Retrofitting Tascam M-208 with balanced outs

[PowRGnome]

I'm not sure if this is the place for this, but I was looking at getting an Echo MidiMia for the cheap ass price of $99 and I figured it would be perfect because the mixer has 1/4" and XLR stereo outs (stereo's all I want). Well, it turns out that neither the 1/4" nor the XLR outs are balanced. I didn't know there was such a thing as unbalanced XLR, it seems to defeat the purpose... So anyway, I was wondering how difficult it would be to open up the mixer and convert either the 1/4" or XLR output jacks to balanced so that they can have a noise-free path to the MidiMia. I understand that I only really need 3-6 ft. of cable to get this done, however, I live right next to some train tracks in a pretty densely populated part of the city. The mixer and the tape already have enough noise on them, I'd like to keep the rest to a minimum.

Thanks,
Jon Mullen
jmullen@temple.edu

 

[robmonk]

not balanced! well... some thoughts

I think your biggest problem from unbalanced cabling is going to be for cable runs over 20 feet, or if your cable runs right next to power cords. A pro sound mixer ought to have balanced ins and outs, though...

Unfortunately, I think balanced outs are a function of the signal amplifiers driving the output, so reconfiguring would be something sifnificantly more complicated than just changing connectors.

Non-balanced XLR isn't totally pointless -- it allows you to use XLR cables, rather than add an adapter, if XLR's all you've got.

Let me know if you learn of any not-TOO-intricate mod for the M-208. I've got one that I want to use to drive amplifiers 50 feet away -- so I definitely DO want balanced outs.

- Rob

http://inklip.banecorp.com

http://hi-fi.banecorp.com