DB25 #2 (electric boogaloo)

It didn’t take much research for me to realize that this series would have to be an exploration with you of a whole bunch of systems that I know almost nothing about. Once you get right down to the bit with the 25 pins and sockets, they have no idea whether they are slinging analog, digital, power, nothing at all, or if the cable is just being used to climb out a window.

One prominent analog use of the DB25 connector is as a breakout cable for the TASCAM DA-88. The DA-88 was a multi-track digital audio recorder for music production that could simultaneously capture 8 channels. The XLR audio connector, the standard for studio hookups, uses three conductors for balanced audio and ground. 8 of those gets you 24 pins. If 13 is a baker’s dozen, the bonus 25th pin completes the double bassist’s dozen. The TASCAM cable became a de facto industry standard for channel breakout and the cables are still available long after the original device was discontinued.

There’s more to a pinout than the which and what of each little pin. This is especially true when pins are matched in pairs and carried in a single twisted pair. Alas, it’s not always easy to tease out the internal construction of a particular cable.

Speaking of cables, it used to be the fashion for bloggers to share their “everyday carry” assortment of devices, cables, chargers, batteries, pens, notebooks, compact cameras, and bags. I can say that my overstuffed briefcase used to routinely have a bulky DB25 cable floating at the bottom but those days are long past. The cables I carry today are almost exclusively for power, with ends that run USB A, USB C, and Lightning. As slim as the USB C connector appears, it has 24 pins — only one less than the DB25 and twenty more than the original USB standard. What is old is new again.

My own everyday carry is defined mostly by my irritation at what I have failed to move from bag to bag. I biked down to Old Town today with my favorite bag — an Ortlieb convertible briefcase/pannier. As is typical, the bag either has everything I need in it but it isn’t with me, or it’s with me and doesn’t have what I need. It‘s truly delightful that Metro’s SmartTrip still works with my phone even after I exhaust the battery by scribbling here.