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Author Topic: Neutrik Silent Plug  (Read 41394 times)

Jerry Turnbow

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Re: Neutrik Silent Plug
« Reply #30 on: March 25, 2008, 02:08:54 PM »

I purchased five of these plugs and began retrofitting some existing instrument cables.

One of the plugs had an immediate failure - it would not mute.  I suspect the reed switch itself may have come loose internally or something, but the supplier replaced it at no charge after consulting Neutrik.

A second one failed after not very much use when using it with a Taylor T5 hybrid guitar.  This time, it failed in the muted condition.  It was not a mechanical issue with the magnet "donut" reported above; it traveled back and forth fine.  I suspect, perhaps, that the T5 switches power to the preamp using the typical "short ring to sleeve" method, and that the inrush of DC flowing through the tip-sleeve connnection on the plug probably "welded" the tiny contacts on the microswitch.  

Thinking that to be the case, I took the connector and smacked it against a table top a few times to jar the contact loose, and sure enough, it opened up, and the cable has been working normally ever since.  I any case, I always carry one or two spare cables (did that before the Silent Plug - it's just good practice.)

The other thing I noticed with the T5 is that when plugging in, there's still a "pop" somtimes, I suspect, due to the actual powering up of the preamp, as if there's a sizeable filter capacitor in the power supply circuit, which might also explain the "contact welding" issue.

I use one of the cables with my electric fiddle, which also has a preamp, and have never had either of these problems.

Bottom line is - I love the plugs, I think they're well-constructed, and they probably work great for passive instruments, and probably most active ones as well, but there may be a handful of devices that, due to the power-on circuitry, will still be problematic.  In those cases, it may be possible to change the power circuit to use one of the 1/4" jacks that uses a plunger-operated set of contacts, instead of the common sleeve-to-ring connection, or maybe even incorporate a blocking diode to keep the tip side from passing DC while plugging in.

My $ .02

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Jeff Babcock

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Re: Neutrik Silent Plug
« Reply #31 on: March 27, 2008, 12:53:05 PM »

OK, another update for me.....

I have about 10 of these in use, and have had 2 failures so far.
I have also found some pops occurring with certain guitars similar to Jerry's findings.

I still like the product but the couple of failures concerns me a bit, especially seeing that others have had the same problem.  I'm not sure if I have 100% faith in these connectors, especially in a really heavy-use situation.

Jerry Turnbow

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Re: Neutrik Silent Plug
« Reply #32 on: March 27, 2008, 01:58:12 PM »

Jeff Babcock wrote on Thu, 27 March 2008 16:53

OK, another update for me.....

I have about 10 of these in use, and have had 2 failures so far.
I have also found some pops occurring with certain guitars similar to Jerry's findings.

I still like the product but the couple of failures concerns me a bit, especially seeing that others have had the same problem.  I'm not sure if I have 100% faith in these connectors, especially in a really heavy-use situation.



Jeff -

Just curious.  Did yours fail open (no muting) or fail shorted? Or did you have the mechanical problem others reportd?

- Jerry
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Jeff Babcock

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Re: Neutrik Silent Plug
« Reply #33 on: April 10, 2008, 01:53:58 PM »

Jerry,
The failures have been shorted, and the other issue was the popping with certain few models of guitars.

Jerry Turnbow

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Re: Neutrik Silent Plug
« Reply #34 on: April 11, 2008, 10:19:11 PM »

Jeff Babcock wrote on Thu, 10 April 2008 18:53

Jerry,
The failures have been shorted, and the other issue was the popping with certain few models of guitars.


Thanks, Jeff.

This would seem to support my suspicions that there may be a problem with active instruments that may have a high inrush current when powered up, resulting in "welding" of the reed switch.

Of course, even without the problem of the contacts sticking, the delayed "pop" as the preamp comes up is still a problem.  Sounds like the best fix would be to current-limit the power supply/filter cap when the preamp powers up.  I guess a blocking diode on the tip side would at least protect the contact, but one would probably have to stack several in series to ensure that one doesn't rectify the audio signal out of the instrument.

Cheers!
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Jeff Kaiser

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Re: Neutrik Silent Plug
« Reply #35 on: July 08, 2008, 02:16:53 PM »

Hi:
   I manufacture all types of audio cables. I use these quite a bit. It makes a great cable for those that "hot swap" guitars. It's quick acting, precise and has the Neutrik quality.
  One consideration would go out to those that want to use them with certain guitars. I've found that Tele's have a long arm input jack that will sometimes not have enough spring pressure on the tip. The spring assembly on the plug will actually defeat the spring pressure on the arm of the guitar jack. And this will cause the plug to push out of the guitar. This has been rare, and I have only had a couple customers report the problem. Also they loved the cable so much they didn't want a refund or exchange.
  I also make the same cables with G&H Silent plugs. Also great guality, and they're a little smaller.
They're available in straight and right angle in Neutrik & G&H
Neutrik is all gold contacts.
G&H is available Gold or Nickel/Silver

Jeff Lentz

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Re: Neutrik Silent Plug
« Reply #36 on: September 12, 2008, 02:37:39 AM »

Back in February I built 3 cables with the right angle silent plugs. Last month I replaced them all with normal neutrik right angle TS plugs.  
One of the silent plugs became silent at top of show and I didn't have any EGTR for the first two songs.  It came back after he cycled the plug a few times in a panic. It was pretty ugly.

The ring seemed to be sticking up in the body of the plug.  

I'm pretty disappointed, when they worked it solved the problem of him forgetting to mute himself before unplugging all the time.
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Jeff Babcock

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Re: Neutrik Silent Plug
« Reply #37 on: September 15, 2008, 04:55:27 PM »

Another follow up.... after originally loving these connectors, I have since stopped using them altogether after several reliability issues.  

I've been bitten by them a few times now at gigs and enough is enough.  Evil or Very Mad

They are a great idea but I think they need some refining before they can be considered really road worthy.
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