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Originally Posted by fortyseven  While on this subject, can someone please explain the difference between balanced and unbalanced. I have a fair idea but what is it exactly? |
I wonder if there is a thread or a blog about this subject on this site. I haven't seen one. Anyway, here's a crash course.
Balanced connections use cable with 3 wires inside (2 opposing audio and 1 ground) while unbalanced connections use 1 audio and 1 ground. Guitar cables and RCA cables use two wires, while XLR and TRS cables generally use all 3 wires.
Most of the time (depending on the equipment) balanced lines carry an operating line level of +4db, while unbalanced lines are capbable of only -10db. This is most noticible when running long cable lengths since radio interference becomes an issue.
Balanced cables are typically used on microphones (since they are low impedence and often carry phantom power), and for connecting low-impedence sources to another low-impedence source (such as the XLR out on a mixer to an XLR in on a powered speaker).
Unbalanced cables and high impedence inputs on preamps are used to connect high impedence sources (like a guitar or passive bass). You can also use these cables to connect line-level sources (like a synth or a CD player). To run these over long distances, you must first connect it to a DI box (which changes a hi-z signal to a low-z) and run the remaining distance with balanced cable.
Sorry if this all seems technical. It is, in a way. I won't go into how all of the works, but you might want to Google this subject for more details.
To summarize, in a home studio, balanced gear is a luxury and not a necessity. In a live setup where you're running long cables to mixers and power amps, balanced cabling connections become much more important.