[sdiy] why not to use rca connectors

[Glen]

At 06:48 AM 6/22/03 , René Schmitz wrote:
>So before the shield connects you have the same situation as with banana 
>jacks.

With phone plugs (either 1/4 or 1/8 size) the signal gets shorted to ground
with insertion of the plug. This doesn't seem like good planning to me. I
know that modular synths are designed to withstand this, but the whole idea
of a connector  that shorts out with normal insertion seems a little
"short-sighted" to me.

Does any modular use shielded patch cables with connectors that neither
connect the signal before the ground, nor short the signal to ground with
each insertion? (This would leave out banana plugs, phone plugs, and RCA
plugs.)

Does anyone have a favorite connector that works with shielded cable and
connects the ground before the signal, and never shorts the two together?
Don't balanced XLR connectors perform this way? Are there any others?


later,
Glen Berry