trying to stay balanced (+4, no ground-noise)

R

richard_2277

New member
I am a former studio-owner that always practiced the rule of keeping my cabling high-end (like 'balanced, thick gauge, SPDIF, fire-wire' etc). Because of noise problems (grounding, phasing etc), I was always warned to avoid unbalanced connections. Of course, it makes sense if trying to achieve record-quality tone.

So anyway...these days, I have washed my hands of the recording world because I just want to play more and engineer less; I sold all my studio gear in order to replace it all with high-end and portable live gear. I will let some other band member collect and use all the studio stuff (ha ha).

I now own a pair of QSC K-8 powered speakers. I also just ordered a D-Tar Solstice pre-amp. Between the two, I remain in a balanced-cable atmosphere; the Solstice is my DI and I feed my powered speakers with Mogami balanced cabling...yeah baby!

But, now I am tempted to ad a high-end modulation delay pedal to this rig (and it needs to be connected in stereo, not possible if I want to run my guitar with both pick-ups, because the Solstice effects loop will no longer have full stereo functionality, internally). So, my idea was to run out of the Solstice (balanced mono, after i blend my two pick-ups), then into a delay unit (dreaming of balanced, he he), and then run out of that delay (balanced still) and out into my powered speakers...never breaking the chain of a balanced signal-flow. This is what i did with older rack gear rigs (when no pre-amp effects-loop was available).

Sadly, most floor-unit effects are only built with UN balanced connections. And, I am not aware of a half-rack sized processor that only does high-end delay only...are you? The only unit I see out there with balanced-ports is the TC Nova ND-1 delay. I know that unit is good but I am drooling at a few other more recent additions to the market....and those units are all UN balanced...bummer! I don't really want to ad tons of extra wiring-mods or transformers to this new rig. In the beginning, I was really trying to keep it simple! So, this post it to ask 2 questions:

1) First, are you all aware of any other pedal or half-rack type delays that are balanced?

2) Second, do any of you have any ideas on how else I could manage here? Could things be done in a better way (other than my Solstice)?

Remember, whatever system I build up needs to have dual input with separate EQ for each pick up (my piezo & my internal condenser mic). This is why i had to get the D-tar Solstice. For a while, I was thinking to use a Line 6 HD (but I am worried that quality of those pre-amps, EQ and delay will suck, compared to the Solstice & a nice delay). The Rockron floor units are nice too but, they do not have dual in's.

This is very frustrating to me. I do not want to dive back into the world of pedal-processing if it means accepting unbalanced noise issues! And, I would rather not start building up another rack full of gadgets when I just got through selling off that kind of stuff. I travel on the airlines a lot and do not need tons of cabling and hardware again (yuck)! I tried that TC G-natural unit (but it totally sucked).

Ultimately, I wish I could find a high end 1/2 rack or larger floor unit that does killer tape/modulation delay and also has balanced connections..
 
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Do you know for certain that you will have problems running unbalanced?

I confess that I am having trouble visualizing your intended set up, but couldn't you connect your preferred delay through the channel inserts of the solstice? You will then maintain balanced connection from the Solstice to your speakers.

Otherwise, if you are DIY oriented or know a good tech, you could use something like the dINgO from JLM Audio which will handle the balanced <-> unbalanced issues. Using this approach, you could take the balanced out from the Solstice into the dINgO, pick up the unbalanced audio for processing, and feed it back to the dINgO for re-balancing. Not especially cheap, but 2 channels would easily mount into a 1RU case with power supply and connectors. You have the option to use a wide range of monolithic and/or discrete op-amps so sound quality can be excellent. Two dINgO units will be required for 2 channels.

I envisage 3 connectors per channel - XLR or TRS balanced input, a TRS connector wired as an insert (going to and from the I/O port of the dINgO), and an XLR or TRS output.

It *might* even be possible to daisy-chain effects...

Anyway, a few thoughts to ponder.

Paul
 
thanks friend, i am certain that for this set up, i will just need to buy that TC nova with balanced ins.

i don't want to ad extra gadgets and wiring.

yes, i hear problems when stepping down to unbalanced. no way around it.

the inserts and loops in the solstice are not set up to work in stereo (when going dual-source in).

thanks for the suggestions though!
 
Just curious...what kind of pick-ups exactly are you using and on what kind of guitar (I'm assuming it's an acoustic)...I see you mentioned piezo and condensore...but what kind?


Also it seems like you're trying to do "dual-stereo"....like you want a stereo split on the pickups, plus some kind of stereo FX on each pick-ups channel output...?
 
miroslav said:
Just curious...what kind of pick-ups exactly are you using and on what kind of guitar (I'm assuming it's an acoustic)...I see you mentioned piezo and condensore...but what kind?


Also it seems like you're trying to do "dual-stereo"....like you want a stereo split on the pickups, plus some kind of stereo FX on each pick-ups channel output...?
Click to expand...

my pick up system is not my actual first choice these days but it works ok: Fishman Prefix Premium Blend. On a Guild F50 jumbo.

no, just dual source out (one cable is piezo, one cable is mic). then blending for 1 stereo effect.

normal stuff..
 
I see this in the manual--
5. 1/4” stereo jacks 10 and 12 are insertion points for
channels 1 and 2, respectively. They can be used as individual
channel effects loops or as points where a signal
can be taken out of or inserted into the individual channels’
signal chain. A stereo cable is required for most
functions involving the insertion jacks; the send signal is
on the tip and the return is on the ring. The input impedance
is low (4.7K ohms), so it will be necessary to drive
the return side with an active device.
Click to expand...
I doubt you'd miss anything at all going the short distance unbalanced to a from a dual-channel fx box.

Line level into the Eventide Time Factor anyone? :D
 
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