[sdiy] Minijacks

[Colin Hinz]

On Wed, 4 Jul 2007, Seb Francis wrote:

> The actual size is 3.5mm.  It's a bit confusing because 1/4" jack sockets are 
> in fact 1/4" (6.35mm).  I guess this is where it comes from that people call 
> the small ones 1/8".  Personally I blame Americans ;)

Makes sense to me. I'm waiting for US nomenclature to discover the
nanofarad. :-)

> Note however that not all 3.5mm jacks are the same - some have narrower tips 
> that do not contact well with some sockets.  Cliff CL1384 (as opposed to 
> CL13841) are an example of such sockets.

Interesting. The reason I asked in the first place is that I bought a bunch
of phono-to-minijack adapters at a supposedly reputable music store, and
the minijack plugs just don't fit into PAiA minijacks without an insane
amount of brute force.

Something extra funny about the PAiA minijacks? I remember one batch of
their phone (1/4") jacks were crap, and they came apart when tightened
down to the panel, but if they survived that sort of torture they would
work with the plugs OK. (And to be honest, the fault of the bad jacks
is really the supplier, which almost certainly was Mouser.)

I have to admit this is a whole new problem.....

- Colin Hinz
   Toronto, Canada