wHy?

[Nick's Picks]

in the world of cables, if its sending, its male.  if its receiving, its female.  even in the physical world...thats the way it is.

why then, are TAx connectors (the mini XLRs) always backwards?

[Jamos]

How about AC power cables...
male > receives
female > sends

most of the time atleast.
makes sense, really...wouldn't want male prongs sticking out of a wall plate w/hot power running through them.


not sure about the TA connectors though.

[Nick's Picks]

makes sense for electricity due to safety

[willndmb]

How about AC power cables...
male > receives
female > sends

most of the time atleast.
makes sense, really...wouldn't want male prongs sticking out of a wall plate w/hot power running through them.


not sure about the TA connectors though.

some things in life are gay

[Church-Audio]

in the world of cables, if its sending, its male.  if its receiving, its female.  even in the physical world...thats the way it is.

why then, are TAx connectors (the mini XLRs) always backwards?

The reason why TA connectors are "backwards" is simple. The TA connector was built for Shure they used it on the sm90 and sm91 microphones as well as the sm98 and a few others like the 819 and 809. The also used it for there wireless microphone body packs.. The female version would have to be much bigger in order to make it a panel mount. So Switchcraft/Shure decided to make the panel mount connectors MALE. They do actually have female TA connectors now that are panel mount but they never get used for anything but custom work.

So there you go the boring history of the TA connector as described by the master of trivial knowledge
Or just plain old knowledge that's not for much use except when someone asks a question like you did
Chris

[Nick's Picks]

excellent.

+T