A Mate for the Euroblock
by Pat Brown
A useful connector that can be used with the Euroblock connector.
The Euroblock is a common connector used on audio equipment designed for permanent installation.
From the Rane Professional Audio Reference:
Euroblocks – Shortened form of European style terminal blocks, a specialized disconnect-able, or plug-able terminal block consisting of two pieces. The receptacle is permanently mounted on the equipment and the plug is used to terminate both balanced and unbalanced audio connections using screw terminals. Differs from regular terminal strips in its plug-ability, allowing removal of the equipment by disconnecting the plug section rather than having to unscrew each wire terminal. Unofficial, but popularly followed, is the color-code convention where green is used for inputs and orange is used for outputs.
I have often wondered why there is not a cable-mount version for the receptacle block used on audio products. Well, as it turns out, there is (sort of). I ran across the connector shown below after a prolonged Web search. It has screw terminals on one side, and mates with the cable-mount Euroblock on the other side. They are quite useful for making adapters, extensions, etc.
I bought a batch from Mouser Electronics. Here are the specifics, along with a link.
Mouser Part #: 651-1786187
Manufacturer Part #: 1786187
Manufacturer: Phoenix Contact
Description: Pluggable Terminal Blocks IC 2 5/ 3-ST-5 08 5.08mm 3P HEADER
Figure 1 – A cable-mount Euroblock terminal
Travel Light, Travel Smart
In my carry-on travel tech kit I carry an NTI Audio instrument set (XL2 and MR-Pro), as well as an iAudioInterface2TM for use with iPad and iPod Touch. The former has XLR I/O, and the latter users Tip-Ring-Sleeve connectors. I built a cable kit that accommodates both, using the above Euroblock connector to allow selection of the appropriate plug. The whole kit fits nicely in a re-purposed zip bag. pb
Download a PDF version of this article.
Figure 2 – A subset of my I/O adapter kit