cable connection question

[woody777]

Audio interface has line level 1/4" TRS (balanced) outputs... monitors have XLR (balanced) and 1/4" TRS (balanced) inputs that accept balanced or unbalanced signals.

Am I over thinking this? I can use a standard 1/4" instrument cable, right?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Massive Master]

It would be ideal to use balanced - But in most cases, unbalanced will work.

 

[woody777]

So here's the total newbie question:

What's the difference and how can I tell if my cable is balanced or unbalanced?

 

[Nick98338]

Balanced 1/4in - two black bands near plug tip ... Unbalanced 1/4in - one black band. The band(s) might be some color other than black. Whatever the color ... one=un (unbalanced) 2=true(balanced) A standard instrument cable is unbalanced.

 

[woody777]

Thanks!

So, in my scenerio, unbalanced will work just fine?

 

[dementedchord]

ts will work but trs is much better whether or not your setup will show the difference who knows???? why not just buy 2 trs cables and be done with it???? they'll always be your monitor cables...

 

[woody777]

ts will work but trs is much better whether or not your setup will show the difference who knows???? why not just buy 2 trs cables and be done with it???? they'll always be your monitor cables...

I guess my question is WHY is balanced better? I'm not understanding the technical aspect of it.

 

[dementedchord]

ok... particularly on long runs this is obvious but it works some on short as well... any cable will pick up noise from the environment... all this gear we love puts out things like radio frequencies etc... then there's the junk in the air... so shielding takes care of a lot of it but when we balance a signal what we're doing is duplicating the signal in a second wire and inverting the phase of it.... let that sink in.... imagine that you have a perfect sine wave... where when in wire #1 it's going up... in wire#2 it's going down.... all perfectly opposite... got it??? ok.... so when we send it down the cable both wires will pick up the exact same noise.... identicle... now for the majic.... when we add the 2 signals at the first stage of amplification we also reinvert signal#2... so the two signals now add giving a "bigger" sognal and the noise that was picked up along the way now is out of phase and cancels!!! NO NOISE !!!
this is what us tech types refer to as common mode rejection ratio... or simply CMRR you'll find it as a spec on data sheets for most of your equipment... make sense???? so buy the balanced cable grasshopper.... lol

 

[woody777]

I don't know what you just said... but you sold me on balanced cables Thanks for taking the time!

 

[boingoman]

so when we send it down the cable both wires will pick up the exact same noise.... identicle...

It also works when you aren't sending a signal.

The balanced cable carries noise to both the regular and inverting inputs, where it cancels.

 

[dementedchord]

It also works when you aren't sending a signal.

The balanced cable carries noise to both the regular and inverting inputs, where it cancels.

ya got me man... where's the emoticon for slaps self in the forehead.....

 

[Nick98338]

Balanced = less noise ... Especially when you use long cables.

 

[woody777]

XLR are always balanced, correct?

 

[dementedchord]

XLR are always balanced, correct?

with the exception of a female xlr that has a ts on the other end thats used for hi imp mics...

there's also no diff between xlr and trs types with exception of phantom power doesn't pass through trs inputs on mic pre's...

 

[Adam P]

XLR aren't always balanced. The type of connection on the equipment determines whether or not the signal is balanced, not the type of cable. True, a TS cable can't carry a balanced signal, but any three-conductor cable (such as one with connectors that are TRS, XLR or a combination of the two).

For example, I have an old Allen & Heath console. The outputs for the submix busses are on XLR connectors, but they are unbalanced, with the unused pin connected to ground. Another example is the Otari MX-5050 tape machines, which also use unbalanced connections on XLR connectors.

So the moral of the story is that you shouldn't assume what type of connection it is just by looking at the type of connector it has. Read up and learn about what the connection is.

 

[dementedchord]

well actually if ya want to get techncal the jacks dont determine it either... it's a matter of whetheer they used a differential input or drive... but i didn't want to confuse them more than i already had....

 

[Adam P]

Yeah, I was unclear with that. I should've said that the type of connection (meaning either balanced or unbalanced) on the gear was what mattered.