The Grounding Thread to end all Grounding threads

Good contact is necessary only between earth tag and chassis for safety reasons.
If one experiences audio problems that are due to incorrect contact between Pin1 and chassis, that's because there is something wrong elsewhere. The cable shield is intended for electrostatic interference protection. It should not be relied upon to ensure galvanic continuity between equipments. No current should flow through, so even a very poor contact should be perfectly adequate.

owel said:

I'm using the Nickel plated XLR jack, not the anodized black version. Also, the aluminum case is CNC milled after anodizing/painting, so bare aluminum is on the edges of the milled holes that make contact with the XLR body.

Click to expand...

Neutrik makes a flavor of XLR jack with a little barb sticking out the front so that when the jack is installed in the chassis, a connection between pin 1 and chassis is automatically made.

But yeah, you have to make sure there's no anodizing or other insulating finish on the chassis.

-a