Since I am so ignorant of the technical details of electrical or electronics that I still don't understand the difference between chassis ground, circuit ground, and signal ground, I am very hesitant to suggest that Al may not be 100% correct. However, fools rush in, so please take this with a grain of salt...
While there may be a pro audio standard for how XLR plugs and jacks are wired, I believe that there is no absolute standard in consumer audio equipment. Some audio gear uses a different pin out/in. I had an Electrocompaniet EMC-1 CDP that was wired differently and so I had to have custom-wired XLR cables made up.
Also, remember that some equipment has XLR jacks and/or plugs, but the circuits they tie to are not true balanced circuits. In that case, the jacks or plugs function as adapters.
I hope that Al (Hi, guy, get much snow?) or someone else will correct me if I am wrong.
While there may be a pro audio standard for how XLR plugs and jacks are wired, I believe that there is no absolute standard in consumer audio equipment. Some audio gear uses a different pin out/in. I had an Electrocompaniet EMC-1 CDP that was wired differently and so I had to have custom-wired XLR cables made up.
Also, remember that some equipment has XLR jacks and/or plugs, but the circuits they tie to are not true balanced circuits. In that case, the jacks or plugs function as adapters.
I hope that Al (Hi, guy, get much snow?) or someone else will correct me if I am wrong.