How does balanced audio work

If I understand correctly it will work just fine right? Most balanced devices can work with an unbalanced input. Clear explanation of what happens when you use a balanced cable with unbalanced connections and viceversa.

Now, what happens if you have a balanced source and an unbalanced input? You would certainly need an XLR to 3. Or are both types of XLR to 3. You get no noise reducing benefit from the balanced wiring coming from the mic in this case. So if i plug unbalanced cable to source and the balanced side to a speaker… The noise would still be here?

If you start with an unbalanced source and an unbalanced cable two wires that signal will remain unbalanced when you plug it into a balanced input. A balanced circuit needs to be three wires positive, negative, and ground all the way through. Thanks for the clear explanation. Doing our initial intro playing around with the Audiolines we experienced heaps of hiss when we plug in our ukes, but nothing using xlr leads from the mics. The Audioline inputs require balanced leads and we used our standard TR leads — hence that hiss.

Thank you for shining light on our two noise issues — much appreciated. Is there any disadvantage of a balanced cable? There is no advantage to having a balanced cable if the gear has unbalanced connections. A good example is the connection between a guitar and its amp. The guitar has two conductors, positive and shield, and so does the amp.

Adding one more conductor to the cable will do nothing to reduce noise. But is there any disadvantage? So if I carried a balanced cable in my bag, would work any WORSE than an unbalanced cable if the devices were not balanced?

Just wondering if I need to carry 2 cables, or if a single balanced cable would cover me. Thanks again. In most cases, there should be no reason that the balanced cable would be worse than an unbalanced cable. Been looking a while ago for this explanation. Found it now in a clear and very understandable way!!

Thanks for this! Thanks, Jan! We take requests! Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. DDante Patching. Part 2 of our discussion of adding ambience to your in-ear mix covers practical tips for getting room mics set up. Global Trim and Mixing By Subtraction. In reality, neither cable impacts the balance level of the audio itself.

It just delivers the signal. Audio balance, instead, comes from a variety of different factors that the littlest hiccups can impact. Unclear audio or static can result from unbalanced audio signals interfacing with a balanced mixer, or unmanaged cables could give off interference.

Other problems could stem from the interface accessing the signal, the voltage of a device, or even just a faulty wire.

Tip and sleeve TS cables are often called guitar cables because they are the standard connection for electric guitars. They are typically short in length to keep from picking up any unwanted noise. TS connections are identifiable by the ring on the connector, with the bottom ring for the ground wire and the ring closer to the tip for the signal wire.

They include two connection points, one for the right audio channel and the other for the left. The cable is identified by the red and white connectors indicating which channel the connector is receiving. Audio-Visual AV cables are probably what most gamers remember when thinking about older gaming consoles.

AV cables are RCA cables, just specified for audio and video connections. Used for consoles up to the Nintendo Wii, these cables usually have three connection points. These are also color-coded to indicate which jack the connector goes. These cables can transfer audio and video signals like an AV cable but are considerably faster at it. They are also able to deliver balanced mono and unbalanced stereo signals. External line return XLR cables are always balanced cables that only hold balanced signals.

They are typically used to connect microphones, speakers, and other XLR compatible devices. These cables are identified by their three-prong design, representing the signal wires and the ground wire. As far as I know, I have tried all types of cable, all of which make the same amount of unwanted sound.

Also I have moved the UR22 around to eliminate other wires in the vicinity. Your advice would be appreciated. Regards, Robert. Unfortunately this goes beyond the scope of technical support for our Epiphan Video products.

They will be able to provide more specific troubleshooting recommendation for audio-specific use cases. The distance between the keyboard and monitors is 5 ft. What cable type, balanced or unbalanced, would be best used for this set up? Thanks for your help with this. When utilizing speakers or specific balanced gear, whenever possible we would recommend to use the proper balanced cables.

However, as stated in this blog post, if the cables are under 10ft typically it should be fine. If you do hear unnecessary hum or distortion that would mean that there is too much signal noise or interference. Thank you so much for this blog!!

WOW, fantastic!!! I have a fairly simple question. What about cables that have different ends? Super curious!! Maybe I just got really lucky not picking up any extra sound. I am however running into that hum for a different speaker further away. I need at least 40 ft of cable, if not more. A Hum is typically caused by electrical or signal interference.

RCA cables are typically grounded which means that longer runs of cables will introduce signal noise. This would eliminate the hum. Also,does using a 3. Your issue may be more electrical in nature. If you are using balanced cables and you are getting a hum, that would be your power bar or outlet — typically grounding issues. Another way to ask the same question, does it do any good to use a balance cable when one or both of the to and from units are not balanced.

The grounded cable will have slightly better shielding properties, but using a balanced cable with unbalanced source and receiver will unfortunately make no noticeable difference. The only time you will have a noticeable difference is if you have a balanced source and receiver and using an unbalanced cable; the noise will be noticeable if compared to the recommended balanced cable.

You must be logged in to post a comment. Video production Audio cables — balanced vs unbalanced July 21st, Mathieu Renaud. Unbalanced cables The cables themselves consist of two wires inside the plastic casing: a signal wire and a ground wire. Balanced cables Balanced cables have three wires inside the plastic casing: two signal wires and a ground wire. Balanced cables also have two common typical connector tips: TRS tip-ring-sleeve cable connectors, such as those used for headphone jacks, XLR cables, which are connectors you would typically find on a microphone.

Length The biggest downside to unbalanced cables is the distortion. Price So apart from that circumstance, why buy an unbalanced cable?

Tech specs Aside from these exceptions, balanced cables are a huge improvement over unbalanced. What other audio topics would you be interested in us covering? Post Tags Audio capture. Share this post. July 23, at pm.