Monoprice
Monoprice 104785 XLR Female to RCA Male Premier Cable
★★★★★
XLR
Bridge balanced XLR sources to unbalanced RCA inputs with a heavily shielded, gold-plated adapter cable built to keep noise out of the signal path.
$13.25*
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*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Last updated:Jul 14, 2026.Price and availability are subject to change.
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Overview
Key Features
An XLR to RCA cable converts a balanced audio signal into an unbalanced signal. This is good for sending audio signals from an XLR source to an RCA input, or vice versa. Regardless of direction, the result will be an unbalanced signal.
This is a premium quality cable with gold plated connectors at each end. The cable is made with two 16 AWG oxygen-free copper conductors, in a twisted-pair arrangement, and is shielded along the full length with copper braid with 97.5% coverage.
This cable uses the standard pinout with pins 1 and 3 of the XLR connector wired to the shield of the RCA plug and pin 2 of the XLR connector wired to the tip of the RCA plug.
Quality at a Fair Price: Monoprice's rugged design and rigid quality control standards deliver high quality products at fair prices
Specifications
Brand
Monoprice
Model
104785
Connector A
XLR Female
Connector B
RCA Male
Signal Type
Unbalanced (balanced-to-unbalanced conversion)
Conductor Gauge
16 AWG
Conductor Material
Oxygen-Free Copper (OFC)
Configuration
Twisted Pair
Shielding
Copper Braid, 97.5% Coverage
Connectors
Gold-Plated
XLR Pinout
Pin 2 Hot, Pins 1 & 3 to Shield
Pros & Cons
👍 Pros
- 97.5% copper braid shielding across the full cable length provides excellent rejection of electromagnetic interference for a balanced-to-unbalanced adapter.
- Gold-plated connectors on both ends resist corrosion and maintain consistent contact resistance over repeated plug-unplug cycles.
- 16 AWG oxygen-free copper conductors in twisted-pair configuration deliver low-resistance signal transfer with added mechanical durability.
- Standard XLR pin 2 hot wiring ensures drop-in compatibility with professional mixing consoles, interfaces, and outboard gear.
👎 Cons
- Converting to unbalanced signal eliminates common-mode noise rejection, so this cable is not a substitute for a true balanced run in high-interference environments.
- No inline pad or level attenuation means connecting pro-level +4 dBu sources to consumer –10 dBV inputs may cause clipping without an external level adjustment.
- The cable is a fixed adapter with no ground lift switch, so ground loop hum between pro and consumer equipment must be addressed separately.
- Only available with XLR female to RCA male — users needing the reverse gender configuration will need a different cable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this cable convert a balanced signal to unbalanced, or does it just change the connector?
It changes both connector and signal format. Pins 1 and 3 of the XLR are tied to the RCA shield, and pin 2 carries the hot signal to the RCA tip. The result is always an unbalanced signal regardless of which direction audio flows.
Will this cable introduce noise on long runs since the signal becomes unbalanced?
The 97.5% copper braid shielding and twisted-pair construction minimize interference pickup, but because the output is unbalanced, runs beyond 15–20 feet become increasingly susceptible to noise. Keep runs as short as practical.
Can I use this to connect a mixer's XLR output to a consumer amplifier's RCA input?
Yes, that is the primary use case. The XLR female end connects to your mixer output and the RCA male end plugs into the amplifier input. Be aware that pro-level signals (+4 dBu) may need to be padded down to avoid clipping consumer-level (–10 dBV) inputs.
What gauge is the internal conductor, and does it affect audio quality?
The cable uses 16 AWG oxygen-free copper conductors, which is heavier than typical signal cable. This provides low resistance and reliable signal transfer, though for line-level audio the practical audible difference versus thinner gauges is minimal — the real benefit is durability and consistent shielding performance.
Is the XLR pinout standard, or does this cable use a non-standard wiring configuration?
It uses the industry-standard pinout: pin 1 (ground) and pin 3 (cold) wired to the RCA shield, pin 2 (hot) wired to the RCA tip. This is compatible with virtually all professional audio equipment.
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