One truth about working with audio is you always need the cable or adapter you don’t have in your toolbox. That’s why we love these terminal-block audio connectors so much. No soldering required! Use stranded or solid core wire and a small screw driver to create custom wiring jigs.
This is the 3.5mm (1/8″) 4-Pole (TRRS) Audio Plug Terminal Block. TRRS stands for Tip, Ring, Ring, Sleeve. It has four total conductors – three signal and a ground as opposed to a more common stereo jack’s two. This connector is most often used in smartphones & cellphones to provide stereo audio and one mic channel. On a Raspberry Pi the extra connector is used for composite video
No soldering required. Just push the little buttons and slide in your stranded or solid-core wire. Note that these aren’t recommended for actual Ethernet traffic, especially long term…but for basic power/data distribution, RJ45’s are great!
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
