[sdiy] to banana or not to banana

[Tom Bugs]

A couple of little furthers... (and also thumbs up to Cynthia's great mail)

'The downside is no normalized connections'
- though sometimes it is very nice to have the switch added so you can 
toggle on/off without jack removal...

& a couple more positives:
- cheap! both the parts (comparing to jack) and the lesser time taken to 
make cables (I've managed 60 in an hour) - no soldering (they're 
generally screw terminal) also means that on the rare occasions that a 
cable breaks, you can repair in no time
- colourful! (yes, this is important!)

Chris Muir wrote:
>
> On Jun 24, 2009, at 6:07 AM, Derek Holzer wrote:
>> I like the stackability of banana inputs, but you lose the 
>> possibility of individual input attenuation.
>>
>> Also, how do people handle the signal summing with bananas?
>
> Stacking on inputs is not the way banana systems work, with one 
> notable exception of Buchla pulses.
>
> Summing is done like on any other system, by having multiple inputs 
> with attenuators.
>
> Stacking on outputs is just like using mults, and works fine.
>
> Stacking pulses on a Buchla works because all pulse outputs have a 
> series diode that keeps pulses isolated from other pulse drivers.
>
>
>> And, do people still keep grounded, ac-coupled inputs on the same 
>> modules for external audio signals? Or could an incoming audio signal 
>> get "stripped" of it's ground via some converter panel, and run via 
>> banana to the module? I see that the old and new Buchla stuff in 
>> particular still uses grounded minijacks for some stuff like audio 
>> inputs.
>
> This is one of the more controversial aspects of the Buchla approach. 
> Serge / Modcan A / Cyndustries / Fenix people will probably say that 
> using two different jacks is stupid, and that it should be all-banana.
>
> The Buchla philosophy here is that by having a different connector, 
> the audio can travel safely on shielded wires at line level, and the 
> audio paths are visually distinct from the control paths. The visual 
> distinction is not to be sneezed at. I find that when tracing a 
> control path, I don't really even see the mini cables carrying audio.
>
> Having system audio running at line level means that tapping an audio 
> signal at any point in a patch and sending it to an external processor 
> is a simple matter of mini-plug to 1/4" cables. Buchla systems also 
> tend to have mini jacks for FM/AM where needed.
>
> As far as "stripping ground" goes, yes you could have a convertor 
> panel that has mini jacks (or 1/4") going to bananas.
>
>
>> What are people's compelling reasons to go banana over balanced 
>> minijack?
>
> Banana jacks are unbelievably robust.
>
> Not having to mult is really a biggie.
>
> Combining pulses is also really good.
>
> The downside is no normalized connections.
>
>
>> In the end, will I have panels with both anyways?
>
>
> You'll at least need to get out of your system on something other than 
> a banana.
>
> - C
>
> Chris Muir
> cbm at well.com   
> http://www.xfade.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
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