While I'm having a mind dump here I must say that I can't see the point of locking connectors on a panel for the following reasons:
1 Mic inputs: What if someone trips on a mic lead and makes an expensive mic like a U87 fall on the floor and it breaks. I'd rather have the lead pull loose from the panel than the expensive repair afterwards wouldn't you?
2 Guitar ties: The same thing applies with the latching Neutrik jack. The red latch can quite quickly be taken out. If you had your very old Gibson plugged into a panel mounted jack wired as a guitar line from the Control Room to a booth and tripped over the lead, wouldn't you want that fantastic guitar solo to end mid way through rather than that expensive guitar to be damaged?
3 Headphones: So, a musician (in my case a drummer ... no jokes please) has the headphones on, plugged into a studio panel jack (although these days it may be nearby positioned Hearback system or something similar via Cat 6 which is ok). If that latching jack prevented the headphones from unplugging from the panel, it would leave the headphones on the floor as a result, thus rendering the session useless as the musician couldn't hear anything in the cans so, yet again, what is the point in having a latched connector? Either the headphones come loose from the musician or they come loose from the panel ... same difference really ... session delayed!
The only advantage I can think of (and please prove me wrong so I can shut up!) is the fact that, once it is connected, you know the cable is fully plugged in and is secure (at
one end only).
All these points have nothing really to do with the wiring as it is the same regardless of whether the connectors are latched or not but I thought I would raise the issue anyway as it is to do with the actual connectors used, as were my points raised in part 1.
Thoughts please on this one and have I got something wrong here? Tell me if so!
Yet again, regards from Jim Lassen (
www.profcon.co.uk). Also on
FACEBOOK
