving as both feedback and protection. This is the case for the RCA and the two-point 6.35 jack. Simple, economical — and sensitive: any interference picked up on the path arrives directly in the signal.

A symmetric connection carries the same signal twice, in opposite phase, on two separate conductors, plus a ground. On arrival, the device subtracts one from the other: what is common to the two wires – therefore the parasites picked up en route – is canceled, while the useful signal is reconstituted. This is the principle of the XLR and the 6.35 TRS jack. The technical reference note signed by Rane puts it bluntly: the symmetrical connection was designed to be immune to these noise currents which can never be completely eliminated.

Rear panel of Pioneer XDJ-RX3: red and white RCA jacks, balanced outputs and power socket

The three meter rule

The same note sets a concrete limit, and it is probably the most useful figure in this article: any unbalanced cable must remain under three meters. Beyond this, the unpleasant effects of ground loops are amplified.

Translate: a one meter RCA cord between a turntable and the console, no problem. A fifteen meter RCA cord to the speakers at the back of the room is an antenna. Over this distance, we systematically switch to XLR - even if the speaker accepts both.

Pair of black Technics SL-1210 MK2 turntables viewed from three quarters, S-shaped arm and aluminum platter

The actual connectivity of a rented console

Nothing theoretical here: here's what you'll find on the back of the Pioneer XDJ-RX3 , and what each socket is for.

SocketKindUse
MASTER (XLR)SymmetricalTo speakers, including long distance
MASTER (RCA)AsymmetricTowards a nearby amplifier, less than three meters
BOOTHJack 6.35 TRSCabin return, level separately adjustable
PHONO x2CAREntrance to vinyl turntables
LINE x2CAREntering a line-level reader
MIC 1 and 2XLR and 6.35 TRS jackMicro speech and animation microphone
TORCA and 3.5 mini-jackTelephone during breaks

The point to remember: the console offers both master outputs. Choosing the RCA because you have a red and white cord on hand, when you have to cross a village hall, means giving yourself free breathing all evening.

Mixing section of XDJ-RX3 close-up: Sound Color FX buttons, color knobs and big blue button

Where exactly does snoring come from?

A ground loop appears when the grounds of two devices are connected in a second place that we had not anticipated: by the ground of the mains sockets, by the rails of a rack, by a chassis which touches another chassis. The current which then flows in this loop is added to the signal, and is heard as a low hum.

Three gestures, in this order:

  • A single power strip. Console, turntables, preamps: everything on the same electrical line. This is the remedy that resolves the most cases.
  • The ground wire of the boards screwed onto the dedicated terminal of the console, and tightened well.
  • Symmetrical as soon as it gets longer. Switch to XLR between the console and the speakers, and separate the audio cables from the mains cables, without running them in parallel for several meters.

One last detail that technicians know well: an active speaker powered from a remote outlet, at the other end of a room, is a perfect candidate for the ground loop. If you can't bring the power supplies closer together, balanced bonding becomes mandatory, not optional.

The list to prepare before leaving

  • Two male-female XLRs the length of the room, plus one backup.
  • Two pairs of short RCAs for the plates Technics , ground wires included.
  • A 6.35 TRS jack if you plan a cabin return.
  • An XLR for the speech microphone, apart, never the same as the music.
  • A mini-jack to RCA adapter for auxiliary input, and a long power strip.

That's five lines on a list, and it's the difference between a sound system that disappears behind the music and a sound system that you hear even when no one is playing.

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