D-subminiature connectors are used to carry balanced analog or digital audio on many multichannel professional audio equipment, where the use of XLR connectors is impractical, for example due to space constraints. The most common usage is the DB25, using TASCAM's pinout (now standardised in AES59[1]). To avoid the possibility of bent pins on fixed equipment, the male connector is generally fitted to the cabling and the female connector to the equipment. The DD50 connector usage is described in AES-2id.[2]

DA15
Pin Quartz

Digital[3]

Bluefish

Digital[4]

1 Out 1/2 + In 5/6 +
2 GND In 3/4 -
3 Out 3/4 + In 3/4 +
4 GND In 1/2 -
5 GND In 1/2 +
6 Out 5/6 + In 5/6 -
7 GND Out 5/6 -
8 Out 7/8 + In 1/2 GND
9 Out 1/2 - Out 1/2 GND
10 GND n/c
11 Out 3/4 - Out 5/6 +
12 GND Out 3/4 -
13 Out 5/6 - Out 3/4 +
14 GND Out 1/2 -
15 Out 7/8 - Out 1/2 +
DB25
Pin Yamaha

Digital[5]

TASCAM / Digidesign Digital[6]

AES59 "Digital combined I/O"[1]

TASCAM Analog[6]

AES59 "8-way connections"[1]

1 In 1/2 + Out 7/8 + In/Out 8 +
2 In 3/4 + Out 7/8 GND In/Out 8 GND
3 In 5/6 + Out 5/6 - In/Out 7 -
4 In 7/8 + Out 3/4 + In/Out 6 +
5 Out 1/2 + Out 3/4 GND In/Out 6 GND
6 Out 3/4 + Out 1/2 - In/Out 5 -
7 Out 5/6 + In 7/8 + In/Out 4 +
8 Out 7/8 + In 7/8 GND In/Out 4 GND
9 n/c In 5/6 - In/Out 3 -
10 GND In 3/4 + In/Out 2 +
11 n/c In 3/4 GND In/Out 2 GND
12 GND In 1/2 - In/Out 1 -
13 GND n/c n/c
14 In 1/2 - Out 7/8 - In/Out 8 -
15 In 3/4 - Out 5/6 + In/Out 7 +
16 In 5/6 - Out 5/6 GND In/Out 7 GND
17 In 7/8 - Out 3/4 - In/Out 6 -
18 Out 1/2 - Out 1/2 + In/Out 5 +
19 Out 3/4 - Out 1/2 GND In/Out 5 GND
20 Out 5/6 - In 7/8 - In/Out 4 -
21 Out 7/8 - In 5/6 + In/Out 3 +
22 GND In 5/6 GND In/Out 3 GND
23 GND In 3/4 - In/Out 2 -
24 GND In 1/2 + In/Out 1 +
25 GND In 1/2 GND In/Out 1 GND
Lynx AES16(e) Digital I/O Pinout using HD26[7]
Pin Signal Pin Signal Pin Signal
1 Clock Gnd 10 Clock
2 Out Ch 8 - 11 Out Ch 8 + 19 Out Ch 8 GND
3 Out Ch 7 GND 12 Out Ch 7 - 20 Out Ch 7 +
4 Out Ch 6 - 13 Out Ch 6 + 21 Out Ch 6 GND
5 Out Ch 5 GND 14 Out Ch 5 - 22 Out Ch 5 +
6 In Ch 4 - 15 In Ch 4 + 23 In Ch 4 GND
7 In Ch 3 GND 16 In Ch 3 - 24 In Ch 3 +
8 In Ch 2 - 17 In Ch 2 + 25 In Ch 2 GND
9 In Ch 1 GND 18 In Ch 1 - 26 In Ch 1 +
DD50 — AES-2id "High-density AES connections"[2]
Pin Signal Pin Signal Pin Signal
1 Chassis
2 Ch 1 – 18 Ch 1 + 34 Ch 1 GND
3 Ch 2 GND 19 Ch 2 – 35 Ch 2 +
4 Ch 3 – 20 Ch 3 + 36 Ch 3 GND
5 Ch 4 GND 21 Ch 4 – 37 Ch 4 +
6 Ch 5 – 22 Ch 5 + 38 Ch 5 GND
7 Ch 6 GND 23 Ch 6 – 39 Ch 6 +
8 Ch 7 – 24 Ch 7 + 40 Ch 7 GND
9 Ch 8 GND 25 Ch 8 – 41 Ch 8 +
10 Ch 9 – 26 Ch 9 + 42 Ch 9 GND
11 Ch 10 GND 27 Ch 10 – 43 Ch 10 +
12 Ch 11 – 28 Ch 11 + 44 Ch 11 GND
13 Ch 12 GND 29 Ch 12 – 45 Ch 12 +
14 Ch 13 – 30 Ch 13 + 46 Ch 13 GND
15 Ch 14 GND 31 Ch 14 – 47 Ch 14 +
16 Ch 15 – 32 Ch 15 + 48 Ch 15 GND
17 Ch 16 GND 33 Ch 16 – 49 Ch 16 +
50 Chassis
DD50 — Quartz[3][verification needed]
Pin Signal Pin Signal Pin Signal
1 Ch 1 GND 18 Ch 1 – 34 Ch 1 +
2 Ch 2 + 19 Ch 2 – 35 Ch 2 GND
3 Ch 3 GND 20 Ch 3 – 36 Ch 3 +
4 Ch 4 + 21 Ch 4 – 37 Ch 4 GND
5 Ch 5 GND 22 Ch 5 – 38 Ch 5 +
6 Ch 6 + 23 Ch 6 – 39 Ch 6 GND
7 Ch 7 GND 24 Ch 7 – 40 Ch 7 +
8 Ch 8 + 25 Ch 8 – 41 Ch 8 GND
9 Ch 9 GND 26 Ch 9 – 42 Ch 9 +
10 Ch 10 + 27 Ch 10 – 43 Ch 10 GND
11 Ch 11 GND 28 Ch 11 – 44 Ch 11 +
12 Ch 12 + 29 Ch 12 – 45 Ch 12 GND
13 Ch 13 GND 30 Ch 13 – 46 Ch 13 +
14 Ch 14 + 31 Ch 14 – 47 Ch 14 GND
15 Ch 15 GND 32 Ch 15 – 48 Ch 15 +
16 Ch 16 + 33 Ch 16 – 49 Ch 16 GND
17 GND 50 GND

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c AES59-2012 Audio Engineering Society, Standard 59 — Audio application of 25-way D-type connectors in balanced circuits
  2. ^ a b AES-2id-2006 Audio Engineering Society, Information Document 2 — Application of AES3 interface: §7.1.6.3 High-density AES connections (Table 7.1, p29)
  3. ^ a b Quartz Q1602 small router system Archived May 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Bluefish AES breakout cable
  5. ^ Aviom DB25 pinout information
  6. ^ a b AES/EBU & Analog DB25 Pinouts
  7. ^ "Lynx Studio Technology, Inc. AES16 pinout". Archived from the original on 2008-12-20. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
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