案例库 · 产品与设计 · 产品决策 · 1950-1970s
这条还没译成中文，下面是英文原文。
Cannon added a latch and the XLR became pro audio's standard
Cannon's XLR connector, with a locking latch and a three-pin balanced design, became professional audio's standard — it stays connected and rejects noise.
Cannon Electric (later ITT Cannon)
那一手
Before XLR, audio gear had to make do with plugs that could be pulled out or that did not suit balanced lines. Cannon Electric of Los Angeles, building for military applications, produced a connector that was tougher than the similar but incompatible DIN plug it replaced, and it was a commercial success across a range of fields.
An early Cannon 'X' connector was a simple push-together design. After 1950 a locking mechanism was added for contact security, turning it into the Cannon XL ('L' for locking), and after 1955 synthetic rubber insulation was added to the female versions, giving it the name XLR. It was made with 2 to 7 pins.
For audio, the three-pin version became the standard: pin 1 ground, pins 2 and 3 carrying the balanced signal. In a balanced circuit, the two signal leads are both powered and opposite in polarity, so an interfering signal induces identical noise in both and the receiver cancels it out — the common-mode rejection that wipes out hum. This is why XLR is the standard fitment on virtually all low-impedance professional microphones, which put out tiny signals of around -55 to -60dB.
The connector was copied, modified and improved by companies including Amphenol, Switchcraft and Neutrik, and Cannon Electric was acquired by ITT in 1963. Its locking, balanced, rugged design made it the near-absolute standard for balanced lines, recording and professional audio — a rare case where a defense contractor's part became an entire industry's vocabulary.
为什么管用
- The latching mechanism prevents cable pull-outs on stage and in the studio
- Three pins support balanced-line operation, cancelling induced hum
- Rugged construction let it survive heavy professional use
- Standardization let microphones, desks and cables from different makers interconnect
可以搬走什么
A connector wins an industry not by being fancy but by solving the two things that actually break an audio chain: plugs that pull out, and hum that rides in with the signal.
后来呢
XLR became and remains the near-absolute standard for balanced audio, microphone and recording connections. Standards bodies such as IEC standardized the three-pin version, and AES/EBU later used XLR as the physical carrier for digital audio, cementing it in both the analog and digital domains.
资料来源
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