Balanced vs. Unbalanced

[jpryor]

I have a question that is probably two-fold. I'm using several pieces of rackmount gear with my Roland V-Studio. I'm currently connecting everything with 3' unbalanced 1/4" connectors. Would I benefit to upgrade to balanced connectors? If so, which type of connector/cable is better (1/4" TRS or XLR)? Thanks!

[Tom Cram]

I think you answered your own question in the "what is balanced" thread. I'm not being facetious, just letting you know that you already know.

[jpryor]

I suppose I was looking for a more authoritative answer. I know the difference, but I was looking for someone to help me justify the expense of balanced cables. I have a friend whose acquiantance just spent $900 per cable in a new "hi-fi" stereo system. Can the human ear really differentiate good quality cables from super quality cables?

Also, I didn't know if there was an inherent benefit of XLR over 1/4" TRS. I have about 35' of total cable length, but each cable is either 10' or 3'. Would balanced really make a difference?

[skippy]

Hoo boy- you're going to have some fun with this one, then. You've let the is-wire-audible genie out of the bottle again...

Short answer on that part from me: IMNSHO, no. Good cable is good cable, "super cable" is pure hype. Your buddy probably got robbed blind. Do a quick search on the phrase "Monster Cable" on this site, and you'll find all manner of opinions on this topic.

On balanced/unbalanced interconnect: balanced is always preferable, even in line-level situations. The hot setup is to lay in a roll of good shielded pair cable, a boatload of connectors, and make your own interconnect. You can save enough money in this manner to make it an overall savings. If your gear offers balanced interconnect, IMHO you should always make the effort to take advantage of it.

Connector style? 1/4" TRS and phantom power don't mix. TRS plug/jack pairs short tip and ring to sleeve as they are connected and disconnected. XLRs do not exhibit that antisocial behavior. They also have the advantage of connecting ground first, and the signal pair only after ground is contacted as the connection is made, and breaking ground last as the connection is broken: which is general good form. For mic connections in the presence of phantom power, XLRs are the only appropriate connectors.

For line-level (with no phantom power present), it's pretty much a wash. If the equipment has both XLR and TRS jacks for a balanced interconnect, I typically use the XLRs: I believe them to be marginally more reliable. The best-quality line-level patchbays use longframe TRS jacks, and are stone reliable. The little plastic shortframe TRS jacks used on a lot of gear may be significantly less so, *especially* if they see a lot of plug/unplug cycles. Thus my minimal bias towards XLRs when possible. And they latch in place.

And, come to think of it, they're usually easier to solder, and I'm basically lazy... (;-)

[The Axis]

All of Skippy's advice ! Believe it.
Good Luck,
Rick

[jpryor]

At the risk of open another perverbial can of worms, what about digital connections (AES/EBU and S/PDIF)? Do I need a special "digital" cable to connect S/PDIF compatible RCA I/Os? I've heard increased bandwidth is necessary. Thanks in advance, I'm finding the folks here to be an invaluable resource!

[Tom Cram]

AES/EBU has to be 110 ohm, S/pdif has to be 75 ohm. If you use different ohm cable you will have sync errors.
Disregard all other hype, the ohmage is all that matters. A lot of sales-weasels will try to sell you really nice RCA cable as digital cable, if it's not 75 ohm it won't work right. Video cable is 75 ohm, cheap, readily available, and has gold connectors. I see them sold at Blockbuster, and the like, all the time. These work just as well as $50 digital Monster cable.

Keep your S/pdif cable lengths as short as possible, definitely under 10'. AES/EBU can be longer, I've heard of people using 100', but that's probably pushing it.

Tom Cram
dbx Senior Technical Support
(801) 568-7530
tcram@dbxpro.com

[John Sayers]

Hi Tom Cram - nice to see some senior tech support here...we need it
cheers
John

[Tom Cram]

Thanks for the welcome John. I've started surfing and answering questions on a bunch of different bbs's including this one. I'm trying to be proactive. An early post or two on a bbs saves me a lot of phone calls down the road.