Editing AES3 (section)

==Hardware connections==
The AES3 standard parallels part 4 of the international standard IEC 60958.  Of the physical interconnection types defined by IEC 60958, two are in common use.

===IEC 60958 type I===
[[Image:Xlr-connectors.jpg|thumb|XLR connectors, used for IEC 60958 type I connections.]]

Type I connections use [[balanced]], three-conductor, 110-ohm [[twisted pair]] cabling with [[XLR connector]]s. Type I connections are most often used in professional installations and are considered the standard connector for AES3. The hardware interface is usually implemented using [[RS-422]] line drivers and receivers.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Type I connector ends
!
! Cable end
! Device end
|-
! Input
| XLR male plug
| XLR female jack
|-
! Output
| XLR female plug
| XLR male jack
|}

===IEC 60958 type II===
IEC 60958 Type II defines an unbalanced electrical or optical interface for [[consumer electronics]] applications. The precursor of the IEC 60958 Type II specification was the Sony/Philips Digital Interface, or [[S/PDIF]]. Both were based on the original AES/EBU work. S/PDIF and AES3 are interchangeable at the protocol level, but at the physical level, they specify different electrical signalling levels and [[Impedance matching|impedances]], which may be significant in some applications.

===BNC connector===
[[File:BNC connector 20050720 001.jpg|thumb|right|BNC connector, used for AES-3id connections.]]

AES/EBU signals can also be run using unbalanced BNC connectors a with a 75-ohm coaxial cable. The unbalanced version has a very long transmission distance as opposed to the 150 meters maximum for the balanced version.<ref>{{citation |url=https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/other/aes-ebu-eg.pdf |title=Engineering Guidelines: the EBU/AES Digital Audio Interface |author=John Emmett |date=1995 |publisher=[[European Broadcasting Union]] }}</ref> The AES-3id standard defines a 75-ohm [[BNC connector|BNC]] electrical variant of AES3. This uses the same cabling, patching and infrastructure as analogue or digital video, and is thus common in the broadcast industry.