IO Panel

Screw terminals are the most forgiving if you ever want to rearrange the channels or change your cabling in the future—simply unscrew the terminal and take the wire out. But it's also the least secure connection of the three.

If you want the most secure wire-to-board connection, solder cups are the way to go. You can rest easy knowing the wires won't ever come loose from vibration or other movement. But they do require a bit of patience and skill with a soldering iron.

For the least amount of DIY work while still maintaining a secure wire-to-board connection, JST PH connectors paired with some JST Patch Cables are the easiest way to get up and running. It's what we use in all our enclosed IO products.

Yes, simply use the screw terminal or solder cup variant and put multiple wires into one terminal. Just make sure the combined AWG of all the wires is within size limit of that variant (see the FAQ below). You can get this value by looking up the wire gauge for the diameter of the combined copper.

The screw terminals support 18-30AWG stranded or solid wire. The solder cups support 22AWG and smaller stranded wire. The JST PH connectors mate with JST PHR-3 wire housings, which require 24-32AWG stranded wire crimped onto the properly-sized JST terminal contact.

Check out our Patch Cables for pre-made cables that are fully compatible with all variants.

Strip the cable sleeving back about 1", then strip the insulation for each wire back about 1/4". Don't tin the wires—since the screw terminals make contact with the wire using a flat surface pushed down by the screw, it's best to leave the wires untinned so they can flatten out when tightened.

Yes, phantom power is fully supported if you're using a shielded CAT cable. Using an unshielded cable or lifting the ground connection will disable the phantom power.

Yes. Since CAT cables only have four twisted pairs and a shield, all four channels share the same ground connection. This isn't normally a problem unless you are plugging the channels into separate devices that are getting power from different outlets, which can cause a ground loop.

To lift the ground connection from the panel or enclosure, cut off the small plate that sits behind the etherCON connector while leaving the connection to the circuit board intact. To completely lift the ground pins from all terminals, cut the tab a little further back so it's no longer connected to the circuit board. This is permanent, obviously.

No. Unlike digital audio protocols such as Dante, the IO series uses pure analog signals for passing data from point A to point B over the four twisted pairs of a CAT cable. Since there is no analog-to-digital conversion happening, the signal will get lost in the grid if it tries to go through a switch or router.

Yes! It's a great way to pass signals from one room to another without running any new wires. As long as it never passes through a switch or router, you're good.

The sticker is used to cover up the etherCON pins and prevent any possible shorts with the nearby wires. Plus it looks cool. Best to leave it where it is.