What do cable do I need to hook up to a soundboard? Do all, most soundboards have the same connections?
Thanks,
-kq
The most common are
1- XLR the output of the console will be MALE.
2- 1/4 the output of the console will be FEMALE
3- RCA the output of the console will be FEMALE
4- BANTOM or TINI TELEPHONE. very uncommon the output will be FEMALE most likly balanced.
The inportaint thing to remember about XLR is this outputs of consoles that are XLR have no industry standard as to what pin is hot. Some consoles pin 2 is hot some its pin 3
For mic inputs there is an industry standard its pin 2 hot..
So when you are connecting your recorder or a preamp to a console output if your using a mic input on your recorder ( and its balanced ) its pin 2 hot.. Now you have to "guess" what pin is hot on the console. So you might have to have a simple phase reverse cable where you simply swap pin 2 with pin 3 on one end mark it with Yellow tape this is the standard color for a phase reverse cable.. The only way to tell is to use headphones in the field and listen to your mics then add in the board feed if your bass seems to drop off when you add the board feed your most likely out of phase. If your using a recorder like an r-4 and you have separate tracks you can fix this later in post. But if you are combining tracks on the fly you need to fix it now.. Or you will end up with a recording with less bottom end then you planned.
I know I am complicating things but once you grasp this concept you will always be prepared for what ever life throws your way.. Also look on the back of the console, most consoles will say OUTPUTS PIN 2 HOT OR PIN 2+ PIN 3- some will say nothing. You might have to rely on the sound engineer to know ( sometimes they do some times they don't ) If you have the luxury of knowing what console it is go to the console manufacture web page and find out.. I am thinking this would be a good data base for me or someone to put together for tapers so you know what types of record outputs each brand name and model of console has that you might encounter in the field. Sounds like a job for ROCKPUNK.
Chris Church