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What does "XLR" mean again??

PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 3:03 pm
by roachie
What does.. nevermind, just read the subject.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 3:27 pm
by Jef
I'm just guessing here but I think it refers to the conductors in the XLR cable. X - being the ground shield and L & R being the (left) & (right) conductors. Used for sending a stereo signal through a single cable.
When systems became 'balanced' and the 3 conductors were used to create a common mode rejection by inverting the phase and then back again at the other end, the XLR name stuck with the cable.
(does that sound believable?)

PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 3:31 pm
by oddioguy
A company called Cannon had an 'X series' range of circular 3-pin connectors.
They made a new version with a locking latch on it called the "XL series".
This is the connector design now commonly used in Professonal Audio.

Much later, cannon decided to mount the contacts on the female ends out of a tough rubber material. They named this new connector "The XLR series".

No-one else makes a rubber mounted XL female, yet the whole world (it seems) uses the term XLR when they actually are referring to XL...

This is a "copy & paste" job....sounds like it has a ring of truth, though.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 3:43 pm
by Jef
Oh... I didn't know we were looking for the 'correct' answer, just something that sounds right :mrgreen:

PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 3:56 pm
by oddioguy
Jef wrote:Oh... I didn't know we were looking for the 'correct' answer, just something that sounds right :mrgreen:

This whole industry is based on stuff that "sounds right". So why not... 8-)

PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:28 pm
by Alain Benoit
That's the only story that there is and it is often cited as the real story in textbooks.

There is a link to the Rane University on my website which is a great source for all this type of information.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:43 pm
by oddioguy
U1176 wrote:That's the only story that there is and it is often cited as the real story in textbooks.

There is a link to the Rane University on my website which is a great source for all this type of information.

That reminds me....gotta go post in interesting links ;-)

PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:32 am
by Malcolm Boyce
Just found this, and it's pretty in depth:

http://www.soundfirst.com/xlr.html

PostPosted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 1:52 pm
by Mathieu Benoit
It's neat to see the blown apart diagrams.