Making Ring - Tip Cables

You can also use this type of cable to split a stereo output signal into 2 separate mono signals, or combine 2 separate mono signals into a stereo input.

These cables are not hard to make. In the cables I build, I use high quality Switchcraft connectors for all of the Phone Plugs. These are available at many electronics supply stores. Don't skimp on the connectors, good ones will hold up much longer in this environment, and they really don't cost much more than cheap connectors. Use quality audio cables too.

The Cable assembly itself is very simple. It is composed of 2 Mono 1/4 inch Phone plug and 1 Stereo 1/4 inch Phone plug. There are 2 single conductor (a wire in the center and a shield) audio cables - one is marked at the end TIP.

Parts of a Stereo Phone Plug

Parts of a Mono Phone Plug

Step 1

Cut 2 19 1/2 inch (50 cm) lengths of shielded single conductor audio cable. Strip 5/8 inch (3 cm) of the insulation off of all 4 ends. Strip approximately 1/8 inch of wire (3 mm) from the center wires. Separate the shields from the center wire and loosely twist the ends to make sure that they are separated from each other. Loosely twist the shield wires together and apply a small amount of solder to these leads, while holding them together. Add a small amount of solder to the center wires (tin them).

Step 2

I use one of my patch boxes to hold the Phone Plugs when soldering to them - its a whole lot easier than trying to hang onto hot wires and metal. You can plug into any available 1/4 inch phone jack to accomplish the same thing (nothing will be damaged as long as the jack is made of metal).


Solder the shields onto the COMMON connection. Then turn the plug and connect the 2 center wires to the Ring and Tip connections. Make note of which one of the wires goes to the Tip.

Step 3

Slide the plastic cover over the stereo connector, and them slide the metal cover over the 2 audio cables. For the wire that goes to the Tip, slide the metal cover over the wire (pay attention to which way it faces), then slide the plastic cover on.


Step 4

To properly mark the Tip, I use a small piece of paper, or a white paper sticker with the word TIP printed on it. This is inserted under a piece of clear heat shrink tubing. Heat Shrink tubing reduces its diameter up to 50% when heated, so pick a diameter that is slightly larger than your wire, with enough room to put the paper underneath. You could also use a piece of colored heat shrink tubing here to mark the Tip since we don't mark the Ring. I prefer to label it. The Label/Heat Shrink Tubing is at least 2 inches (5 cm) from the stripped and tinned leads.

To make the heat shrink tubing shrink, you need a heat source. In an industrial environment, you would use a heat gun (like a large portable hair dryer, except much much hotter). However, I find that careful use of matches works quite well. Put the tubing in place and light a match, holding it underneath the tubing (around 1/2 inch (13 mm) away) and moving it back and forth to cause the tubing to shrink. Work it around all sides of the tubing and be careful not to burn the wire, the heat shrink tubing or yourself. It normally takes 2 matches to shrink a piece the size shown here.



Plug the Mono Phone Plug into a jack and solder the Shield, then the HOT connection. Once done, compress the clamp to the wire on the Phone Plug (if there is one), slide the plastic cover over the solder joints them slide the metal cover down and screw it on.

Step 5

At this point, Put the metal cover on the RING wire (pay attention to which direction its going on), then slide the plastic cover on. Make the solder connections for the RING cable, as was done for the TIP cable (see above picture showing soldering).

Step 6

Test the cable.

Some other Mixer magic

When you plug into this jack, it disconnects the signal from its normal circuit (using switched jacks) and routes it thru the cable. If you want tap this signal, you will need a cable that re-establishes the broken signal path, and also gives you the signal. Easy to do (see the diagram below). All you need to do is connect the send/receive back together in the stereo jack by jumpering the ring/tip and bring that signal out thru the other mono jack. The case remains a sheild for both connectors.

This signal could feed another mixer (it is likely to be line level), or be sent to some other remote audio processing hardware (like a recording studio, or vocal processors).

Cable Wiring Diagrams

Questions? Comments? .

Photos taken with a Kodak DC25 Digital camera and Tiffen Close-up lens. Text added using JASC Paint Shop Pro.

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