Pin Hot Conventions for US vs European Consoles

[markus44uk]

Hi:
I've recently brought over a D&R Triton Pro recording console that was manufactured in Holland and used in Europe for many years. Now that it is in the USA, I am wondering if I am going to have any potential problems because of the difference in the way Europeans wire their XLR pins (Pin 1 Ground, Pin 2 Hot-in phase and Pin 3 cold-out of phase) and the way it is done in the USA. Does anyone here have a clue as to whether I have anything to worry about? Specifically, if the XLR cabling in the US is not matched to the European standard, what will be the effect on the audio quality of the inputs from mics into the console and then into ProTools. This question came up when I remembered reading about pin hot differences between UK HHB CD Burners and US Fostex CD Burners. I can't find a good reseource to investigate this so I'm hoping one of you experts might have an idea what I might need to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[CO2]

Hi markus:

Someone else may correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the "universally accepted standard" for XLR wiring is:

Pin 1 - Shield
Pin 2 - High (Hot)
Pin 3 - Low

I believe the Pin 3 - High "standard" went out with leisure suits!

Best Regards

[Barnabas]

Pin 3 hot was the old American standard. Thankfully we adopted the international standard of pin 2 hot. You shouldn't have a problem. The USA also adopted the Metric system in 1865, but we're a little slower in switching over to that standard! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

Question: If everything is out of phase, would anyone notice?

[Nick Batzdorf]

Answer: there are those who say yes! Supposedly you can hear absolute phase, especially with things like kick drums.

I personally have never experimented to see if that's true.

[CO2]

Hello:

If everyone still wore leisure suits, would they actually be considered stylish?

Everything out of phase should, in theory, present a soundstage where all sound appears to originate OUTSIDE of the normal stereo spectrum.

Best Regards