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mikael__
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« on: October 25, 2005, 05:00:22 PM » |
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This is my first posting here, and i must start of by saying, very interesting forum! I'm going to start making some small synth module kits soon, and i would like some kind of answer to what must be an old question. Which jack is the better banana or 1/4" ? Banana seems to be the better jack. It's stackable so there's no need for mults, and that would lead to wilder patches i guess (easer to get "everything patched into everything") But, approx 80% of all modular synth manufacturors are using 1/4" in there modules, so i must be missing something. Does the banana jacks wear out faster, is there a significant difference in cost ? If some one can come up with an anwser, or just an educated guess, i would really appriciate it  |
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expanoncolin
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« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2005, 12:10:31 PM » |
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The problem with banana jacks is that they are much easier to pull out than 1/4" ones, because of the indent on the 1/4" jacks... banana jacks could fall out. And they ARE kind of ugly when stacked. If you wanted to be really cool, you could buy all your own jacks/plugs and solder a jack to the end of each plug so that you could stack your 1/4"s but that would look pretty rediculously dumb. It would still work though-just be really long. It might cause stress to the synths' jack however because of the added weight. Banana jacks do this but they are much lighter.
-Colin
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spivkurl
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« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2005, 11:08:17 AM » |
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Hi,
I think that the real drawback to banana jacks is that they are difficult to interface with external equipment, because ground is not carried on the cable only signal. I use banana, so I know the frustrations of this. I get around it by having 1/4 jacks on a utility panel with the ground lug hooked to my star ground, and the signal hooked to a banana jack which is on the panel next to it. This works for input or output, such as playing a guitar through your modules, or sending the output of your VCA to an external amplifier.
I've never had banana plugs fall out of the jacks though. I like that banana are more compact as well, and that the mounting nut is only visible on the back side of the panel.
Have fun!
Pat
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mikael__
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« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2005, 02:46:34 PM » |
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Thanx for your comments guys.  I'm going to go banana, it's just cooler with stuff that looks like lab-gear |
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spivkurl
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« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2005, 02:54:40 PM » |
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I must agree with you there. Another issue that I thought of with banana... is the tangling. When you get a huge patch with stacking and 50 banana cables it gets to be a mess, and the cables and as rigid as 1/4". It's no big deal. Tangling is an issue either way, when a patch gets big.
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expanoncolin
Administrator
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« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2005, 09:30:39 PM » |
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All this time I never raalized that banana's had no ground... It makes sense now though. YOu could also go with tiny telephone or 1/8" (even though they break easy) if you were worried more about size, rather than stackability, and still wanted the ground.
-Colin
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spivkurl
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« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2005, 08:43:51 AM » |
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Yep, bananas are strange fruit, they definitely lend themselves to experimentation.
Either way, I wouldn't recommend 2.5mm jacks. The jacks are tiny and fragile, the mounting nuts are difficult to tighten, they're usually not meant for thick panels, and they don't hold the plug perpendicular, but instead respond strongly to gravity etc...
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mikael__
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« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2005, 09:01:40 PM » |
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Maybe Buchla had the right idea, with using 1/8 jacks for audio and banana for control signals. I havn't tried any of the buchla systems but it's seems a number of problems rise when you use mixed jacks. Some modules, like mixers, you want to use on both cv and audio and you want to able to use an oscillator both as a control and an audio source. well.....i'm just thinking out loud |
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spivkurl
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« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2005, 10:50:00 PM » |
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I considered this approach, but like you said a number of problems arise. I really like not worrying much about what kind of signal I'm patching, because in a well thought out selection of modules, they can be used interchangably (virtually interchangably any way). Especially when it comes to using audio as a control signal. And what about LFOs which can range into the low audio spectrum, you would definitely want to be able to use the output in whatever way you see fit.
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outjack
phpBB Junior Member
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« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2005, 01:17:50 AM » |
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How about RCA? An RCA patchbay would be very cheap to make.
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expanoncolin
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« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2005, 08:46:31 AM » |
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How about RCA? An RCA patchbay would be very cheap to make. RCA are hard to mount-often you have to PCB mount them and then align. If there is alternative, it might be a good option... -Colin |
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bugbrand
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« Reply #11 on: December 06, 2005, 11:32:57 AM » |
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My recent modular builds have all used bananas throughout and I'm finding them really great - quick&cheap to make the cables, easy to plug multiples.. All you need then is one (or more) jack to banana for input and one banana to jack for output.
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outjack
phpBB Junior Member
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« Reply #12 on: December 06, 2005, 04:27:04 PM » |
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RCA are hard to mount-often you have to PCB mount them and then align. If there is alternative, it might be a good option...
I'm just getting into DIY and bending/modding, I'm getting my second big parts order ready and I'm getting a couple of these ($1.39 ea @ Jameco, I'm still pricing them elsewhere):  I have a 1/4" switchable patchbay for audio (and a lot of 1/4" patch cables), but it's kind of overkill for what I'm doing. :tup: |
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