RaneNote

PIN 1 REVISITED

Pin 1 Revisited Introduction

In his landmark 1994 AES paper†, Neil Muncy de-
• The Problem scribed a common equipment design error that allows
current flowing on the shields of audio wiring to enter
• The Examples equipment and cause audible interference. He called
this design error “the Pin 1 problem,” because it was an
• The Fix improper connection of the shield terminal, pin 1 in
XLR connectors.
• The Applications

This article originally appeared in the Syn-Aud-Con

Jim Brown Newsletter, vol. 31, nos. 2 & 3, 2003, reprinted here with
Audio Systems Group, Inc. permission.

RaneNote 165 †
Neil A. Muncy, “Noise Susceptibility in Analog and
© 2003 Syn-Aud-Con
Digital Signal Processing Systems,” presented at the
97th AES Convention of the Audio Engineering Society
in San Francisco, CA, Nov. 1994.

Pin 1 Revisited-1
The Pin 1 Problem Microphone Examples
Cable shields are essentially an extension of the shield- Here’s the inside of a rather expensive condenser mic
ing enclosure of equipment, and they should be con- (Figure 1), the manufacturer of which has long insisted
nected directly to that shielding enclosure. To make that the shields of mic cables must be connected to the
equipment cheaper to build, manufacturers started shell in order to prevent RF interference. A quick look
connecting cable shields to the circuit board’s common at the photo tells us why — this mic has a screaming
trace, then took that trace to the chassis. The problem pin 1 problem at VHF frequencies!
is that any voltage drop across the wiring that is com- The black wire takes pin 1 to the body of the mic,
mon to both the shield current and the circuit’s path to and the orange wire takes pin 1 up to the circuit board.
ground will be injected into the audio circuitry. At audio frequencies, that works just fine. But at 56
Shield currents include the noise currents coupled MHz (the frequency of TV channel 2), the inductive
into ground by power line filters, potential differences reactance of the black wire is about 4Ω. If you try to
between “ground” at opposing ends of long cable runs, use this mic in downtown Chicago with a properly
and the shield acting as an antenna, picking up RF dim- wired mic cable, the shield current induced by Chan-
mer noise and other radio signals. It’s quite common to nel 2, Channel 5, and a bunch of FM broadcast sta-
have AM, FM, and TV broadcast signals flowing on the tions causes enough voltage drop in the black wire
shields of audio wiring. (which the orange wire adds to the audio circuitry)
Neil has observed that most RF interference to audio that both the video and FM signals are clearly heard!
equipment is caused by a pin problem, and some recent Rick Chinn’s review of this mic several years ago for a
research I’ve done has convinced me that he’s right. magazine noted RF interference from TV stations, the
closest of which were 13 miles away!
This mic has a pin 1 problem too (Figure 2), al-
though not as severe — it takes about 6 dB more RF to
cause audible interference. Here, the shield goes to the
chassis through the tiny wire connecting pin 1 to the
broad tab holding the connector’s retaining screw. The
combined length of that path is on the order of 1 cm,
which results in about 2Ω of inductive reactance at 60
MHz. Again, circuit common is connected to pin 1 and
sees the drop across the inductance. I was first alerted
to the problem in this mic when I noticed that tighten-
ing the screw reduced the interference by about 3 dB!

Figure 1 (left) and Figure 2 (above). Impedance-to-ground is

frequency dependent. A good connection in the audio band can
be a bad connection in the RF band.

Pin 1 Revisited-2
Figure 3. Internal conductors (including PCB traces) that connect Figure 4. A direct connection to the chassis is the best broadband
to pin 1 can act as antennas. Radio frequencies flowing on the grounding solution. This enabled the device shown to get a class
cable shields are re-radiated inside of the unit. In reverse, radio “B” rating (more stringent).
frequencies generated inside of the unit (DSP clock, etc.) can exit
the unit via pin 1 and contaminate surrounding equipment.

The pin 1 problem works in reverse too — any RF The Right Way
noise currents (digital clock noise, for example) flow- There are better ways to do this. Some manufactur-
ing in that common impedance create a voltage drop ers (Figure 4 shows a Rane product) provide a chassis
that is coupled out to the shield. The shield, acts as an screw next to pluggable strip connectors for proper
antenna and noise is radiated to nearby equipment and termination of the shield. Inside, the signal leads go
wiring. It’s not at all uncommon to see shield paths in- directly to RF filter networks.
side equipment 3-5 inches long! At 100 MHz, a 5" long In a series of tests I recently did on more than 45
wire is about 60 Ω! At 1 GHz, it’s about 600 Ω. condenser mics using standard XLR connectors, nearly
all experienced serious interference from cell phones,
Line Level Example and about one-third experienced significant interfer-
Figure 3 shows the rear panel connections to a DSP ence from TV broadcast stations and/or my ham talkie.
unit that has a bit of a noise problem. Looking behind
the panel, we see the circuit traces go to the chassis via The Neutrik Solution
the two black screws at approximately the 4" and 7" The European EMC directive, implemented in the late
points on the ruler that has been laid on top to show 1990’s, places limits on noise emissions from elec-
dimensions. All the incoming shields are bused togeth- tronic equipment sold in most European countries. It
er and go to the screws. These long leads (typically 2-4" caused a lot of manufacturers to get EMC religion, and
with all the zigs and zags) are like open doors to radio gave new life to RF engineers working in labs dedicated
frequency signals — any current flowing on the shields to verifying compliance. The engineers, working in
radiates inside through antenna action, and noise in- these labs and those specializing in designing for good
side the box is coupled out onto the shields, which also EMC performance, think in terms of RF immunity and
act as antennas. computer/digital systems. Few have much practical
experience with analog audio systems, and some of the
design solutions they advance can cause us consider-
able grief — especially the treatment of cable shields.

Pin 1 Revisited-3
 From an RF point of view, the shell of an XLR con- the enclosure with a dielectric (insulation) between
nector looks like it should work as the extension of the plates. This circular construction minimizes the
the cable shield. For broadband RF immunity, it can inductance through the capacitor to the chassis enclo-
be helpful to ground shields at every opportunity sure, while the wire coming into the chassis enclosure
and carefully bond all grounded objects together at still has inductance. The resulting electrical circuit is
multiple points. Such a philosophy is the basis of the an effective RF filter while it also prevents a hole in the
so-called “mesh” ground topology, and it can work well shielding.
in installations where there’s little difference in po- To provide the most effective shielding, both cable
tential between grounds at opposite ends of the audio shields and the shells of connectors within equipment
paths. But power system leakage currents cause enough should be bonded to the chassis. (Retired Bell Labs
power-related shield current to flow in most real world engineer and EMC authority Henry Ott observes that
installations to couple noise into the sound system if if this connection is to the outside of the enclosure,
both ends of a cable shield are grounded. skin effect will keep RF currents outside the enclosure
Since the 1930’s, engineers have known that au- as well.) But what about cable-mount connectors? To
dio frequency noise coupling will be minimized with make the EMC engineering community happy, mic
single point (star) grounding, while radio frequency cables should tie the cable shield to the connector shell,
noise coupling is minimized with multi-point (mesh) but to make audio folks happy the shield should go
grounding. The solution is simple — the shield of a only to pin 1. A few years ago, I proposed the concept
balanced audio cable is connected to the shielding of making a cylindrical connection to the shield in
enclosure at the driving source, and to the shielding cable-mounted connectors much like that in a BNC
enclosure at the receiving end through a capacitor. It connector, with that cylinder surrounded by a cylindri-
was easy to do this in the 40’s, when RF signals higher cal dielectric that was itself surrounded by a cylindrical
than 30 MHz were rarely encountered. It’s much plate connected to the connector shell. Such construc-
tougher now, when the interference sources are strong tion would form a capacitor having very low series in-
RF signals from UHF cell phones and high power TV ductance, turning the XLR connector into a two-circuit
transmitters. Again, it’s series inductance that makes feed-through capacitor. It would connect the shield to
life difficult, this time the inductance of the capacitor’s the shell at RF, while isolating it from the shell at audio
wire leads. See Figures 5 and 6. frequencies and DC. When used on mic cable, the
Feed-through capacitors have been a solution to this shield is also soldered to pin 1. When used at line level
problem since the 1930’s. They mount in a circular hole inputs in a rack, an installer could decide not to con-
in an enclosure. One “plate” of the capacitor is a wire nect the shield to pin 1, but it would still be connected
going through the enclosure, while the other “plate” to the shell at RF through the capacitor.
is a cylinder surrounding the wire and connected to

SHIELDING ENCLOSURE SHIELDING ENCLOSURE

Stray capacitance is a
path for loop current.
2 2
SIGNAL CIRCUITRY 3 SIGNAL CIRCUITRY 3

SIG REF 1 SIG REF 1

Antenna, Inductor,
Common Impedance

Figure 5. This is the classic RF pin 1 problem in a mic. The cable Figure 6. A circuit configuration that avoids a pin 1 problem.
shield goes to the enclosure, but through a wire long enough to The shield goes directly to the shielding enclosure.
have significant inductive reactance at VHF. The drop across the Signal reference common also goes to the shielding enclosure,
inductance is coupled to the signal zero reference, where it is but there is no common impedance.
added to the signal.
Pin 1 Revisited-4
 Engineer Joanne Dow observed
that if such a connector were to be
used with a connection to pin 1,
the capacitor and the series in-
ductance to the chassis through
pin 1 would form a parallel reso-
nance, and suggested a ferrite bead
surrounding pin 1 in the cable
connector to lower the Q of the
resonance.
It took a while for these ideas to
germinate, but before long, engi-
neers at Neutrik had begun work
on a practical implementation (Figure 8), and by early Figure 8. This drawing was produced by Neutrik for my AES
2002 had developed engineering prototypes. British paper. A pictorial view of the new EMC connector, courtesy
consultant John Woodgate tested them in his lab, and I
tested them both in my lab and in the field. The results
Neutrik.
met my expectations, and yielded an unexpected bonus
— they solved RF pin 1 problems, even when pin 1 was
connected at both ends!
A simple circuit study shows why. Figure 7 shows
Ferrite beads are very useful components that magnify
a cable using the new connectors used with the mic
the inductance of a wire passed through them because
shown in Figure 5. The concentric capacitor ties the
they offer a much better path for the magnetic flux
shield to the mic shell with an inductance that is much
surrounding the wire. At higher radio frequencies, the
lower than the wire inside the mic.
ferrite material provides more loss than inductance.
Not only that, but the ferrite bead around pin 1
Beads are made using a variety of materials to
inside the new connector adds series impedance to the
optimize their effect in different frequency ranges.
path through pin 1, effectively disconnecting the shield
from the pin 1 problem. Shield current thus divides,
most of it taking the low impedance path through
the capacitance to the shell, with very little flowing
through pin 1. In effect, the new connector bypasses SHIELDING ENCLOSURE
the problem!
But even this well engineered solution cannot be ef- Stray capacitance is a
path for loop current.
fective if mating connector shells don’t make good con-
tact, or if the equipment connector shell is not bonded 2
to the enclosure. I own a portable DAT machine that SIGNAL CIRCUITRY 3
has a massive pin 1 problem, so much so that when
it’s used with its own preamp with a dynamic mic in SIG REF SH
downtown Chicago the detected FM and TV stations
1
are nearly as loud as an interviewer a foot from the Antenna, Inductor,
Common Impedance BEAD
mic. The new EMC connector completely eliminates
the detected RF — if I carefully push against the side
Figure 7. The new EMC connector as it would be used at both ends
of the connector to force the connector shells to make
contact. But without that pressure, the shells can lose of a mic cable. The shield has a DC connection to pin 1 with a
contact and the RF interference returns! And the new ferrite bead around it. The concentric capacitor also connects it to
connector doesn’t help a popular mixer with a serious the shell. The ferrite bead increases in series impedance through
RF pin 1 problem, because the equipment connector
shell is not connected to the enclosure! pin 1 at RF, while the capacitor makes a very low impedance
connection of the shield to the equipment (or mic) enclosure.
Pin 1 Revisited-5
 Now that I’ve been alerted to them, these connector
shell mating problems are turning out to be more prev-
alent than any of us would have suspected. It appears
not to be limited to the use of off-brand or pirated con-
nectors — it shows up on connectors that have been
verified to have come from the same manufacturer! I’ve
also seen it in connectors built into very good quality
preamps and mics from a variety of manufacturers. So
far, the list includes Audio-Technica, Mackie, Neu-
mann, Sound Devices, and Tascam.

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Pin 1 Revisited-6