Shure FP24 preamp connected to an Edirol R-09 cropped curves

A Y-cable, Y cable, or splitter cable is a

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

with three ends: one common end and two other ends. The Y-cable can resemble the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

letter " Y".

Uses

Analog audio/video signals

There are five common uses for Y-cables in signal paths: # combining signals (feeding two outputs to one input); # splitting signals (feeding one output to two inputs); # consolidating connectors (feeding signals from two output connectors to a multi-pole input connector, keeping the signals separate); # un-consolidating connectors (feeding signals from one multi-pole output connector to two input connectors, keeping the signals separate); # send and return (outbound signal on one leg of the "Y"; inbound signal on the other; signals kept separate). A Y-cable common in domestic settings has a stereo 3.5mm (1/8″) stereo male minijack at one end, to plug into the line- or headphone-output of an MP3 player, mobile phone, or computer soundcard, and a pair of

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

(phono) male plugs to connect to the left and right mono inputs of an external amplifier. This is an example of ''un-consolidating connectors'', as described above.

Power

Mains

Y-shaped mains leads enable two appliances to run from one mains plug.

Internal disk drives

In older desktop PCs,

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(aka "IDE") devices such as 5.25 inch optical drives and 3.5 inch hard drives are typically powered by means of

Molex connector Molex connector is the vernacular term for a two-piece pin and socket interconnection. Pioneered by Molex Connector Company, the two-piece design became an early electronic standard. Molex developed and patented the first examples of this connec ...

Y-cables.

USB

Traditional USB Y-cables exist to enable one USB

peripheral device A peripheral or peripheral device is an auxiliary device used to put information into and get information out of a computer. The term ''peripheral device'' refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are controlled by the ...

to receive power from two USB host sockets at once, while only transceiving data with one of those sockets. As long as the host has two available USB sockets, this enables a peripheral that requires more power than one USB port can supply (but not more than two ports can supply) to be used without requiring a mains adaptor. Portable

hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

s and

optical disc drive In computing, an optical disc drive is a disc drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can only r ...

s are sometimes supplied with such Y-cables, for this reason. A newer variant on this kind of cable allows a USB peripheral to receive data and power from two different devices respectively. This allows power-hungry peripherals to be used with sockets that are designed to supply little or no outgoing power, such as

USB On-The-Go USB On-The-Go (USB OTG or just OTG) is a specification first used in late 2001 that allows USB devices, such as Tablet computer, tablets or smartphones, to act as a host, allowing other USB devices, such as USB flash drives, digital cameras, co ...

mini-B sockets on smartphones. The power is supplied to the third leg of the "Y" by a mains adaptor or a power bank.

Notes

References

{{reflist Signal cables