can i use a stereo mini jack to carry +/- 15v and ground in a circuit?

hi guys!
i have a stupid question:

i wanna connect a power supply to a balancing amp,
do you think i can run +/-15v and ground on a stereo mini jack?
if so, what cable can i use?
can i use 3 wires, twisted together?
are there any other better options?

thanks

not a good idea.

upon insertion, the socket momentarily shorts the connections.

it's the same with people who use phantom power mics with a 6.35mm jack instead of an XLR connector.

/R

Rochey said:

not a good idea.

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+1.

Besides what Rochey mentioned, it's not a good idea to carry power on a male connector, ie one with exposed terminals like a jack.

Having power on connector types which are normally used for other things is also a bit of a timebomb. Consider using a non-standard connector, such as a 4-pin XLR.

JD 'fuses!' B.

and to make this unanimous, its not a good idea to put power on a connector commonly used for audio... because stuff happens..

JR

thanks guys.

what do you think of something like this?
http://www.banzaimusic.com/Microphone-Plug-4-pin.html

i need just a couple of things, so i'm making an order at this small shop..

i'm sorry to bother but why i need a 4 pin connector?
3 isn't enough? i don't understand
is that to mark the difference with an audio connector?

last, what cable can i use?
is a weird idea to use a mic cable? (i have a few meters of a low quality cable left..)

thanks

pietro_moog said:

i'm sorry to bother but why i need a 4 pin connector?
3 isn't enough? i don't understand. is that to mark the difference with an audio connector?

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Yep; it's to make sure you don't plug a mic into the power socket by mistake, which would do a great job of magnetizing the output transformer. Me, I always use a 5-pin XLR for power cables on solid-state gear; pin 1 ground, pin 2 V+, pin 3 V-, pin 4 phantom ground, pin 5 phantom hot. If it's a gadget with no phantom I just don't connect those pins.

last, what cable can i use?

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Canare.

Peace,
Paul

pietro_moog said:

what do you think of something like this?
http://www.banzaimusic.com/Microphone-Plug-4-pin.html

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Looks fine to me.
I'm not sure but I think behringer puts those in some of their mixers for external psu. You might want to use the same standard...

thanks guys.

thanks Arno.
i did not understand what you mean with "You might want to use the same standard.."
what do you mean?
is it something like a joke?

I hate I-pods, so I like the stereo mini idea.
Fry them suckers up!

I think same standard would refer to at least
the some pin-out as far as + and - voltages and ground

and which side is male and female connectors, same size also.
(that is my own assumption)

good luck.

pietro_moog said:

i did not understand what you mean with "You might want to use the same standard.."

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He means, maybe make your supply match that pinout, but there's really no need for that, since this is a one-off piece, not a commercial product.

gemini86 said:

pietro_moog said:

i did not understand what you mean with "You might want to use the same standard.."

Click to expand...

He means, maybe make your supply match that pinout, but there's really no need for that, since this is a one-off piece, not a commercial product.

Click to expand...

true, but this world would simply be a better place if everybody made such things to a certain standard
If you make an fx pedal and you had a 9 volt input jack it would be stupid not to use the same type of connector and have the positive pole on the outside, even if you have a dedicated psu for it, you never know what you end up using it with.

But of course you can make your own pinout... all pins are equal!
Just saying that every time I use a new connector for a specific purpose, I like to use a pinout that's commonly used.
For the same reasons it's a bad idea to use an xlr3 for psu connectors.

ok Arno, i understood. thanks
you know, you have the same name of the river of my city!


thanks to all of you guys, i'm learning lots of things!

pietro_moog said:

you know, you have the same name of the river of my city!

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Yeah I know, they named it after me  ;D
great city btw!