XLR

Music Production

The locking, three-pin connector that is the standard for professional microphones and much studio audio gear. Its balanced wiring uses two signal conductors plus a shield so that electrical noise picked up along the cable is cancelled out at the other end, which keeps signals clean over long runs and around interference. Concrete example: a mic on a 10-metre XLR run will typically stay quiet where an unbalanced consumer cable might hum. Buying impact: XLR (and balanced TRS) connections are why studio mics, interfaces and monitors avoid consumer mini-jacks — when choosing cables and gear, prefer balanced XLR/TRS for mics and monitor links, especially for longer cable runs or noisy environments.