Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
Showing 1 of 88 conversations about:
Audiopro
166
Aug 29, 2019
bookmark_border
Of course you all realize that balanced cables in the short lengths used in home audio make LITTLE to NO difference in sound quality. Balanced technology was developed back in the telephone and radio days and still exists today in professional audio to reduce interference from electrical, magnetic and radio frequency sources. Balanced cables are most effective when long runs of hundreds of feet, or more, are used in studio, live recordings and sound re-enforcement. Most microphones, because of the extremely low level delicate signal, require balanced cables to help reject these interferences. At the relatively higher levels of the line sources, in most home audio, interference of this type is very unlikely.
So called "Audiophile Cables" is a touchy subject because of the prevailing lack of knowledge as to what balanced really means. Many of the cables offered as balanced are not really balanced at all. I am a recording engineer and use balanced cables all the time, even building my own when necessary. I do live concert recording and am usually running several 25ft to 100ft cables all over venues where complex high voltage electrical wires are present everywhere, not to mention wireless aids for hard of hearing audience members. At home, in my living room stereo/surround system, unbalanced works just fine.
Wulfie011
0
Feb 10, 2020
bookmark_border
AudioproIsn't it also question of volume? I have the mee audio pinnacle p1, I'm considering upgrading to balanced for my portable dac (es100) because the thing is not loud enough...
Audiopro
166
Feb 10, 2020
bookmark_border
Wulfie011OK, If your device is designed for balanced operation throughout, and you decide to use an unbalanced cable, there might be a difference in volume. The truth is most headphone amps are not balanced, even if they claim to be. There is no 3 wire connection to each phone driver, most using only 2 wires. If they are actually following balanced practice there would be 6 pins in the XLR connector to the amp, or a 5 pin compromise, with one pin designated as a common shield leaving 2 per driver to carry Hi and Low signal. Also most designers anticipating Bal/UnBal use would provide the circuitry necessary to make up for any loss of gain (volume), when switching, resulting in no real noticeable difference. It is a myth that a balanced cable will improve sound quality. In recording, however, shielding against electro magnetic interference, or radio frequency interference, is a must as the long runs of cables used make them act like antennas. In addition the very weak signals produced by microphones, and phono cartridges etc. can be a source of susceptibility to interference, but it's not likely and is relatively rare in HIFi since most of the cables carry higher line level signals.
KuroYariman
61
Mar 7, 2020
bookmark_border
AudioproSo I have a question? I replied to a post at the top of this page calling this product snake oil!
My assumption was that there’s a difference between the meaning of balanced used in recording equipment and headphones. Because in headphones the only function is to separate the ground for each channel, supposedly reducing cross talk.
So since they clearly don’t function in the same way as balanced recording equipment. Do you believe that this use of the word balanced could represent to different functions for different applications?
BTW the way some audiophiles use balanced is often to drive higher impedance headphones. Where the dac/amp, “usually portable from what I’ve seen” outputs more power for each channel when in balanced rather than unbal.
If you could take a look at my reply to snake oil guy pls do!! Ignorance is death!!
Audiopro
166
Mar 18, 2020
bookmark_border
KuroYarimanIn my world "Balanced" is "Balanced" and that means 3 wires/connection. One for the + side off the signal, one for the - side and a separate one for the ground/shield. There is no such thing as a two wire balanced connection. In audio, especially pro audio, we have to shield both sides of a signal (-/+) from the effects of interference. If the shield or ground is being used for a part of the signal transfer, then half the signal is susceptible to interference, and therefore the whole purpose of "balanced" i.e. to provide a separate path to ground for interference, has been defeated. Two RCA cables will give you a separate shield wire for each channel, but those shields will be connected to a common electrical point in the device (Amp, or Headphones), hence no more separate ground. Electricity travels very, very fast and so doesn't care where the common connection happens.., could happen sooner, or later (amp or phones). Volume levels are a whole other thing and involve standards.
In pro audio, line level is +4db, or 14db higher than consumer line level, which is -10db. This difference helps create a better signal to noise ratio, much needed to handle the chores of recording and mixing several channels of audio down to stereo or multi-channel final product. This provides a better chance to keep the overall S/N ratio low through out the process. These conditions don't exist in consumer audio where only the final product is being experienced. I maintain that the claims of "balanced" in the devices you are interested in are mostly false, and more suited to creating sales. The final impedance of a device is due to the internal design circuitry and can be manipulated in any way a clever manufacturer wants to. Changing the wires do nothing to change this. The US Telephone service operated on a 600ohm balanced system, for decades, to enable better matching of external devices and facilitate patching calls from one area to another. This was referred to as 'impedance matching" and ran at that 600ohm value, which is considered high in the headphone world. When output impedance matches input impedance, transfer between devices is effortless as they cancel each other and enable calls to go across the country unimpeded, so to speak. Ok, this is too much talk.., sorry.
Related Products
Drop Refurbished
Like-new products you can trustDrop Rewards
Get $5 for every 500 points you earn! Learn more
Drop Keyboard Club
Become a member and expand your keycap collectionCollaborate With Us
For Brands & DesignersFollow Drop