Least favorite connectors

[honkyjonk]

My selections in order of loathsomeness,

1. Molex - I've tried repairing faulty ones. Stretching the pins, even adding solder to the posts, not understanding why the hell it just won't work. Ended up just soldering wires to the posts. Problem solved. Since these are generally internal they take a layman a long time to track down the problem too. Grrrrr.

2. Those power connectors to portable hard drives that look sort of like mini midi connectors, but with an extra thingy. 1,2,3 broken. Be careful!

3. Firewire - oops. slipped out. Or did it? Maybe it's the receptacle I don't like. They seem pretty lame for crucial transfers. Like, don't breathe on it, please.

Makes me appreciate the good stuff though. Like XLR's. Nary a problem there. Or those multi pin amphenol things like on my mixing board that have strain relief and even a threaded receptacle. (Not the aluminum ones though)

[The Real MC]

RCA, I hate those things. Any plug 3.5mm or smaller, almost every mating jack has a short life.

[vvv]

Amphenol blade and 4 pins, as they are expensive and sometimes hard to find in my space.

"Sealed" 1/4" jacks on certain MIJ Fenders and Alvarez basses - they wear out and can't be repaired.

[Jim Williams]

Elco connectors, dozens of unaccessable pins.

I don't mind molex, a new pin and a crimp tool fixes those.

[GooberNumber9]

After thinking about this for a few minutes I realized that I hate almost any connector that's not Neutrik XLR or SpeakOn. Computer connectors of all kinds, EIC and NEMA power connectors, all kinds of fiber/optical, definitely RCA, bannana plugs, binding posts, RJ-XX modular connectors - I hate them all.

Oh wait! I like the Apple MagSafe power connector a lot. I'm not sure why magnetic connections haven't been adapted to more purposes.

With MagSafe and Neutriks, they are easy to plug in and unplug (at least relatively - I do have the always upside-down USB problem with SpeakOns), they are solid, and reliable.

[Nick Sevilla]

Miniature ribbon connectors inside laptops.
And inside workstations like Euphonix Control.

Those absolutely take the cake. I need a magnifying glass and tweezers,
and I always mess them up anyways.

After that, old Amphenol multipin connectors, in all Neve consoles. I fucking HATE those evil pieces of shit. They could have changed the format after a few years to something better, but NOOOOOOOOOOO.

[ricercar.record]

definitely Elco/DL connectors. Had to repair some Mytek Private Q headphone systems. The 60 pin DL connector cables had the shrinkwrapping stretch back over years of use, exposing some of the bare wires which runs balanced audio i/o plus the supply +/-29 V and Ground, resulting in the supply rails to each remote headphone mixer shorting out and damaging the units. Had to go through every cable, re-wiring/re-pining, and re-shrinkwrapping making sure to strip the wires shorter than the previous tech had so this wouldn't happen again, or at least for a very very long time. Fuck those cables, I will take a digital distribution system with Cat5 over analog balanced headphone distribution any day now.

[drumsound]

DB25 get on my nerves. I like that you can have 8 balanced channels in a small space, but the screw rod connectors are a total pain to deal with after the first one is connected.

I also prefer Switchcraft XLR to the Neutrik. The are far less bitchy about what they connect to than the Neutrik.

[Snarl 12/8]

I can't believe no one's mentioned mini/micro USB yet.

[The Real MC]

I prefer Switchcraft XLR plugs but have grown to like Neutrik chassis sockets for DIY. The Neutrik fit a uniform hole regardless of gender, not the case with Switchcraft.

I have found that Neutrik plugs do not always mate with others. The chassis sockets are OK.

[lyman]

I have a question. Is there any real benefit to 1/4" stereo plugs versus 1/8"? You see both these days, why not standardize it to one or the other? Is the larger plug yielding a better signal or something? Ok I lied, I had 3 questions!

[Scodiddly]

1/4" jacks are bigger, and can take more abuse. For speaker-level applications they do carry more current.

My least-favorite connector? Probably RCA. I can live with wonky connectors inside things, but the RCA is on the outside where actual consumers might use it.

[vvv]

I also, upon reflection, hate the spring-clamps on the back of speakers (ex., Optimus) as they have such small contact with the wires, and thus they always end up intermittent ...

I mean, c'mon, that's a "connection" and thus uses a "connector", right?

[MikeRivers]

Mini phone jack. Seems like more and more things have these unreliable jacks on them these days.

A headphone coming unplugged is usually not a calamity, but when it's the mic or line input of a portable recorder (which might be your phone), I want something more robust.

[syrupcore]

Definitely anything proprietary like those weird din external hard drive connectors mentioned above. Actually, most power connectors piss me off. Why soooo many types/sizes? I can't be the only one with a massive box chock full of 'might need this on day' power adapters. To a lesser extent, USB is going down the same dumb path.

Oh wait! I like the Apple MagSafe power connector a lot. I'm not sure why magnetic connections haven't been adapted to more purposes.

It really is lovely and "Don't send the laptop screaming to the ground when you trip on it" is a great design/engineering win. That is, until your battery will not hold a charge and moving your computer the wrong way or pulling the wire just the tiniest bit means insta-off and you lost anything not saved.