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WildFire
New member
To have a balanced 1/4" Cable... Will any Stereo 1/4" or 'TRS' patch cable do?
Or does it have to be some sorta special cable?
Or does it have to be some sorta special cable?
skippy
New member
Any TRS cable that is a *shielded twisted pair* will do.
However, not every stereo cable will do: for example, stereo headphone extension cables use TRS connectors that are identical to the TRS connectors used for balanced signals: but the wire itself is not shielded (in a lot of cases), or the two conductors are separately shielded (like two parallel guitar cables). Either of those won't work for balanced signal runs, because they will allow a vast amount of noise in due to their lack of shielding: they are only good for stereo headphones. Stereo TRS does not equal balanced TRS.
The wire for a balanced patch cable is nothing special, other than to say that it has to be a shielded pair- just like a good low-Z balanced mic cable. Pull off the XLRs and put on TRS plugs, and you've got yourself a balanced patch cable...
However, not every stereo cable will do: for example, stereo headphone extension cables use TRS connectors that are identical to the TRS connectors used for balanced signals: but the wire itself is not shielded (in a lot of cases), or the two conductors are separately shielded (like two parallel guitar cables). Either of those won't work for balanced signal runs, because they will allow a vast amount of noise in due to their lack of shielding: they are only good for stereo headphones. Stereo TRS does not equal balanced TRS.
The wire for a balanced patch cable is nothing special, other than to say that it has to be a shielded pair- just like a good low-Z balanced mic cable. Pull off the XLRs and put on TRS plugs, and you've got yourself a balanced patch cable...
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WildFire
New member
Was expecting a yes or no... but that answer was a lot better 
Thanks!
Thanks!