Specifications

turntables (as well as tape decks, CD players, and so on) to home stereo

equipment. Phono plugs are really not designed to be inserted and

removed over and over again, as doing so will eventually result in a broken

or intermittent electrical connection. At that point, the usual procedure is to

throw the cable away and buy a new one; the problem is that you never

know when it’s going to happen.

If you are upgrading your audio equipment and are thinking about buying

better microphones, it goes without saying that you should invest in some

heavy-duty microphone cables with XLR connectors. If your equipment uses

1/4", miniplug, or RCA connectors, buy professional quality cables with metal

connectors that can be disassembled for service rather than molded-on

plastic connectors. If you do have a problem with a connection, you can

repair it rather than replace the entire cable. It is a good idea to carry one

spare cable of each type that you use, so that you can change a suspect

cable quickly when a problem arises.

MIXERS

nless your application requires just one microphone or your audio or

videotape recorder has a number of microphone inputs, you will need

to use a microphone mixer. The mixer allows you to take signals of different

levels from several sources and combine them into one signal which can

then be fed into an amplifier, videotape recorder, or other audio equipment.

Some mixers have a variety of input connectors, designed to accommodate

signals of different types and levels. A popular audio mixer is shown in the

accompanying photo.

Example of a microphone mixer (Shure M367 shown front and back).