My mistake. We have some behringer I nuke amps in our sound system and I recall plugging all three types into the back of the amp. xLR or 1/4 for the input and speakon for the output, but not all three in one.
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WHY ARE WE STILL USING 1/4" JACKS!
- Thread starter georgiagoodie
- Start date
My mistake. We have some behringer I nuke amps in our sound system and I recall plugging all three types into the back of the amp. xLR or 1/4 for the input and speakon for the output, but not all three in one.
+1
Locking jacks on my instruments? No thanks!
I have one that came with a locking jack, and it's a royal pain in the arse, because of course I forget it's locking and I always pull and pull before I remember.
If someone pulls my cable when I'm using it, I'd rather it gets unplugged than have a broken cable.
You must have played not very loudly... a standard instrument cable will heat up rather rapidly with the kind of voltages a typical bass amp will output at a gig... and finally melt. They are not designed to carry the amperage an amplifier outputs.
Count yourself lucky and don't do it again.
I have a bass with a locking jack. You can either sand, or what I did with a cheap soldering iron, melt away the tab that locks the jack, and it should work like normal.
Geez, give the OP a break. If some caveman didn't ask why they were still throwing rocks at wildebeasts when stone arrows work better we would all still be living in caves throwing rocks at wildebeasts. 
I use this setup so 1/4 inch jacks are not an issue for me.
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I use this setup so 1/4 inch jacks are not an issue for me.
Power can't be transmitted over fiber and all of the peripherals you want to add just increase the number of places where a problem can occur.
Pickups are analog devices, period. You can digitize the signal once it has been captured by the pickups, but there's no guarantee that it will be any more reliable than an analog signal, passed through a couple of 1/4" jacks/plugs and a piece of cable. Fiber isn't able to be bent tightly, either. Kinds and bends that are tighter than the minimum bend radius degrade performance and in some cases, the signal will actually stop because the light will reflect back on itself. Then, there's the media converter needed at the amp. Do you want to manipulate the signal in the analog, or digital domain? You need to make that decision, too. Think Pro Tools plug-ins, for this part but you still need to deal with latency issues. Fortunately, digital signals have been pretty immune to marketing BS, unlike analog cables and plugs. However, I just saw that AudioQuest is selling high end USB cables, so I guess that ship has sailed, too.
I would bet that very few in this thread actually understand the requirements and signal properties of the cables and plugs/jacks we use. The standards were set over 100 years ago and, other than standing on the cable and yanking on it, we don't exceed the capabilities. If a guitar produces 12KHz, it's not even going to be audible, while coaxial cable can pass signals in the MHz range and even GHz, if the right conditions are met.
You must not like vintage amps- they won't be able to work with the digital signal you want.
It's not the voltage, it's the current that melts the insulation. The signal may arc through if the insulation isn't rated for high voltage, but that doesn't usually happen until it reaches high numbers.
Here's a 1/4" and XLR combo-
http://www.fullcompass.com/common/products/lg/83515.jpg
Speaker output above a certain level doesn't work on 1/4" plugs and jacks because of the heat generated at the connections. Cross-sectional area and contact area are's sufficient to handle the current passing through the connections. It's the reason a skinny wire is used for a small fuse and large contacts are needed for heavy duty switches.
The problem with 1/4" speaker cables is the risks associated with the connectors at high power levels more than the cable. Which is why we have speakon.
Dude I feel your pain. The industry seems to fabricate a new standard every year (or sometimes multiple times a year) and it is doing nothing to help anyone. I'd have settled on the outboard threaded brackets with the through-axle and left well enough alone, now we have stuff like PF30, BB30, BB92 (?!), etc... and it's not just that either, just look at wheel axle standards...
But anyway the discussion, yeah there isn't much wrong with 1/4" jacks so why bother? It'd take more effort than it's worth to convert the whole industry (because that's essentially what we're looking at here) for whatever marginal improvement one could expect. Even repairs get tedious at much more complicated connectors, for example rewiring 4-8 pin microphone connectors (which is such a PITA)... the 1/4" leaves you with two or three very large, very exposed terminals to attach wire to and solder on. You don't even need to solder if you don't want to, a lot of the terminals on 1/4" jacks are sized properly for a female spade lug. Yerasov's idea with the CAT connectors is innovative and clean but ultimately I think confined to small applications like pedalboards, where it does indeed reduce some of the clutter from multiple signal and power connections. Ultimately, though, I think it 'solves' a problem that was never there.
My $0.02
SirMjac28
Patiently Waiting For The Next British Invasion
maybe a snap jack magnet connector minus the 1/4"...
Those magnets are surprisingly strong for those of you who haven't tried one.
I use these and I love them just hard to find them anymore I bought as many plugs and cables as I could.
So does one just leave the plug in the jack after use? Is that good for the jack itself? Also (and this is just out of waaaaay left field, TB Twilight Zone thinking) does having such a strong magnet in place create the potential to disturb the magnetic field of the pickups?
You can leave it in, but if the bass is active you will drain the batteries because the circuit is engaged.
What if you have the big countersunk planet waves Jack? I would need pliers to get that little piece out!
I know-that's the reason I wrote what I did in the other posts. Still, the end might survive the heat, but the insulation or solder joints may not, leading to a fault that can kill an amp.
The magnetic field should be in roughly the same shape as the magnet- like a donut. Also, the field would more likely to affect the signal, if it was parallel to the path. Fortunately, these fields don't cause much of a problem when it's at a right angle. This is the reason orientation is important when placing transformers and other inductors- if the field is strong enough, it can cause a lot of problems.
butchblack
Life is short. Do good. Find and do what you love.
Power can't be transmitted over fiber and all of the peripherals you want to add just increase the number of places where a problem can occur.
Pickups are analog devices, period. You can digitize the signal once it has been captured by the pickups, but there's no guarantee that it will be any more reliable than an analog signal, passed through a couple of 1/4" jacks/plugs and a piece of cable. Fiber isn't able to be bent tightly, either. Kinds and bends that are tighter than the minimum bend radius degrade performance and in some cases, the signal will actually stop because the light will reflect back on itself. Then, there's the media converter needed at the amp. Do you want to manipulate the signal in the analog, or digital domain? You need to make that decision, too. Think Pro Tools plug-ins, for this part but you still need to deal with latency issues. Fortunately, digital signals have been pretty immune to marketing BS, unlike analog cables and plugs. However, I just saw that AudioQuest is selling high end USB cables, so I guess that ship has sailed, too.
I would bet that very few in this thread actually understand the requirements and signal properties of the cables and plugs/jacks we use. The standards were set over 100 years ago and, other than standing on the cable and yanking on it, we don't exceed the capabilities. If a guitar produces 12KHz, it's not even going to be audible, while coaxial cable can pass signals in the MHz range and even GHz, if the right conditions are met.
You must not like vintage amps- they won't be able to work with the digital signal you want.
I am aware that fiber doesn't transmit power, I was talking about a combination type cable. Think two wires for power and a fiber line molded into a single cable with a three prong tip, two prongs for the power wires and the third is an optical port for the fiber. And yeah, fiber would be too delicate to be practical, but installing lasers in a bass isn't either. The whole idea is hypothetical anyways, I came up with it as I typed it in a semi conscious state induced by mass quantities of THC, so let's not get into too deep a debate over it.
+1... they are very hard to find. If you know anyone that has any adaptors or cables in the US please let me know
SirMjac28
Patiently Waiting For The Next British Invasion
+1 I started using them because I can connect and disconnect so quickly without any noise and they really are awesome cables and because the adapter stays in there is less wear and tear when switching basses.
