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Originally introduced by the Radio Corporation of America in the 1940s to allow monaural phonographs to be connected to amplifiers, they later became widely adopted as a simple and inexpensive way to interconnect components in consumer audio (and later, video) systems. But was it a good choice?
While audio interconnects - especially the cables themselves - receive a good deal of attention from audiophiles who fret about such things as "skin effect" and wire and dielectric material, most audio design engineers recognize that the RCA connector itself is by far the more critical - and limiting - component. The parts suffer from several drawbacks:
1.) When making a connection, the ground connection is made *after* the signal connection (and vice versa when disconnecting). While this doesn't affect normal operation, if the connectors are connected/disconnected while the associated equipment is powered on this could result in amplifier and speaker damaging bursts of noise.
2.) Unlike the balanced connections used in most professional audio equipment, an RCA connection is unbalanced, resulting in more susceptibility to noise. While the typically shorter cable lengths used in consumer audio makes this less of an issue in most applications, noise is still a common enough problem that some might argue for balanced connections in consumer gear. But this would come at a cost - both in dollars and in circuit complexity.
3.) With RCA connectors, each signal requires a separate plug. This can obviously contribute to the familiar "rat's nest" of wiring, but in some cases can even create problems where the spacing of stereo input/output jacks on equipment is unable to accommodate some heavier-duty interconnects equipped with larger size cables and plugs.
4.) Some argue that the lack of a characteristic 75-ohm impedance is also an issue with RCA connectors. For analog audio this is hardly a problem, but for video and - maybe - digital audio, the point is more valid. In the latter case, almost all consumer digital audio equipment has adopted the use of the RCA connectors (along with the more expensive and less robust TOSLINK optical connector) for the S/PDIF interface - despite the fact that the interface standard calls for a 75-ohm impedance connection.
This could be achieved with 75-ohm BNCs, or even RF coaxial F-connectors, but no engineer familiar with transmission line design would specify an RCA connection here as an optimal solution. Ultimately, though, does it really matter? Not according to some, who point out that with a maximum bandwidth of about 12 MHz and a wavelength of about 10 ft, the S/PDIF signal simply won't be affected by typical RCA connector/cabling lengths. But the debate continues.


Waarom open je dan uberhaupt een topic over RCA vs jack en ga je niet gewoon meteen die Zed afpissen...![]()


RCA wordt veel gebruikt in broadcast en voor DJ dingen, dus vandaar zal je het veel aantreffen.

Maar het is niet waar, probeer jij in een broadcast omgevin maar een rca-tje te vinden. Altijd XLR en anders mischien lemo, maar nooit rca, op welk apparaat zou dat moeten zitten dan.....