unbalanced/balanced output on a pre?

[Scriabin]

Hello,

Ive been looking at great river pres recently, mainly the mp-2. When looking at the specs i see that the cheaper model for $1300 has unbalanced outputs but you can have the option of having them balanced.
Ive also read the Fletcher over at Mercenary.com won't sell unbalanced outputs, being that he is a man of principle

So when i eventually buy a pro preamp like the great river, should i spend the extra money for the balanced outputs and what would be the advantages of doing so?

thanks,
Zack

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

If the gear you need to interface with is balanced, then get balanced I/O....

If the rest of your rig is NOT balanced, there will be no advantage for you, unless you want to think ahead about upgrading in the future.

Personally, I'd go balanced, even if it's not an advantage to you right now.... if you ever did want to sell the unit, I know *I* wouldn't buy it unbalanced!

The advantage is low-noise, asssuming it's connected with balanced cable to a balanced input.


Bruce

 

[mixmkr]

the extremely short cable runs in *most* home studio setups, do not require balanced lines(excluding mic runs, of course), and the cost savings can possibly make a difference. When you get into longer cable runs (under the floors, over to the 2" tape machine...under and over to the rack, located behind the mixer position...etc), is when balanced lines make more sense. If you are going to run your mic pre directly into your computer audio card, it should work fine, being unbalanced. Remember, if you other equip. is NOT balanced, you're wasting your money. I think Bruce summed it up in his first sentence...

 

[Scriabin]

yea, ive been reading up on it on the rec.audio.pro and they're saying basically the same thing.

thanks for the help,
Zack

 

[mixmkr]

.... if you ever did want to sell the unit, I know *I* wouldn't buy it unbalanced!


Bruce

I bet ya would if the Meyer HD-1's were thrown in to sweeten the deal for that <$100 gear swap for your RNC

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Well... in that case... I might!



Bruce

 

[drstawl]

The better connectors employed and the higher voltage of the balanced signal make it a better choice even without the noise cancelling feature of balanced signals.

 

[ausrock]

Mix,

What do you mean by "extremely short cable runs". What would be considered a safe maximum lenght to run unbalanced cables in a studio situation? I have seen the figure, 3 Mtrs (10 feet) mentioned in the past..........anyone have an opinion?

 

[mixmkr]

Personally, I would go with what I was able to "get away with"...but that would probably end up being 15' (approx 5 mtrs) or less....or your 3 mtrs figure...on the safe side.

 

[TexRoadkill]

The quality of cables and a clean cable run (clear of AC and speaker cords) will determine how far you can go. I think 25ft is the max but that is pushing it. 10ft is a safe distance.

If your getting weird noises or a low signal level your cables are too long.