Any device you ever come across is going to require a connector for some time. For the longest time, VGA was the standard but now it is HDMI. Still, even those standards don’t comprise all of the different uses that cables can have.
For instance, XLR cables are a specific type of electrical connector used for both audio and video applications. There are even limited industrial and medical video uses. Short for “eXternal Line Return,”
As covered above, XLR cables are used for audio and video applications as well as niche medical video and industrial applications. For the most part, however, XLR is generally referred to as being an audio connector. His type of connector, with a cylindrical metal housing, actually goes back to the 1950s.
Initially, it was used as an audio connector (though it has since morphed into a more practical modern audio/video connector). They got their start in sound equipment and military applications, though it would eventually become the primary solution for digital and analog connections to audio devices. That list includes amplifiers, microphones, and mixing consoles as well as stage lighting and live events.
The standard three-pin XLR cable is used particularly in the entertainment industry. The equipment they can be used on ranges from microphones to stage lighting, television equipment, stage rigging, synthesizers, amplifiers, and so much more. The three-pin cable is perhaps the most versatile of them all, which is why it is also the most common of all the XLR cables that you are going to find.
From there, pins can be added for a variety of uses. XLR-4 and XLR-5 connectors have specific AV applications. Those situations require additional connections, typically intercom or stereo audio systems. That fourth pin is also involved in video and film equipment with the fourth pin powering on an LED light to show that the power is on. In rarer instances, there is a five-pin connector. These are used for digital lighting control, military audio applications, and aviation headsets. They are also quite a bit more expensive and tougher to find, which is why they aren’t as common.
When you use an XLR cable, you need to know a few things. For starters, you should use balanced cables in order to take full advantage of the noise-rejection capabilities that XLR cables offer. There are also balanced XLR cables that have a positive, a negative, and a shield. Each of these corresponds to one of the pins in the standard XLR cable.
Each of these cables helps to ensure that the proper signal is being transferred. They also help to reduce the risk of any potential interference, which could degrade and alter the quality of the signal. Connectors come in commercial, industrial, medical, aerospace, and military uses. There is even some that have a fourth pin with an LED light to indicate that the power to the connector is on. On rarer occasions, you can find a five-pin XLR connector that offers digital lighting control. These are used for military audio and aviation headsets.
It helps to know the design of XLR cables before figuring out how they can be applied. For starters, XLR connectors use the IEC 61076-2-103 international standard for dimensions. There are mini-XLR connectors available but they are not, as of yet, standardized.
These cables are quite simple in that they come in push-on or snap-on form and mount via the chassis or panel mount. The standard size is roughly 59.7 mm in circumference, though they can vary depending on the pin array.
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