A descriptively accurate term used to describe 1/4″ (or 1/8″) balanced connectors. A TRS plug can be found at the end of most headphone cables, as an example of what one looks like. A tip-ring-sleeve connector looks like a standard 1/4″ plug with an extra section in it. The three sections of the shaft are called the tip, the ring, and sleeve (a “standard” 1/4″ connector just has a tip and a sleeve).
TRS connectors are used wherever it is desired to have two conductors plus a ground (shield) in one plug. Common uses are to connect balanced equipment (where the TRS plug has a positive, negative, and ground connection), or stereo unbalanced equipment (left and right are on the tip and ring, with a common ground) like headphones, or as an insert for a mixer or processor (tip or ring is the send with the other used as the return with ground common to both).
