Topic: 1/4" ts plugs vs 1/4" trs plugs into microtrack 2496?

[symoka01]

Hey dudes,

I have been running at853 (cards)  > deneke ps-2 > microtrack 2496 for the last 5 years and have been very happy.  However, the whole time, I've been converting the ps-2 1/8" output into a radioshack 1/8" splitter and then attaching two 1/4" ts plugs onto the splitter's 1/8" plugs and inserting them into the microtrack 1/4" inputs.  I've done some reading and everyone seems to say "be sure to use 1/4" trs plugs and not 1/4" ts plugs" (what I've been doing this whole time).

Can anyone tell me why I should switch to the 1/4" trs? What are the advantages? Will they make the sound better? Using the ts plugs, am I at risk of frying my gear and just been lucky all these years? I'm trying to tape george clinton and parliament funkadelic tonight and will make the change if better sound quality or less risk to my gear occurs.

Like I said, I've been very happy with my results, over the years, and have received a lot of positive feedback about my tapes but this has been on my mind and would like to achieve the best quality possible with the gear I have.

Thanks!
K

[SmokinJoe]

As you may have noticed... Mics with XLR's have 3 pins... this is called a "balanced" system.  Balanced systems will have 3 wires (signal +, signal -, ground), be it XLR's or 1/4" TRS, or 1/8" TRS (ref Korg MR-1).  Most stealth mics, etc have a single 1/8" TRS connector... the tip is + on one mic, the ring is + on the other mic, and the sleeve is a shared ground.  This is called an "unbalanced" system.  Generally speaking, swapping between balanced and unbalanced is best avoided if possible.  Lots of people swap back and forth and it generally works, but gear has impedance which are optimized when you use them as designed, and when you don't use them as designed they aren't optimized.  I'll leave it at that.

It sounds like you have AT853's with XLR adapters running into a PS2 (balanced thus far), then are doing a balanced -> unbalanced conversion to the single miniplug, then splitting off to 2 TS jacks.  Yes, you would be better off if you skipped this conversion.   Get some XLR -> TRS adapters (ones WITHOUT impedance transformers), like these  http://www.zzounds.com/item--CBIAN424  Or you might be better off buying/making some with about 6" long piece of cable just so you can bend the cable in your bag.

At that point, you can probably leave the PS2 out of the equation entirely.  Mics > adapter cables > Microtrack, and use the phantom power on the MT.  I think the MT doesn't put out a full 48V, but AT's should be happy with whatever the MT is providing.  The PS2 doesn't add gain, it just provides power, and that is available in the MT.

By the way... if this current setup works, it's not dangerous.  But it's been written in several threads that using this same setup won't work correctly with some other mics.  Some mics want you to tie the GND to Signal negative, other mics want a floating ground.

[stevetoney]

^ +T smokinjoe for the great response.

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^ +T smokinjoe for the great response.