Audio Cable Types (The Beginner’s Guide)

When someone mentions audio cable, the first thing that comes to an average consumer’s mind is some common audio cable type, like an AUX cable, RCA, or optical cable. However, the world of audio cables is much bigger and more confusing than that.

You don’t have to be an audio expert or sound engineer to know that each piece of audio gear requires matching audio cables. And I’m not just referring to the connector type or size. The cable configuration is just as important.

Some audio equipment requires balanced, while other gear requires unbalanced cables. Some can only receive digital audio; other is fully analog.

This guide is designed to make the world of audio cables a bit less intimidating. I will try to list all the most common audio cable types used in home and professional audio setups and explain the intended purpose and possible use scenarios for each cable type.

Furthermore, I will explain the differences between analog and digital cables as well as balanced and unbalanced cables. Finally, I’ll give you some useful tips on what cables to look for depending on your intended purpose.

Let’s start with some basic terminology.

Jacks and Plugs – Female and Male Connectors

This is not exactly a mystery, but it could create some confusion. So, let’s clarify things. The image below explains everything.

The fixed part of the connection is called JACK. What you plug into a jack is called PLUG . Jacks are usually female connectors (F connectors or F sockets), while the plugs are male connectors (M connectors or M sockets). Every plug requires a matching jack.

Balanced and Unbalanced Audio Cables

The story about balanced and unbalanced cables is a bit more complicated than the story about jacks and plugs. But it’s not impossible to comprehend.

Some audio cable types can be both balanced and unbalanced, depending on the purpose, while others are always unbalanced. The primary difference between balanced and unbalanced cables is not just in the connectors. The most important difference is in the configuration/geometry of the cable.

Inside an unbalanced audio cable that transmits mono signals, you have one wire/conductor transmitting audio signal and a shield that doubles as the ground.

Inside a balanced audio cable, you have two wires, each transmitting the same audio signal, and a shield that doubles as the ground.

Two wires inside a balanced cable transmit the same audio signal, but the signals are shifted in phase by 180°. The original signal is usually called the hot signal (+), while the signal with reversed polarity (phase-shifted signal) is called the cold signal (-).

Because of the 180° phase shift, two signals cancel each other out while traveling down the cable.

While the signal travels down the wires, the cable can also pick up noise caused by electromagnetic (EM) or radio frequency (RF) interference. This interference is induced by all kinds of electronic devices surrounding the cable.

The noise is added to both conductors/wires inside the cable and travels along those wires with hot and cold audio signals. While the audio signals traveling along the wires have reverse polarity, the noise waves in both wires are in-phase (they are exactly the same).

When audio signals reach the destination device, which also has a balanced input stage, the device only amplifies the difference between the two audio signals. Since the noise signals are exactly the same, they will not be amplified. Instead, they will be rejected. This process is called Common Mode Rejection.

Because the noise signals are common for both wires, the balanced input stage of the receiving device rejects that noise and only amplifies the incoming audio signal.

To simplify things, imagine the cold signal (the out-of-phase signal) being flipped in polarity once again by 180° at the input stage of the receiving device. That way, you get the original audio signal traveling along both wires, while the noise signals are opposite (out of phase), and they cancel each other out. So, the noise gets eliminated.

The cold signal is flipped at the input stage of the receiving device, which effectively eliminates the noise and outputs a clean audio signal.

The major advantage of balanced cables is noise-free sound, especially when dealing with long cable runs. They are simply much better at eliminating noise.

Unbalanced cables will always pick up more noise than balanced ones because the only protection against interference in unbalanced cables is shielding. However, that doesn’t mean that unbalanced cables are bad for all applications. In fact, unbalanced cables are used for most home applications.

The difference in performance between unbalanced and balanced cables over short distances (up to 10f) is not always noticeable. It could be, but it usually isn’t. When the cable is longer, the difference becomes painfully obvious.

Another reason people don’t use balanced audio cables for their home audio setups is the price of the balanced cables. And not just that – balanced cables need to be used with the appropriate (and expensive) equipment. You need an output device with a balanced output stage and an input device with a balanced input stage.

Balanced cables are used in professional and audiophile setups . They are also crucial for mic-level signals because they are particularly weak and need to be more noise-free than any other type of audio signal. We will discuss different audio signal levels and the way different signal levels are handled later on.

Difference Between Balanced and Unbalanced Audio Cables

Analog and Digital Audio Cables

Both analog and digital cables have the same purpose – to carry audio information. What’s different is the geometry of the cables and the form in which that audio information is transferred.

Analog cables use electrical impulses, while digital cables transfer digital information in binary form (1s and 0s) . Both audio cable types are designed for specific purposes and shouldn’t be mixed. You shouldn’t use analog audio cables instead of digital and vice versa. This will not damage your equipment, but the results won’t be perfect.

This is especially important when using analog cables where digital cables are needed. Digital cables are designed to work at a certain impedance (e.g. 75Ω digital coax audio cable with RCA connectors or 110Ω AES/EBU cable). Impedance is very important for digital signal transfer.

Analog cables are not optimized to work at a certain impedance as digital, which could affect the jitter and distort the audio signal.

Digital cables, on the other hand, can be used where analog is needed, even though they are not optimized for analog audio. The sound output, in some scenarios, can be surprisingly clean.

Still, I believe it’s safer to use digital cables when transmitting digital audio information or analog audio cables when transmitting analog audio.

It’s important to note that some digital and analog cables may look the same at first glance, even though they are intended for different purposes. For example, a traditional RCA analog cable and a digital coaxial cable with RCA connectors are very similar. Also, balanced analog XLR cable and AES/EBU cable with XLR connectors are practically the same.

AudioQuest Digital AES/EBU Cable with XLR Connectors and AudioQuest Balanced Analog XLR Cable

Types of Audio Cables and Cable Connectors

Now that you are familiar with the basics, let’s dive deeper and see what types of audio cables and cable connectors exist and what they can be used for.

To make things easier, I have divided all the cables into two sections – ANALOG audio cables and DIGITAL audio cables.

Analog Audio Cables

If you prefer a digest version, you can find the most important information about each cable type in the infographic below.

If you don’t mind reading, here’s a more in-depth breakdown.

TS Cables

TS stands for Tip-Sleeve . The name comes from the connector design. These cables have only one wire transferring audio signal and a shielding that doubles as the ground. TS cables are always unbalanced , which means they should be as short as possible. They can only carry mono audio signals.

TS cables are often called instrument cables or guitar cables because they are used to connect guitars to guitar amps . They are also used to connect other instruments (pedals, drum machines, etc.) to audio interfaces, mixers, amps, etc.

The most common size for TS connectors is ¼-inch (6.35mm), but they also exist in 3.5mm form.

Cables with TS connectors are sometimes used as interconnects between PA speakers and amplifiers. Basically, they are used as speaker cables, but they shouldn’t be mistaken for traditional speaker cables with banana plugs or guitar cables.

Speaker cables with TS connectors have a different cable geometry than common TS cables (instrument cables). They have thicker core wires designed to handle higher voltage and less shielding. Instrument cables have a much thinner conductor wire and more shielding.

Speaker Cables with TS Connectors VS Instrument Cables with TS Connectors

TRS Cables

TRS stands for Tip-Ring-Sleeve and refers, again, to the construction of the cable connector. It looks very similar to the previous TS connector, but instead of one black circle on the connector, you have two. Also, inside the cable, there’s an additional conductor allowing the cable to transmit stereo signals.

TRS cable can carry balanced mono audio signals or unbalanced stereo signals. So, they can be both – balanced and unbalanced.

Balanced applications include connecting microphones to audio interfaces with TRS mic inputs (usually 6.35mm) and connecting mixers to studio monitors with balanced 6.35mm TRS inputs.

Unbalanced TRS cables are also very common and are used to connect headphones to various audio sources.

While balanced TRS cables usually come with 6.35mm connectors (although it’s not impossible to make a balanced cable with 3.5mm connectors), unbalanced TRS cables are available and equally present in both sizes – 3.5 and 6.35 mm. Also, you can easily convert 3.5mm to 6.35mm TRS connects and vice versa.

TRRS Cables

TRRS stands for Tip-Ring-Ring-Sleeve . Like in the previous two examples, the name refers to the connector design.

TRRS cables are similar to TRS cables but with one additional black band on the connector and one additional conductor/wire inside the cable.

That additional wire can be used to carry an additional mono audio signal (like a mic signal) along with a stereo signal . In this case, the TRRS cable will be unbalanced . Headphones and earbuds with in-line mics, for example, use these TRRS cables and connectors. Some smartphones also have 3.5mm TRRS connectors.

On the other hand, four conductors inside the TRRS cable (3 wires and a shielding) can be configured to carry balanced stereo signals, but without the mic signal.

TRRS connectors also exist in both sizes – 3.5mm and 6.35mm. Some audiophile headphones come with balanced TRRS cables with a 2.5mm TRRS cable connector .

To sum things up, TS cables can only carry unbalanced mono signals. TRS can transmit balanced mono and unbalanced stereo audio signal. TRRS cables can transmit balanced stereo signals or unbalanced stereo and mic signals at the same time. All three connector types exist in two sizes – 3.5mm and 6.35mm.

It’s worth mentioning that there’s another type of these cables with tip-ring connectors, and it’s a balanced TRRRS (yes, that’s three Rs) with a matching 4.4mm TRRRS connector called Pentaconn. This connector was developed by NIPPON DICS , and it’s currently used by SONY and Sennheiser headphones, headphone amps, and digital audio players.

TS Vs. TRS Vs. TRRS – What’s the Difference