[sdiy] Banana vs. 1/4" question

[Ken MacBeth]

The first synth gear that I built was based around banana jacks- they were good because you could stack them on top of each other- the problem was, I found that because they were not shielded, they could pick up local radio very easily. I often wonder if banana jack users ever get this prob. Is there a way of getting rid of this problem?
 Michael Buchstaller <buchi at takeonetech.de> wrote:
>world. I don't care about these points - were there any other disadvantages
>I am forgetting?

You cannot (at least not easily) use shielded cable.

>I am actually considering redoing all 36 of these jacks to end up with an
>all-banana modular.

My first system (M100) is all banana 4 mm jacks. At the time i built it i was used to
them from power supplies and laboratory equipment, and liked them. Later, as
i discovered, some of the banana connectors are made with lousy insulating
plastic: Either cou screw the fixing nut too hard, then the plastic breaks - screw them
a little bit less hard, and they will become loose quickly.
The connectors sold by Conrad look terrible cheap (all plastic, only a small piece
of metal inside to meke contact) but have proven much better in this respect - and they
are way easier to solder.

My new System (M101) will be built with 6.3 mm Jacks instead. I know that i will have
to include several adapter boards (6.3 mm <-> 4mm Bananas and 6.3 mm multiples),
but i like the feeling of these telephone jacks more.
Plus, if several banana jacks are stacked on top of others, a slight sideward pull on the
topmost cable will crack the jack....


-Michael Buchstaller


http://www.macbethstudiosystems.com
Home of the M3X Analogue synthesizer...



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