Connecting Gear

How to connect it all, so you can hear music

This is a short page — the book goes into a lot more depth on each connection type, and troubleshooting. Follow the basics below and you'll be fine.

Phono cables — colours and connections

Unless your equipment has digital connections, everything will connect using RCA plugs (often called "phono" plugs — but to avoid confusion with the phono input on a mixer, this page just calls them RCA).

RCA plugs and the sockets on the back of a mixer are colour coded — plug the red RCA plug into the red socket, and so on.

Connecting turntables

Turntables are unique in two ways. First, they're the only equipment that goes into the PHONO input on the mixer (next to each channel's phono input, you'll usually see a LINE input too). Second, they're the only equipment that uses the mixer's ground connection — a small screw, usually near the phono inputs.

Most mixers have a single ground screw rather than one per channel. Connect the thin ground wire from each turntable to it — skipping this causes a deep humming sound along with static pops and crackles.

Finally, check the Line/Phono switch on each channel and set it to Phono for any channel with a turntable connected. That's it — your turntables are connected.