XLR cables are by far the most common type of mic cable; in fact, many people refer to XLR's simply as "mic cables." They are distinguished by their distinctive cylindrical connectors that have a "male" end with 3 prongs and a "female" end with 3 small holes for the prongs. XLR cables are balanced, which means that they carry a "ground" connection, or a return path for electric current. Balanced connections are ideal for microphones because they greatly reduce the amount of audible hum or noise. The female end of the cable receives input (from a microphone) and the male end transmits output (into mixers, amplifiers, etc.). XLR cables are also used to connect speakers to sound systems in live sound applications.
Tip Ring Sleeve (TRS) and instrument cables are used far less commonly for mics than XLRs, but are occasionally used for inexpensive mics. They have identical connectors on each end, which have 1/4 inch single prongs that are relatively large in diameter with one or two black bands near the tip. TRS cables have two bands and provide a balanced connection, and instrument cables have only one band, which creates an unbalanced connection prone to hum and noise. TRS or instrument cables are sometimes built into inexpensive mics such that the cable only has one connector. There is no significant difference in quality between XLR and TRS cables, although unbalanced connections like those provided by instrument cables are not ideal for mics. The lack of a ground not only produces unwanted noise but can also result in mild electric shock to vocalists if the entire signal chain is similarly ungrounded.
USB (Universal Serial Bus) microphones, used exclusively for recording, have a built in USB cable easily identified by the three-prong USB logo. With the development of faster computer processors, manufacturers began creating microphones with on-board analog-to-digital converters to eliminate the need for a separate audio interface, and the USB mic is the most popular variety. While not traditional mic cables, USB cables can transmit reasonably high-quality audio to your computer. However, these microphones typically cannot be used for live performance. The analog-to-digital conversion in the microphone takes a small amount of time and can create a delay effect called latency when listening back to yourself; if your audio software has a low-latency monitoring feature, enable it to reduce this effect.
The 1/8 inch mic cable has a small, narrow jack (the same jack used for most headphones) and are commonly used for voice and video chat online. Like USB cables, 1/8 inch cables are usually built-in to microphones and plug directly into a computer; look for a small, circular audio input jack on your machine. The 1/8 inch mic is rarely used for musical purposes due to lower quality resolution. However, they can be outfitted with 1/8- to-1/4 inch converters that make them versatile enough to be plugged into most audio systems.