Microphone connector
Encyclopedia
Many different electrical connectors have been used to connect microphones to audio equipment---including PA systems, radios, tape recorders, and numerous other devices.

TRS connectors

The most common microphone connector in consumer use is the venerable TRS connector
TRS connector
A TRS connector is a common family of connector typically used for analog signals including audio. It is cylindrical in shape, typically with three contacts, although sometimes with two or four . It is also called an audio jack, phone jack, phone plug, and jack plug...

, also known as the phone plug, in 1/4" (6.35 mm), 3.5 mm, and 2.5 mm sizes, and in both mono and stereo configurations.

Not all microphone plugs that appear to be stereo are actually stereo. Many mono computer microphones use 3-conductor TRS 3.5 mm plugs in order to carry other signals, such as bias power for an electric element, to or from the microphone.

XLR connectors

Most commonly used on professional microphones, the common 3-pin XLR connector
XLR connector
The XLR connector is a style of electrical connector, primarily found on professional audio, video, and stage lighting equipment. The connectors are circular in design and have between 3 and 7 pins...

 is a standard for transferring balanced audio among professional audio equipment.

The 4-pin XLR connector is also commonly used on amateur radio microphones, but transferring unbalanced audio instead, and using the 4th pin (with the common ground) for a push-to-talk (PTT) circuit activated by a button on the microphone. Some broadcast radio professionals also use these microphones, instead using the PTT circuit as a cough button (a momentary mute button) so that they may cough, clear their throat, or make comments to others in the studio without the sounds being broadcast).

Multi-pin "Foster" circular connectors

First used in the 1970s by Japanese radio manufacturers, for microphone connectors on Citizens Band and amateur radio equipment,
these screw-on circular connectors were available with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 pins. They often were used for other purposes as well, such as Eastern Asian built soldering stations in 1990s.

Even though this circular connector was largely standardized, there was no standard for pin assignments were not industry standardized, and these pin assignments to specific funcitons varied from manufacturer to manufacturer.
For example, in amateur radio, Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu radios have all used the 8-pin screw-on connector, yet microphones from one brand are incompatible with the other two brands, at least without the use of an adapter cable in between the microphone and the radio.

Modular connectors

Although originally designed for telephone usage and later adopted for computer networking, the Modular connector
Modular connector
Modular connector is the name given to a family of electrical connectors originally used in telephone wiring and now used for many other purposes. Many applications that originally used a bulkier, more expensive connector have now migrated to modular connectors...

has been used for microphone connections extensively on modern amateur radio equipment, including models from the three major manufacturers (Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu), but primarily used on mobile radio equipment (designed to be mounted in vehicles).

Like the screw-on round microphone connectors, there is little standardization among manufacturers, and even among different models from the same manufacturer, leading to significant interoperability problems when connecting non-OEM or homebrew microphones and other equipment.

Most radios with modular microphone connectors use the 8P8C (vernacular: RJ45) connector, but some use 6P6C or 4P4C connectors.
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