Or is it just an arbitrary string of letters used to name the type of sound cable?
Checked acronymsearch.com, and it gives me
“XLR eXtra Long Run [audio]”
The name XLR originally came from the Canon Corp. part number for these types of connectors(XLR3M and XLR3F are the familiar three-pin variety, while XLR5 had five smaller pins). Why Canon chose it is anyone’s guess. XLR connectors are also termed Canon connectors or Canon plugs.
IIRC, Amphenol named their version A3M and A3F.
Learn something every day here, I always assumed it was eXtra Low Resistance.
And aren’t they damned expensive?
Not really that expensive - a 20’ run of XLR runs about $15-20. You want expensive, look at snakes - a 50 foot 16 channel easily starts around 200 bucks, and rapidly goes up from there.
A Canon tech rep once told me their part name originally stood for the actual description of the balanced plug, namely: gound(X?)/left/right…
Any truth to that?
I wish!
I wanted to connect my Preamp and Power amp with Balanced XLR cable.
£186 for the cheap one. ($300 -ish)
Put on hold for the foreseeable future.
You can buy a hell of a lot of CD’s for that.
Good lord, you’re looking in the wrong places! Sounds like the vastly overpriced Monster Cable crap we have here. I don’t know precisely what configuration or length you need, but here is a 3-meter XLR3F-to-XLR3M cable for £8.00.
Looks good, thanks.
The one I was quoted for was Van Den Hul silver. Only need 0.5 M. interlink (CD player is RCA output only.)
I’ll give that a try, thanks again ** Q.E.D. **
Came up with the goods yet again.
I’ve always considered that XLR referred to the connectors, not the cable. The cable is 1 or 2 or however many strands, shielded or not, etc. You might connect any of numerous connectors to either end.
This true, but by convention, a cable that has the same sort of connector at each end is often called whatever the connector is. So, you’ve got RCA cables, XLR cables, DB25 cables, etc.
You learn something new every day! I’ve referred to them as “cannon” connectors for at least 30 years, and never even wondered why or connected them to the Canon optical company.
Does anyone know what Canon’s original application for them was? Presumably not audio. Neither the dictionary link above nor Canon’s own history page suggest that it has done much outside the area of optics.
The current issue of Live Sound International has a nice chart showing most of the common connector types, sadly none of this is on the web. I think they may make it available in the archives section a month or so from now. The place I go for cabling info is www.prosoundweb.com. The ‘Study Hall’ section has great articles. See the Cabling and Interconnect section.
So I guess I’m the only one here who assumed (apparently incorrectly) that they were originally used in stereo applications, and that XLR referred to X (common/ground), Left and Right?
Ummm, no. If you check out post #8 above, you’ll see that NoClueBoy was given that explanation by a Canon rep.
However, I think it may be an ex post facto explanation, since in my 30 years in audio engineering, I have rarely seen XLR cables or connectors used for stereo. Also, it would seem, based on Canon’s optical background, that XLR may not have been originally intended specifically for audio at all, but just general electrical or electronic applications.
Info on the history of the XLR. Scroll down just a bit to the first section.
XLR is designed to be balanced not stereo. I suppose you could make a connector to use XLR as stereo but then you’d loose the benefits of a balanced connection and just have a more expensive version of a 1/4" TRS. Scroll down a bit more on the link above for an explanation of ‘balanced’.
For a year or so I called them ‘microphone connectors’ because XLR is what a lot of mics use so don’t feel silly!
Opengrave’s link refers to “Cannon” connectors, not “Canon.” Could it be that thefreedictionary.com link in Q.E.D.'s post was wrong in attributing them to Canon Optical Company? That would make a lot more sense to me.
Does anyone know if there was a U.S. audio or electronic company called Cannon?
Cannon for Canon is a common mistake. You’ll even find it in some photography books. I would dismiss it as a typo.
Also, being that Canon was a leader in 8mm, Super 8, and 16mm movie cameras during the 60s and 70s, I wouldn’t be surprised if XLR wasn’t designed for sound applications (such as recording or synch) in movie cameras. Hey, it’s as good a wag as any!