Rear 1/4" Outputs:
There seems to be no ambiguity about this one. The manual states clearly on page 23 that:
And every everyone on the forum seems to agree.Quarter-inch line outputs are not cross-coupled. Therefore, when connecting them to an unbalanced input, use a TRS plug with the ring disconnected. Not floating the negative terminal will short it to the sleeve ground and cause distortion.
Rear 1/4" Inputs:
The manual, on page 10, states:
Which contradicts many comments I found on this forum and elsewhere, where everyone was saying that the rings only needed to be floated for the outputs. Granted, all the comments I found were directed at older models, so maybe this is something new with the UltraLite-mk5? Or is it a typo in the manual?Equipped with very high quality 24-bit 192 kHz converters, these six line inputs are balanced TRS (tip/ring/sleeve) quarter-inch connectors that can also accept an unbalanced plug (with the ring disconnected). Use them for keyboards or other line level analog sources.
Front 1/4" Inputs (i.e. the centers of the combo jacks):
If page 10 is correct about inputs needing floated rings then these front two might be exceptions, because on page 55 it says of those jacks:
"Single ended" I take to mean TR plugs (as opposed to TRS), which indicates that floated rings are NOT necessary for these two jacks at least. There is no other mention of "single ended" in the manual.Balanced or single ended
So my takeaway from the manual is that, for unbalanced connections, TRS plugs with floated rings should always be used for both outputs and inputs, except maybe the front two. Is this correct?
But if there's one single question I'd like answered the most, it's this: For unbalanced connections, Is there any reason why I shouldn't just use floated ring TRS plugs for EVERY input and output on the UltraLite-mk5? I'm making my own cables.