RCA Sucks - Why Do We Use It?

[watchnerd]

Here is my new cable, a 10' Seismic Audio SATXSW 4x10.

It's the anti-thesis of audiophile, and costs $30 for 10'. I could splurge and get the Blue Jeans version with all Neutrik connectors and Belden / Canare for about $140 for the same length, but that's about as expensive as snake cables get. This Seismic audio version should be sufficient for my Thanksgiving vacation farting around, though, connecting between my RME ADI-2 Pro and Revox PR99.

But here it the real point:

LOOK AT THOSE CONNECTORS

1. All the XLR connectors lock
2. The TRS connectors aren't locking, but they're so damn long they don't jiggle or come out easily
3. They're gigantic compared to RCA connectors, easily able to hold heavy cable weights
4. They're interchangeable -- you can uncinch them and convert the type / gender
5. You can use the cable as a flail and actually hurt someone instead of merely annoy them

So why do we still have RCA connectors in the 21st century?

Other than being cheap, does RCA offer any technical benefits?

Yeah, I know, standards and format factors die hard, but with digital being the cheap interface of choice now, what's the purpose of cheap analog connectors if it's not for the masses?

At least pricey headphone cables use good connectors....

 

[Krunok]

RCA wasn't designed to bring technical benefits. It was designed to be cheap but still of acceptable quality and reliability, and it meets all those criterias well. Sure, you can buy better connectors for home use but they will be significantly more expensive and in vast majority of cases only marginally better.

 

[watchnerd]

RCA wasn't designed to bring technical benefits. It was designed to be cheap but still of acceptable quality and reliability, and it meets all those criterias well. Sure, you can buy better connectors for home use but they will be significantly more expensive and in vast majority of cases only marginally better.

But who needs a cheap, full sized line level analog connection these days?

Most of the cheap stuff seems to be TOSLINK, and if it is analog, it's 3.5mm mini jack.

 

[andreasmaaan]

RCA is cheap and of acceptable quality, but it's terribly unreliable. The connectors are bent or stretched too easily. Headphone/earphone connectors are far more reliable and equally cheap and acceptable quality-wise.

This whole discussion has been had in minute detail on a previous thread though

 

[watchnerd]

RCA is cheap and of acceptable quality, but it's terribly unreliable. The connectors are bent or stretched too easily. Headphone/earphone connectors are far more reliable and equally cheap and acceptable quality-wise.

Right...a 3.5mm mini jack is equally cheap and a more reliable / solid connection, making the RCA connector's zombie status doubly stupid.

 

[Krunok]

RCA is cheap and of acceptable quality, but it's terribly unreliable. The connectors are bent or stretched too easily. Headphone/earphone connectors are far more reliable and equally cheap and acceptable quality-wise.

Well, unlike headphone connectors, it's not really that you touch your RCA connectors every day, right? For that reason heaphones connectors were borrowed from professional world.

This whole discussion has been had in minute detail on a previous thread though

Very true, no need to repeat ourselves.

 

[Krunok]

Right...a 3.5mm mini jack is equally cheap and a more reliable / solid connection, making the RCA connector's zombie status doubly stupid.

 

[garbulky]

Well if you actually think about it, we don't use RCA anymore. People use HDMI and their tv speakers. I use XLR connections. What gear do you use that uses TRS rather than XLR? Is it Mytek?

 

[watchnerd]

Is this wrong? Do you think RCA is superior to 3.5mm mini jack?

 

[watchnerd]

Well if you actually think about it, we don't use RCA anymore. People use HDMI and their tv speakers. I use XLR connections. What gear do you use that uses TRS rather than XLR? Is it Mytek?

There are tons of dual TRS/XLR setups in the pro world, mainly for space saving reasons:

 

[andreasmaaan]

Well, unlike headphone connectors, it's not really that you touch your RCA connectors every day, right? For that reason heaphones connectors were borrowed from professional world.

Uh-oh, here we go again.... Will sit it out this time

 

[Krunok]

Uh-oh, here we go again.... Will sit it out this time

 

[Thomas savage]

RCA is recognised by the customer , there would likely be nothing to gain by changing it in fact you’d probably lose sales.

It’s the established norm , if it ain’t broke.

 

[watchnerd]

Uh-oh, here we go again.... Will sit it out this time

Even banana speaker cables are better...

 

[watchnerd]

RCA is recognised by the customer , there would likely be nothing to gain by changing it in fact you’d probably lose sales.

It’s the established norm , if it ain’t broke.

It's broke.

Or, rather, it's always been broke.

 

[Thomas savage]

It's broke.

Or, rather, it's always been broke.

Oh, it’s broke and it sucks ,,, just like ya mum....

 

[mansr]

A properly constructed, tight-fitting RCA plug that is inserted and left undisturbed provides a perfectly adequate connection for single-ended signals. Sure, it has some flaws, but it was readily available when someone first decided to introduce hifi separates. Locking connectors like BNC (single-ended) and XLR (balanced) are mainly of benefit where cables are constantly yanked about, such as in a studio or on a lab bench.

As has been pointed out, RCA is, for better or worse, the established standard, so trying to replace it with something else now would likely be a fool's errand. To succeed, a replacement would have to be either clearly superior at the same cost or significantly cheaper. I don't see either as particularly likely.

 

[stunta]

Oh, it’s broke and it sucks ,,, just like ya mum....

We need the moderator to step in and ban this user

 

[watchnerd]

Oh, it’s broke and it sucks ,,, just like ya mum....

Times have been tough lately....

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I could splurge and get the Blue Jeans version with all Neutrik connectors and Belden / Canare for about $140 for the same length, but that's about as expensive as snake cables get.

There's more. How about this?