TRS Cables

A TRS cable ends in a 6.3 mm stereo jack with three contacts: the tip, the ring and the sleeve. It carries either a balanced mono signal, for example from an audio interface to studio monitors, or two channels at once, as with headphones or an insert cable. Most of the cables here are 6.3 mm stereo jack to stereo jack leads from Cordial, Roland, Klotz and Warm Audio, but you'll also find TRS to XLR cables, Y cables splitting to two mono jacks, and extension cables. Lengths run from 30 cm patch leads up to 6 m.

How is a TRS cable different from a guitar cable?

A guitar cable has a mono jack (TS) with one insulating ring and two contacts, while a TRS cable has a stereo jack with two rings and three contacts. From the outside they look alike, so check the socket on your gear before you buy. Guitars, basses and most pedals have a mono output, and for those an electric guitar cable is all you need. The balanced outputs of audio interfaces and mixers, and the inputs of studio monitors, need TRS at both ends; otherwise you lose the benefit of a balanced signal.

How do you connect an audio interface to studio monitors?

Look at the monitor's input. If it takes a 6.3 mm jack, use TRS to TRS; if it has XLR, choose a stereo jack to male XLR cable, which you'll also find among the XLR-jack cables. Either way the connection stays balanced, and interference from the power cables around your desk is suppressed.

What's a Y cable with one stereo jack and two mono jacks for?

It splits one stereo jack into two mono ones. On a mixer with insert points, it lets you patch a compressor or an effect into a single channel – the signal leaves on one conductor and comes back on the other. On a pedalboard, short Y cables such as the flat RockBoard ones are also used to hook up a dual footswitch.