I happened to get my hands on a mostly functional old Neotek mixing board; very grateful to have it.
However the connections are an issue. There are no preamps, which is fine since I have my own, and the only inputs are in a patchbay that was built to accept the old Switchcraft TT-251 jacks, which are unbalanced.
Obviously, I need to connect the balanced XLR outs of my preamps to the patchbay.
The only TT cables I can find anywhere which have XLR or 1/4" on the other end are balanced Bantam TT. This includes every custom cable builder I have found online. The TT-251 plugs are still available in a few places, but usually in bulk, and always extremely expensive. I can't find any adapter between the two. They are different sizes; the 3-conductor ones are longer. So far, I have been using these balanced cables and making it work by not inserting the plug all the way. Which is, of course, not ideal!
The good news is the board came with a ton of cables with the two conductor plugs, the bad news is only a handful of them have RCA or 1/4" plugs on the other end. And they are molded in, so I can't just disconnect them.
I'm willing to splice wire however I need to to make things work, even though I am still terrible at soldering, I will do what it takes. But I'm a neophyte with the finer points of electrical connections and my online research has hit a wall.
Here's the thing- I don't know whether to float the cold wire or connect it to the ground. I don't know if my gear outputs are active balanced, impedance balanced, or transformer balanced. I assume I have some of each. I am just learning this part but it seems that what works for one type of output may not for another and may even damage the equipment.
I am not sure the best way to handle this. I have combed the forums for months and have not found a similar situation solved anywhere, which seems like it would have been but I can't find it.
I would greatly appreciate any advice you can give me.
1. Should I splice wires? And if so, how exactly?
2. Continue with the partial inset method (surely not)?
3. Is there another option I am missing? Like, 3D print adapters or something? I am not unwiring the patchbay or messing with the punch block in back.
Thanks very much for anything that you can offer.
However the connections are an issue. There are no preamps, which is fine since I have my own, and the only inputs are in a patchbay that was built to accept the old Switchcraft TT-251 jacks, which are unbalanced.
Obviously, I need to connect the balanced XLR outs of my preamps to the patchbay.
The only TT cables I can find anywhere which have XLR or 1/4" on the other end are balanced Bantam TT. This includes every custom cable builder I have found online. The TT-251 plugs are still available in a few places, but usually in bulk, and always extremely expensive. I can't find any adapter between the two. They are different sizes; the 3-conductor ones are longer. So far, I have been using these balanced cables and making it work by not inserting the plug all the way. Which is, of course, not ideal!
The good news is the board came with a ton of cables with the two conductor plugs, the bad news is only a handful of them have RCA or 1/4" plugs on the other end. And they are molded in, so I can't just disconnect them.
I'm willing to splice wire however I need to to make things work, even though I am still terrible at soldering, I will do what it takes. But I'm a neophyte with the finer points of electrical connections and my online research has hit a wall.
Here's the thing- I don't know whether to float the cold wire or connect it to the ground. I don't know if my gear outputs are active balanced, impedance balanced, or transformer balanced. I assume I have some of each. I am just learning this part but it seems that what works for one type of output may not for another and may even damage the equipment.
I am not sure the best way to handle this. I have combed the forums for months and have not found a similar situation solved anywhere, which seems like it would have been but I can't find it.
I would greatly appreciate any advice you can give me.
1. Should I splice wires? And if so, how exactly?
2. Continue with the partial inset method (surely not)?
3. Is there another option I am missing? Like, 3D print adapters or something? I am not unwiring the patchbay or messing with the punch block in back.
Thanks very much for anything that you can offer.
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What Neotek mixing board do you have and would you post a photo . I have been looking at information on an Elite series mixer and that has balanced inputs ! or am I barking up the wrong tree .
It's a Series I, with two channels of Series II eq. I'll post a pic later. The jacks are definitely unbalanced.
The plug on the left is one of the cables that came with the board and work fine with the patchbay: two conductor, TS (Switchcraft TT-251). On the right is the only type of plug I can find that has XLR's, or 1/4", or RCA on the other end: three conductors, TRS (Bantam TT). 4.4 mm barrels on both.
If you insert the Bantam all the way, all sound is cancelled out. If you go partway, it works, but is obviously not as stable as it should be.
If you insert the Bantam all the way, all sound is cancelled out. If you go partway, it works, but is obviously not as stable as it should be.
Attachments
This could be an option for you although the cold looks to be grounded however the adapter looks as though it would come apart enough to cut the cold wire if necessary and either gender of XLR , 6.2mm and RCA are available.
To determine if the cold needs to be grounded try this . Make a test lead cut in two one of your new XLR to bantam cables ( in half if the cable is long enough and you can use the bantam connection later ) and connect to an also cut up TT ended cable using a connector as in the attached photo , so you end up with an XLR ( bal ) to TT ( unbal ) and notice the cold is not connected and try it with signal . Whether this works or not reverse the hot and cold in the connector ( I call it choc block ) and try again this will tell you if the cold is also driven or the hot output is on pin 3 and not pin 2 ( assuming the hot is on the red wire ) or you could/should connect the cold to ground/shield .
Can I clarify that you have a load of TT 251 terminated leads but the majority are TT 251 at both ends and the plugs are moulded on and probably not that long if they are meant for the patch bay .