A Y-cable , Y cable , or splitter cable is a cable with three ends: one common end and two other ends. The Y-cable can resemble the Latin letter " Y ".
52-872: There are five common uses for Y-cables in signal paths: A Y-cable common in domestic settings has a stereo 3.5mm (1/8″) stereo male minijack at one end, to plug into the line- or headphone-output of an MP3 player, mobile phone, or computer soundcard, and a pair of RCA (phono) male plugs to connect to the left and right mono inputs of an external amplifier. This is an example of un-consolidating connectors , as described above. Y-shaped mains leads enable two appliances to run from one mains plug. In older desktop PCs, PATA (aka "IDE") devices such as 5.25 inch optical drives and 3.5 inch hard drives are typically powered by means of Molex connector Y-cables. Traditional USB Y-cables exist to enable one USB peripheral device to receive power from two USB host sockets at once, while only transceiving data with one of those sockets. As long as
104-403: A 6.35 mm ( 1 ⁄ 4 in) jack, Bantam connectors are used for mixing console and outboard patchbays in recording studio and live sound applications, where large numbers of patch points are needed in a limited space. The slightly different shape of Bantam plugs is also less likely to cause shorting as they are plugged in. A two-pin version, known to the telecom industry as
156-895: A UK NATO or European NATO connector. In the most common arrangement, consistent with the original intention of the design, the male plug is connected to a cable, and the female socket is mounted in a piece of equipment. A considerable variety of line plugs and panel sockets is available, including plugs suiting various cable sizes, right-angle plugs, and both plugs and sockets in a variety of price ranges and with current capacities up to 15 amperes for certain heavy-duty 1 ⁄ 4 in versions intended for loudspeaker connections. Common uses of phone plugs and their matching sockets include: Any number of 3.5 mm sockets for input and output may be found on personal computers , either from integrated sound hardware common on motherboards or from insertable sound cards . The 1999 PC System Design Guide's color code for 3.5 mm TRS sockets
208-554: A "310 connector", consists of two 1 ⁄ 4 -inch phone plugs at a centre spacing of 5 ⁄ 8 inch (16 mm). The socket versions of these can be used with normal phone plugs provided the plug bodies are not too large, but the plug version will only mate with two sockets at 5 ⁄ 8 inches centre spacing, or with line sockets, again with sufficiently small bodies. These connectors are still used today in telephone company central offices on "DSX" patch panels for DS1 circuits . A similar type of 3.5 mm connector
260-597: A 0.281 in (7.1 mm) diameter shaft with four conductors, allowing two for the headphones, and two for the microphone. Also used is the U-384/U (Nexus TP-105), which has the same diameter as the U-174/U but is slightly longer and has 5 conductors instead of 4. There is a confusingly similar four-conductor British connector, Type 671 (10H/18575), with a slightly larger diameter of 7.57 mm (0.298 in) used for headsets in many UK military aircraft and often referred to as
312-416: A mic) are often compatible with standard TRS stereo headphones, whereby the contact that expects a mic signal will instead simply become shorted to ground and thus will provide a zero signal. Conversely, those TRRS headsets can plug into TRS sockets, in which case its speakers may still work even though its mic won't work (the mic's signal contact will be disconnected). Because of a lack of standardization in
364-558: A number of models for different purposes, including: By 1950, the two main plug designs were: Several modern designs have descended from those earlier versions: U.S. military versions of the Western Electric plugs were initially specified in Amendment No.1, MIL-P-642, and included: The 3.5 mm or miniature size was originally designed in the 1950s as two-conductor connectors for earpieces on transistor radios , and remains
416-464: A pair of phone connectors. A standard 1 ⁄ 4 -inch (6.3 mm) 2 or 3-conductor plug, type PJ-055, is used for headphones. For the microphone, a smaller 3 ⁄ 16 -inch (0.206 inch / 5.23 mm) diameter 3-conductor plug, type PJ-068, is used. Military aircraft and civil helicopters have another type termed the U-174/U (Nexus TP-101), also known as U-93A/U (Nexus TP-102) and Nexus TP-120. These are also known as US NATO plugs. These have
468-539: A patent in 1901 for improved construction of the telephone switchboard-plug with today's 1 ⁄ 4 inch TS form still used on audio equipment. Western Electric was the manufacturing arm of the Bell System , and thus originated or refined most of the engineering designs, including the telephone jacks and plugs which were later adopted by other industries, including the US military . By 1907, Western Electric had designed
520-399: A receptacle designed for the shorter (15 mm) plug may damage the receptacle, and may damage any electronics located immediately behind the receptacle. However, partially inserting the plug will work as the tip/ring/ring distances are the same for both variants. A shorter plug in a socket designed for the longer connector may not be retained firmly and may result in wrong signal routing or
572-412: A short circuit inside the equipment (e.g. the plug tip may cause the contacts inside the receptacle – tip/ring 1, etc. – to short together). The shorter 15 mm TRRS variant is more common and physically compatible with standard 3.5 mm TRS and TS connectors. Many small video cameras, laptops, recorders and other consumer devices use a 3.5 mm microphone connector for attaching a microphone to
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#1732879994823624-577: A shorter tip. Professional audio and the telecommunication industry use a 0.173 in (4.4 mm) diameter plug, associated with trademarked names including Bantam , TT, Tini-Telephone, and Tini-Tel. They are not compatible with standard EIA RS-453/IEC 60603-11 1 ⁄ 4 -inch jacks. In addition to a slightly smaller diameter, they have a slightly different geometry. The three-conductor TRS versions are capable of handling balanced signals and are used in professional audio installations. Though unable to handle as much power, and less reliable than
676-433: A single three-conductor socket (for the front speakers) and two four-conductor sockets. This is to accommodate rear-center (6.1) or rear left and right (7.1) channels without the need for additional sockets on the sound card. Some portable computers have a combined 3.5 mm TRS/ TOSLINK jack, supporting stereo audio output using either a TRS connector or TOSLINK (stereo or 5.1 Dolby Digital / DTS ) digital output using
728-519: A standard still used today. This roughly half-sized version of the original, popularized by the Sony EFM-117J radio (released in 1964), is still commonly used in portable applications and has a length of 15 millimetres (0.59 in). The three-conductor version became very popular with its application on the Walkman in 1979, as unlike earlier transistor radios, these devices had no speaker of their own;
780-484: A stereo input socket for a mic. The back panel may have additional sockets, most commonly for line out , mic , line in , and less commonly for multiple surround sound outs. Laptops and tablets tend to have fewer sockets than desktops due to size constraints. Some computers include a 3.5 mm TRS socket for mono microphone that delivers a 5 V bias voltage on the ring to power an electret microphone 's integrated buffer amplifier , though details depend on
832-546: A suitable optical adapter. Most iMac computers have this digital/analog combo output feature as standard, with early MacBooks having two ports, one for analog/digital audio input and the other for output. Support for input was dropped on various later models The original application for the 6.35 mm ( 1 ⁄ 4 in) phone jack was in manual telephone exchanges. Many different configurations of these phone plugs were used, some accommodating five or more conductors, with several tip profiles. Of these many varieties, only
884-545: Is common to simply name the connector according its number of rings: The sleeve is usually a common ground reference voltage or return current for signals in the tip and any rings . Thus, the number of transmittable signals is less than the number of contacts. The outside diameter of the sleeve is 6.35 millimetres ( 1 ⁄ 4 inch) for full-sized connectors, 3.5 mm ( 1 ⁄ 8 in) for " mini " connectors, and only 2.5 mm ( 1 ⁄ 10 in) for " sub-mini " connectors. Rings are typically
936-451: Is common, which assigns pink for microphone , light blue for line in , and lime for line level . AC'97 and its 2004 successor Intel High Definition Audio have been widely adopted specifications that, while not mandating physical sockets, do provide specifications for a front panel connector with pin assignments for two ports with jack detection. Front panels commonly have a stereo output socket for headphones and (slightly less commonly)
988-470: Is inserted into a hole and makes contact with that lever, the lever pivots and breaks its normal connection. The receptacle was called a jack-knife because of its resemblance to a pocket clasp-knife . This is said to be the origin of calling the receptacle a jack . Scribner filed a patent in 1880 which removes the lever and resembles the modern connector and made improvements to switchboard design in subsequent patents filed in 1882. Henry P. Clausen filed
1040-419: Is mated into a female connector (a socket), though other terminology is used. Plugs have 2 to 5 electrical contacts . The tip contact is indented with a groove. The sleeve contact is nearest the (conductive or insulated) handle . Contacts are insulated from each other by a band of non-conductive material. Between the tip and sleeve are 0 to 3 ring contacts. Since phone connectors have many uses, it
1092-437: Is now common and may be transmitted via USB sound cards , USB headphones, Bluetooth , display connectors with integrated sound (e.g. DisplayPort and HDMI ). Digital devices may also have internal speakers and mics. Thus the phone connector is sometimes considered redundant and a waste of space, particularly on thinner mobile devices . And while low-profile surface-mount sockets waterproofed up to 1 meter exist, removing
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#17328799948231144-483: Is often used in the armrests of older aircraft, as part of the on-board in-flight entertainment system. Plugging a stereo plug into one of the two mono jacks typically results in the audio coming into only one ear. Adapters are available. A short-barrelled version of the phone plug was used for 20th-century high-impedance mono headphones, and in particular those used in World War II aircraft . These have become rare. It
1196-457: Is physically possible to use a normal plug in a short socket, but a short plug will neither lock into a normal socket nor complete the tip circuit. Less commonly used sizes, both diameters and lengths, are also available from some manufacturers, and are used when it is desired to restrict the availability of matching connectors, such as 0.210-inch (5.3 mm) inside diameter jacks for fire safety communication in public buildings. Digital audio
1248-579: Is supplied to the third leg of the "Y" by a mains adaptor or a power bank. Phone connector (audio) A phone connector is a family of cylindrically -shaped electrical connectors primarily for analog audio signals . Invented in the late 19th century for tele phone switchboards , the phone connector remains in use for interfacing wired audio equipment , such as head phones , speakers , micro phones , mixing consoles , and electronic musical instruments (e.g. electric guitars , keyboards , and effects units ). A male connector (a plug),
1300-1114: Is the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC). The BPVC provides rules for the design, fabrication, installation, inspection, care, and use of boilers , pressure vessels , and nuclear components. The code also includes standards on materials, welding and brazing procedures and qualifications, nondestructive examination, and nuclear in-service inspection. Other Notable Standardization Areas include but not limited to are; Elevators and Escalators (A17 Series), Overhead and Mobile Cranes and related lifting and rigging equipment (B30 Series), Piping and Pipelines (B31 Series), Bio-processing Equipment (BPE), Valves Flanges, Fittings and Gaskets (B16) , Nuclear Components and Processes Performance Test Codes. The journals published by ASME include: ASME offers four categories of awards: achievement awards to recognize "eminently distinguished engineering achievement"; literature awards for original papers; service awards for voluntary service to ASME; and unit awards, jointly awarded by six societies in recognition of advancement in
1352-467: Is thus an engineering society , a standards organization , a research and development organization, an advocacy organization, a provider of training and education, and a nonprofit organization . Founded as an engineering society focused on mechanical engineering in North America, ASME is today multidisciplinary and global. ASME has over 85,000 members in more than 135 countries worldwide. ASME
1404-590: The 3.5 mm plug and jack are used for certain applications. A four-conductor version is often used in compact camcorders and portable media players, providing stereo sound and composite analog video. It is also used for a combination of stereo audio, a microphone, and controlling media playback, calls, volume and/or a virtual assistant on some laptop computers and most mobile phones , and some handheld amateur radio transceivers from Yaesu . Some headphone amplifiers have used it to connect balanced stereo headphones, which require two conductors per audio channel as
1456-772: The United States and internationally —western U.S, eastern U.S., Asia Pacific, and South America—with the E-Fest location for each region changing every year. ASME holds a variety of competitions every year for engineering students from around the world. ASME has four key offices in the United States, including its headquarters operation in New York, N.Y., and three international offices in Beijing, China; Brussels, Belgium, and New Delhi, India. ASME has two institutes and 32 technical divisions within its organizational structure. Volunteer activity
1508-470: The channels do not share a common ground. By the 1940s, broadcast radio stations were using Western Electric Code No. 103 plugs and matching jacks for patching audio throughout studios. This connector was used because of its use in AT&;T 's Long Line circuits for the distribution of audio programs over the radio networks' leased telephone lines. Because of the large amount of space these patch panels required,
1560-495: The connector manufacturers' nomenclature —referred to as mini phonos . Confusion also arises because phone jack and phone plug may sometimes refer to the RJ11 and various older telephone sockets and plugs that connect wired telephones to wall outlets. The original 1 ⁄ 4 -inch (6.35 mm) version descends from as early as 1877 in Boston when the first telephone switchboard
1612-508: The connector may often simply be called a quarter-inch to distinguish it from XLR , another frequently-used audio connector. These naming variations are also used for the 3.5 mm connectors, which have been called mini-phone , mini-stereo , mini jack , etc. RCA connectors are differently-shaped, but confusingly are similarly-named as phono plugs and phono jacks (or in the UK, phono sockets). 3.5 mm connectors are sometimes—counter to
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1664-498: The field of transportation. ASME Fellow is a Membership Grade of Distinction conferred by The ASME Committee of Past Presidents to an ASME member with significant publications or innovations and distinguished scientific and engineering background. Over 3,000 members have attained the grade of Fellow. The ASME Fellow membership grade is the highest elected grade in ASME. ASME runs several annual E-Fests, or Engineering Festivals, taking
1716-634: The host has two available USB sockets, this enables a peripheral that requires more power than one USB port can supply (but not more than two ports can supply) to be used without requiring a mains adaptor. Portable hard disk drives and optical disc drives are sometimes supplied with such Y-cables, for this reason. A newer variant on this kind of cable allows a USB peripheral to receive data and power from two different devices respectively. This allows power-hungry peripherals to be used with sockets that are designed to supply little or no outgoing power, such as USB On-The-Go mini-B sockets on smartphones. The power
1768-500: The industry began switching to 3-conductor plugs and jacks in the late 1940s, using the WE Type 291 plug with WE type 239 jacks. The type 291 plug was used instead of the standard type 110 switchboard plug because the location of the large bulb shape on this TRS plug would have resulted in both audio signal connections being shorted together for a brief moment while the plug was being inserted and removed. The Type 291 plug avoids this by having
1820-711: The manufacturer. The Apple PlainTalk microphone socket is a historical variant that accepts either a 3.5 mm line input or an elongated 3.5 mm TRS plug whose tip carries the amplifier's power. Some newer computers, especially laptops, have 3.5 mm TRRS headset sockets, which are compatible with phone headsets and may be distinguished by a headset icon instead of the usual headphones or microphone icons. These are particularly used for voice over IP . Sound cards that output 5.1 surround sound have three sockets to accommodate six channels: front left and right; surround left and right; and center and subwoofer. 6.1 and 7.1 channel sound cards from Creative Labs, however, use
1872-401: The mono plugs of the same size. The results of this physical compatibility are: Equipment aware of this possible shorting allows, for instance: Some devices for an even higher number of rings might possibly be backwards-compatible with an opposite-gendered device with fewer rings, or may cause damage. For example, 3.5 mm TRRS sockets that accept TRRS headsets (stereo headphones with
1924-460: The more fixed electrical connector is the jack, while the less fixed connector is the plug, without regard to the gender of the connector contacts. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1975 also made a standard that was withdrawn in 1997. The intended application for a phone connector has also resulted in names such as audio jack , headphone jack , stereo plug , microphone jack , aux input , etc. Among audio engineers,
1976-702: The on-off switch and used a two-pronged connector with both the 3.5 and 2.5 mm plugs. They were also used for low-voltage DC power input from wall adapters. In the latter role, they were soon replaced by coaxial DC power connectors . 2.5 mm phone jacks have also been used as headset jacks on mobile telephones (see § Mobile devices ). The 1 ⁄ 8 in and 1 ⁄ 10 in sizes, approximately 3.5 mm and 2.5 mm respectively in mm, though those dimensions are only approximations. All sizes are now readily available in two-conductor (unbalanced mono) and three-conductor ( balanced mono or unbalanced stereo) versions. Four-conductor versions of
2028-414: The past regarding the dimensions (length) given to the ring conductor and the insulating portions on either side of it in 6.35 mm ( 1 ⁄ 4 in) phone connectors and the width of the conductors in different brands and generations of sockets, there are occasional issues with compatibility between differing brands of plug and socket. This can result in a contact in the socket bridging (shorting)
2080-874: The place of the Student Professional Development Conference (SPDC) series. In addition to the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC), the Innovative Additive Manufacturing 3D Challenge (IAM3D), the Student Design Competition, and the Old Guard Competition, there are also talks, interactive workshops, and entertainment. These events allows students to network with working engineers, host contests, and promote ASME's benefits to students as well as professionals. E-Fests are held in four regions in
2132-451: The right channel of the amplifier. This attempt has long been abandoned, and now the convention is that all plugs fit all sockets of the same size, regardless of whether they are balanced or unbalanced, mono or stereo. Most 6.35 mm plugs, mono or stereo, now have the profile of the original stereo plug, although a few rounded mono plugs are still produced. The profiles of stereo miniature and sub-miniature plugs have always been identical to
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2184-411: The ring and sleeve contacts on a phone connector. Equipment requiring video with stereo audio input or output sometimes uses 3.5 mm TRRS connectors. Two incompatible variants exist, of 15 millimetres (0.59 in) and 17 mm (0.67 in) length, and using the wrong variant may either simply not work, or could cause physical damage. Attempting to fully insert the longer (17 mm) plug into
2236-538: The same diameter as the sleeve. The 1902 International Library of Technology simply uses jack for the female and plug for the male connector. The 1989 Sound Reinforcement Handbook uses phone jack for the female and phone plug for the male connector. Robert McLeish, who worked at the BBC , uses jack or jack socket for the female and jack plug for the male connector in his 2005 book Radio Production . The American Society of Mechanical Engineers , as of 2007, says
2288-553: The socket entirely facilitates waterproofing . Chinese phone manufacturers were early in not using a phone socket: first with Oppo 's Finder in July 2012 (which came packaged with micro-USB headphones and supported Bluetooth headphones ), followed by Vivo 's X5Max in 2014 and LeEco in April 2016 and Lenovo 's Moto Z in September 2016. Apple 's September 2016 announcement of the iPhone 7
2340-418: The standards have been incorporated into a legally binding business contract or incorporated into regulations enforced by an authority having jurisdiction, such as a federal, state, or local government agency. ASME's standards are used in more than 100 countries and have been translated into numerous languages. The largest ASME standard, both in size and in the number of volunteers involved in its preparation,
2392-526: The system. These fall into three categories: American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers ( ASME ) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via " continuing education , training and professional development , codes and standards , research , conferences and publications, government relations, and other forms of outreach." ASME
2444-499: The two-conductor version with a rounded tip profile was compatible between different manufacturers, and this was the design that was at first adopted for use with microphones , electric guitars, headphones , loudspeakers , and other audio equipment . When a three-conductor version of the 6.35 mm plug was introduced for use with stereo headphones, it was given a sharper tip profile to make it possible to manufacture jacks that would accept only stereo plugs, to avoid short-circuiting
2496-402: The usual way to listen to them was to plug in headphones. There is also an EIA standard for 0.141-inch miniature phone jacks. The 2.5 mm or sub-miniature sizes were similarly popularized on small portable electronics. They often appeared next to a 3.5 mm microphone jack for a remote control on-off switch on early portable tape recorders; the microphone provided with such machines had
2548-655: Was an executive member. Kate Gleason and Lydia Weld were the first two women members. ASME is one of the oldest standards-developing organizations in America. It produces approximately 600 codes and standards covering many technical areas, such as fasteners, plumbing fixtures, elevators, pipelines, and power plant systems and components. ASME's standards are developed by committees of subject matter experts using an open, consensus-based process. Many ASME standards are cited by government agencies as tools to meet their regulatory objectives. ASME standards are therefore voluntary, unless
2600-554: Was founded in 1880 by Alexander Lyman Holley , Henry Rossiter Worthington , John Edison Sweet and Matthias N. Forney in response to numerous steam boiler pressure vessel failures. Known for setting codes and standards for mechanical devices, ASME conducts one of the world's largest technical publishing operations. It holds numerous technical conferences and hundreds of professional development courses each year and sponsors numerous outreach and educational programs. Georgia Tech president and women engineer supporter Blake R Van Leer
2652-518: Was initially mocked for removing the socket by other manufacturers like Samsung and Google who eventually followed suit. The socket is also not present in some tablets and thin laptops (e.g. Lenovo Duet Chromebook and Asus ZenBook 13 in 2020 ). The US military uses a variety of phone connectors including 9 ⁄ 32 -inch (0.281-inch, 7.14 mm) and 1 ⁄ 4 -inch (0.25 inch, 6.35 mm) diameter plugs. Commercial and general aviation (GA) civil aircraft headsets often use
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#17328799948232704-450: Was installed or 1878, when an early switchboard was used for the first commercial manual telephone exchange in New Haven created by George W. Coy . Charles E. Scribner filed a patent in 1878 to facilitate switchboard operation using his spring-jack switch . In it, a conductive lever pushed by a spring is normally connected to one contact. But when a cable with a conductive plug
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