Powering Behringer C1

[Bobbsy]

Most of the knowledgeable sources disagree with you Bobbsy.
Everything you were Afraid to Ask about Cables
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...=any&safe=images&tbs=&as_filetype=&as_rights=

bouldersoundguy, where did I say anything about unbalancing a signal?

Balanced is balanced. If that article (it's too "all over the place" for me to bother wading through every link) says that balanced with a TRS connector can only go 20-25 feet while balanced runs with XLRs at the end can go farther, then it's bunkum, not a "knowledgeable source". And, with cable of the suitable spec, even unbalanced signals aren't "degraded" until the length of the run is huge. It's electrical interference, not gradual degradation that is the risk on long runs.

I have a hundred metre (i.e over 300 foot) snake with 16 XLR connectors and 8 TRS ones (built that way for the particular application I had). Next time you're in Queensland, come and do some measurements. You won't find any extra noise or any difference in signal level between the XLR-terminated pairs and the TRS ones.

As an aside, in the last TV facility I designed, every audio circuit went via a central patch panel. Runs from that Master Control area to the far reaches of the building were approximately 85 metres--and the patch leads were quarter inch TRS (though "B gauge" rather than "A gauge). Circuits were checked regularly, usually with a Lindos audio test set, and even feeding 85 metres to the central hub, patching with a double ended TRS lead, then the 85 metres back did not result in a measurable degradation of the signal. I should also mention that there were at least three "Krone" blocks in the path, but that's another issue.

Connectors, unless there's something wrong with them, don't lead to signal degradation.

Finally, as bouldersoundguy said, count me as one who read your mention of adaptors as meaning you were bouncing between balanced and unbalanced--which, of course, means the whole circuit might as well be unbalanced.

Edited to Add: In fact, even your article agrees with me. In a section trying to sell you a certain brand of TRS-terminated cables, it says:

The TRS "Tip-ring-sleeve" cable (2-conductor plus ground) This is a cable for balanced signals just like the XLR above, it just has different connectors.

Note the "just like the XLR". Later on in the same section it says that these cables (again like XLR) can be used for long runs.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

What Bobbsy said. I've run unbalanced down a 100' snake, plus 20' or so from the stage box with no problem if the power grounds were good. Powering the mix position from a local outlet was likely, but not guaranteed, to result in hum.

Now, if the "adapter" is actually a transformer at the receive end the CMNR will work.

 

[RustyMetal]

Good points. Sure they may be splitting hairs when a signal degrades enough to be an issue. I would think 100' or 100/yds may not be near the difference on a stage at 2000 watts as it might be in a studio. But I think what they were really over-emphasizing was xlr cables are constructed differently, which is what I was talking about.

Cheap...

to better...

Let's just call it 'points made' and stop whooping this horse like a rented mule.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Good points. Sure they may be splitting hairs when a signal degrades enough to be an issue. I would think 100' or 100/yds may not be near the difference on a stage at 2000 watts as it might be in a studio. But I think what they were really over-emphasizing was xlr cables are constructed differently, which is what I was talking about.

Cheap...

to better...

Let's just call it 'points made' and stop whooping this horse like a rented mule.

No, you keep suggesting that the degree of quality on some scale makes a substantial difference when it's a matter of two very different ways of doing things. It's either it's balanced or not. The very best unbalanced cable can never function like a cheap but functional balanced cable. You're giving out bad information that someday somebody is going to read, and I'm just making sure that they don't get misdirected. I mean, that top picture doesn't even look like balanced audio cable to me.

 

[Bobbsy]

Good points. Sure they may be splitting hairs when a signal degrades enough to be an issue. I would think 100' or 100/yds may not be near the difference on a stage at 2000 watts as it might be in a studio. But I think what they were really over-emphasizing was xlr cables are constructed differently, which is what I was talking about.

Let's just call it 'points made' and stop whooping this horse like a rented mule.

Sorry, but like Bouldersoundguy, I'm also worried that you're providing information that may be very misleading to the newbie.

For the start, there's no such thing as an XLR cable. There are lots of cable types: Star Quad, Foil Screened Twin, Double screened stranded conductor, helical screened stranded, etc. etc....and that's before we get into multicores. The thing is, you can put XLR or TRS connectors on the end of any of these and the performance (other than the locking and phantom issues) will be identical.

I'm not sure what your reference to 2000 watts was meant to imply but I'm certainly NOT feeding amplified speaker signals down the snake I was describing. Indeed, I'm more pedantic about keeping amps as close as possible to the speakers so the cable diameter doesn't have to get unreasonably large. I'm talking mic and line level stuff--and it's just as often recorded as amplified. As I say, at 100 metres, the cable is loafing--when doing golf coverage, it's not unusual for some audio runs to be 2000 metres. I'm honestly not sure at what point cable length will result in measurable signal degradation but (whether you use TRS or XLR) it's certainly WAY more than the 20-25 feet you mentioned--with a balanced signal.

With unbalanced, on the other hand, it's luck of the draw. Sometimes in an electrically quiet environment you can get away with the 100 feet Boulder mentioned--we've all done it. In other environments, even 3 feet of unbalanced is pushing it--try feeding that 3 feet under an old thermostat with a mercury switch and you'll see what I mean.

Finally, your example of "better" in your photos is some of the worst soldering I've seen in a long time.