Quick answer: A TS cable has two contacts: tip for signal and sleeve for the shield and return. It is unbalanced, which suits high impedance instrument outputs such as electric guitars and pedals, and it cannot carry a balanced microphone signal. Use it for instrument to pedal to amplifier, keep it under about six metres on stage, and never use it where an XLR balanced lead is required.
The connector looks identical to a TRS plug except for one missing ring, and that missing ring is the whole difference. Instruments expect a high impedance load and produce a small signal, so a two conductor lead is adequate; microphones expect a balanced input, and a TS lead will hum.
Contacts and their jobs
Tip and sleeve
The tip carries the signal and the sleeve carries both the return and the shield. Because the return is the shield, any current flowing in it appears in series with the signal, which is why hum is more likely than with a balanced lead.
Why instruments tolerate it
A guitar pickup has a high output impedance, thousands of ohms, and a level of tens of millivolts. The amplifier input is high impedance too, so the cable’s resistance barely matters; its capacitance does, and a long lead rolls off the treble in a way players hear as a duller tone.
Cable choice
| Use | Cable | Length |
|---|
| Guitar to pedal | Low capacitance, braid shield | 3 to 6 m |
| Pedal board links | Short, right-angle plugs | 0.15 to 0.5 m |
| Keyboard to amp | Low capacitance | Up to 6 m |
| Stage to desk | Balanced XLR instead | Any |
Noise and handling
A TS lead acts as an antenna when the shield is broken at one end, and the symptom is a buzz that changes when you touch the plug. Cheap moulded plugs fail at the sleeve first, because it takes all the strain when the cable is pulled.
On stage, keep instrument leads away from mains distribution and dimmer packs. Where a long run is unavoidable, put a DI box at the instrument and send balanced XLR to the desk, which is what a stage box is for.
TS against TRS
A TRS plug adds a ring, which either carries the second channel of a stereo pair or the cold side of a balanced signal. Plugging a TRS lead into a TS socket works, because the ring contact simply lands on the sleeve. Plugging a TS lead into a balanced input leaves the cold side floating, which usually works at reduced level and worse noise rejection.
For patch cables between rack units, the TRS and XLR cables guide covers the balanced versions, the RCA patch cables page covers domestic equivalents, and the XLR microphone cables reference covers what to use instead of a long TS run.
Practical scenarios
- Guitar into a combo amp: a 3 m low capacitance lead; longer leads dull the top end audibly.
- Pedal board: short right-angle links, and keep the power supply cables away from the audio leads.
- Keyboard into a mixer: if the distance exceeds 6 m, use a DI box rather than a longer TS lead.
- Studio patch bay: do not mix TS and TRS leads in the same bay without labelling, or a balanced channel will lose its cold side.
FAQ
Can a TS cable carry a microphone?
It will pass signal, but the connection is unbalanced, so hum and interference are likely, and phantom power has no proper return path. Use an XLR cable for any microphone that needs 48 V.
Why does my guitar sound duller with a long cable?
Cable capacitance forms a low pass filter with the pickup’s inductance and the amplifier’s input impedance. A longer or higher capacitance lead lowers the corner frequency, which is heard as lost treble.
Does a TS cable work in a stereo socket?
Sound appears in one channel only, because the ring contact has nothing to connect to. Use a TRS lead for stereo, or a splitter if two mono outputs are needed.
