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Showing 1 of 126 conversations about:
rantng
845
Mar 18, 2018
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davehutch
23
Mar 18, 2018
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rantngThanks for posting this. It's important to say that this article is not referring to 'balanced headphones' or 'balanced headphone amplifier outputs' as that is totally different.
Good explanation for balanced audio though
mikenai1987
0
Mar 18, 2018
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rantngthank you for sharing this article. learnt something about balanced and unbalanced audio. by the way, just to clarify, closed and open headphones is something separate from balanced and unbalanced audio correct?
abit off topic, i have been putting off if it is worth spending on a headphone instead of smaller portable earbuds.
abit off topic, i have been putting off if it is worth spending on a headphone instead of smaller portable earbuds.
davehutch
23
Mar 18, 2018
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mikenai1987Yes, Open and Closed headphones refer to the construction of the ear cups. Open headphones allow sound in and out from the outside world, but allow the driver to ‘breathe’ leading to generally wider soundstage and a feeling of airyness about the sound. Closed back headphones are sealed from the outside world so tend to have the opposite effects to open backed headphones
mikenai1987
0
Mar 18, 2018
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davehutchThanks Dave. (However in SG, the weather makes headphones abit uncomfortable after sometime.)
Just another small question, the +ve and -ve sound signals is generated by the hardware (i.e. DAC from respective hardwares with the correct output terminals) and not from the audio source right?
Just another small question, the +ve and -ve sound signals is generated by the hardware (i.e. DAC from respective hardwares with the correct output terminals) and not from the audio source right?
davehutch
23
Mar 18, 2018
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mikenai1987Think of the +ve as the path the signal takes as it travels to the transducer (coil that moves the diaphragm). The -ve is simply the path it takes back into the amp.
The audio signal is an alternating signal so varies between -ve and +ve voltage, which either pushes or pulls the diaphragm to create air pressure and therefore, sound
mikenai1987
0
Mar 18, 2018
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davehutchoh. I thought it was signals generated from the source to the input. Thanks Dave for sharing.
davehutch
23
Mar 19, 2018
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mikenai1987I'm not sure I answered your question correctly. Can you ask it again in a different way?
mikenai1987
0
Mar 19, 2018
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davehutchYup you did, i just thought initially that both +ve and -ve signals are generated from the source equipment to the input audio equipment.
When you explained that, if i interpreted it correctly to obtain the balanced audio.
+ve signal is from source equipment (i.e. dac)
-ve signal is from input audio equipment (i.e. headphone)
davehutch
23
Mar 19, 2018
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mikenai1987Don't think of it as +ve and -ve cables. It's a continuous, varying voltage travelling down the signal core of the cable and going back into the amp down the 'return' side of the cable.
The signal itself varies between being above zero volts (+ve) and below zero volts (-ve).
Read this:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/what-are-balanced-headphones.518138/page-2#post-13324817
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Balanced Vs. Unbalanced Audio: What's The Difference?
Anyone who’s dipped their toes into the waters of live audio production knows that various small things have a huge impact on sound quality. For example, did you know that every cable you use in your production setup has the potential to add noise to your audio feed? It’s important to understand audio cables – and how they’re made – to properly assess which one is right for the job.In this post, we’ll discuss the types of signals that different cables carry. As you’ll soon learn, they can either be balanced or unbalanced. This post dives deeper into what balanced and unbalanced audio means. Unbalanced Audio (2 Wires) An audio cable carrying an unbalanced signal uses two wires: a signal and a ground.The signal wire, as the name suggests, carries the audio signal to where it needs to go. The ground wire acts as a reference point for the signal. However, the ground wire itself also acts like an antenna, picking up unwanted noise along the way.
Quarter Inch TS Cables Quarter inch TS (tip, sleeve) cables are generally used for unbalanced signals. These are most commonly used with electric guitars, which often output to an amplifier. The diagram above shows how the cable works.
BALANCED AUDIO (3 WIRES): The structure of a balanced audio cable is similar to an unbalanced cable – with one addition. A balanced audio cable has a ground wire, but it also carries two copies of the same incoming audio signal, sometimes referred to as a “hot” (positive) and “cold” (negative) signal.
What’s the difference between the hot and cold signal?The two signals are reversed in polarity, so as they travel down the cable, they cancel each other out (think of how adding positive and negative numbers of equal value amounts to zero).