The headphone jack is the place where you plug in your headphones. It’s also called a phone jack, audio jack, or AUX input.
The plug is the part at the end of your headphone cable that you stick into the jack.
The terms “jack” and “plug” are given genders by the Association of Electrical & Mechanical Trades. The jack is the “female connector,” and the plug is the “male connector.”
The headphone jack and plug are electrical connectors that transmit sound from your headphones to a device like a phone or computer.
Some jacks can transmit both analog and digital signals. For example, the Google Chromecast has a 3.5mm jack that can do this.
The metal pin of the headphone plug has conductors that help transmit audio signals. These conductors can be made of gold, nickel, or brass and provide different levels of durability.
The jack is a hollow barrel with conductors inside that match the conductors on the plug.
The number of wires in your headphone cable matches the number of conductors on the plug and jack. For example, two wires have two conductors, and three wires have three conductors.
Headphone plugs with three conductors are called “3-conductor plugs” or “3-pole plugs.”
The conductors have specific names: Tip (T), Ring (R), and Sleeve (S). Plugs with different numbers of rings have different configurations.
For example:
- TS (Tip-Sleeve): 2 conductors (2-conductor plug)
- TRS (Tip-Ring-Sleeve): 3 conductors (3-conductor plug)
- TRRS (Tip-Ring-Ring-Sleeve): 4 conductors (4-conductor plug)
- TRRRS (Tip-Ring-Ring-Ring-Sleeve): 5 conductors (5-conductor plug)
The black bands around the plug are insulators, not rings. They prevent the conductors from touching and causing problems.
Different configurations of plugs and jacks are used for various purposes, like carrying audio signals, ground wires, and mic audio.
A 2-conductor plug is simple and used with instruments like guitars. A 3-conductor plug is commonly used for stereo audio connections. More conductors allow for additional features like microphones.
It’s important to use the right plug with the right jack to avoid issues with your audio equipment.