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To combine the ring + tip or to short the ring to the sleeve, that is the question.Speaking strictly on what is called unbalanced stereo audio converted to unbalanced mono audio, should one combine the ring + tip or short the ring to the sleeve on a TRS phono plug?== Balanced Mono and Unbalanced Stereo ==When a TRS is used as a single channel connector in a balanced system, it is called a balanced TRS connector. The balanced TRS connector is commonly of the quarter inch type. In professional audio the TRS connector is used for a mono signal to carry balanced audio as opposed to the consumer home electronic world where the same (very simular) connector is used for what is called an unbalanced stereo signal.With balanced audio two identical signals are inverted 180° out of phase. If combined by shorting the T + R they will cancel each other out. Balanced cables in such systems are designed to carry two versions of any given signal and are manipulated in polarity relative to each other to eliminate noise and hum. Balanced audio cables use three lines. They consist of a hot line (positive), cold line (negative) and the ground. The audio signal is transmitted on both the hot and cold lines, but the voltage in the cold line is inverted in polarity so it is negative when the hot signal is positive. These two signals are often referred to as being out of phase, which is incorrect. They are not out of phase via a delay, but rather in phase and mirror images of one another in terms of polarity. They are equal and opposite.If an inexpensive stereo to mono adapter is used on a balanced TRC connector, the combination of T + R will create a line out of the two waves, one being inverted, resulting in a dead signal (no sound.)