Whelp, it’s Thursday folks. And you know what that means! One more day until the weekend? Nahhh. Try time for another Thingamajig Thursday. Today I’m naming what my father calls “wires.”
It’s true. No matter what kind of audio plug we’re talking about, to him, and many others, they’re just a bunch of “wires.”
So let’s start with the two on the top, there, which are called RCA plugs, or cables (sometimes jacks). Like the animals on Noah’s ark, they generally come in pairs, white is left in the stereo field, and red is right. They were invented in the 1940s by the Radio Corporation of America (thus the name, RCA), and were meant to connect phonographs to radios. Nowadays we use them to connect any audio device, such as a CD player, to an amplifier.
On the other end of that cable, you’ll often find the next plug in the photo, a 3.5mm plug, more commonly called either a 1/8” jack or a mini-stereo plug. It’s the one that fits in your iPod, and just about any other portable audio device these days. If you go to Radio Shack and say, “I need a wire for my iPod,” they’ll probably know what you mean. But why not call it by its proper name?
Lastly we have the 1/4” plug, which is also called a stereo jack. If it looks similar to the ones you often see in B&W photos of stylish-looking women sitting at old-fashioned switchboards, that’s because it is, and dates from the 1870s!
Of course, there are dozens more. But you should at least know the names of those three. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go forward this post to my dad…
Comments (13)
Comment
- subscribe /
- give a gift /
- terms of service /
- about /
- contact us /
- write for us /
- ad info /
- subscriber services /
- press /
- privacy policy /
- rss /
© 2012 Mental Floss Inc. All Rights Reserved. Mental Floss is a registered trademark owned by Felix Dennis. mentalfloss.com is a trademark owned by Felix Dennis.
Disclaimer: All submissions made to mental_floss become the property of Mental Floss Inc and may be used without further permission by the submitter and without compensation to the submitter. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not submit anything to mental_floss.
I’ve got a whole box of unused AV cables I need to get rid of. But of course, the day after I throw them out, I’ll need one and it will be off to Radio Shack…
posted by Robert on 9-28-2006 at 12:25 pm
ha! funny, robert. what would we do without the shack?
posted by David on 9-28-2006 at 12:26 pm
Nice post, David. A lot of folks are still confused by all those.
The 1/8″ stereo plug is also referred to as a “small headphone plug,” while the 1/4″ stereo plug is a “large headphone plug.” The key, if you’re dealing with a stereo device, is to make sure you buy the stereo plug (monoaural ones of the same size are available, too). And you can buy adapters that switch from one to the other, or that will connect either type to dual RCA jacks.
What amazed me when I worked in retail electronics many years ago was the markup on these types of wires and plugs — often 1000 percent or more.
posted by Sandy on 9-28-2006 at 12:58 pm
Wiesenhiemer time: although technically the last one is a 1/4 inch jack, but it’s actually mono, not stero. Whether it’s a 1/8 or 1/4 incher, you can tell if it’s mono or stereo by the number of black rings that divide the metal connector: 1 is mono, 2 is stereo and you’ll sometimes see more – like 3 on some devices that require 3 channels, like a stereo headset with a boom mic.
posted by Chris on 9-28-2006 at 12:59 pm
Nah, no Weisenheimers here… that’s exactly why we have a comments section. Otherwise, the post would be way too long. Thanks, guys, for throwing in follow-up info! I knew someone would call me out on the mono plug! While we’re dropping more facts, I should also add that the RCAs now come as a trio, as well. The added “yellow” plug carries a video signal, generally from your DVD player to your TV. Though it isn’t an audio cable, it’s still an RCA plug!
posted by David on 9-28-2006 at 1:04 pm
Then there are the same wire with female endds of each, for those of use who string many wires together to do what they say can’t be done. And its getting harder every day to find quarter inch adapters for headphones which all come with miniplugs today. I’m a DJ and still need to plug the quarter inch (stereo) jack in a mixing board.
posted by Miss Cellania on 9-28-2006 at 2:52 pm
Tell Dad we sometimes call them “patch cords” too. Phone operators started that, and radio mixing boards used to need them (as well as Moog synthesizers but that’s another story.)
posted by Lauren on 9-28-2006 at 2:57 pm
“But why not call it by its proper name?”
Really. There’s a difference between a “plug” and a “jack”. A plug is a mail connector – all of the ends you display in your picture are plugs. The jack is the receiving connector.
Maybe you ought to stick to calling them “wires”?
posted by Thomas Pfau on 9-28-2006 at 3:23 pm
The yellow jack is almost always a coax cable (where the audio jacks are plain strait wiring) This allows a more data for the video signal.
posted by n2y2 on 9-28-2006 at 5:37 pm
The RCA plugs and jacks are also known as “phono” (from phonograph) plugs and jacks.
The plug on the bottom is the type originally referred to as a “phone” (from telephone) plug.
As has been pointed out, a jack is the thing into which the plug gets plugged.
posted by unitron on 9-28-2006 at 8:32 pm
> Like the animals on Noah’s ark, they
> generally come in pairs, white is left
> in the stereo field, and red is right.
Either you’re very clever or you made a common mistake; I can’t tell which.
Even though the “two of every animal” is generally associated with Noah’s ark, Noah actually took seven of all of the “clean beasts” and “flying creatures”. (Genesis 7:2, 3)
Of course, you did say “generally”…
posted by Ishmael on 9-29-2006 at 3:20 am
There are also the smaller submini plugs, which are 3/32″, resembling the eigth inch plugs(called mini plugs).
Ipod Video and many camcorders use three banded mini plugs that have three RCA plugs on the other side. Because an Ipod needs to be compatable to standard headphones, however, the video channel is on a different conducter than a camcorder would use. Therefore, if you use a camcorder cable in an Ipod you have to switch one of the audio plugs with the vido in your TV.
posted by Jim on 10-1-2006 at 4:44 pm
If I am replacing the 1/4 inch jack on a speaker and only “stereo” female jacks are available(i see from my 1/4 inch speaker cable with one black band) that a “mono jack is required, what are the problems repercussions of using the stereo jack?
Thank You
posted by Skip on 5-10-2007 at 5:59 am