Hey #audiomixchat! Today I’m thinking about “signal cables and considerations of balanced and unbalanced types.” What criteria do you use to choose cables for your system? Post, reply, and search with the hashtag #audiomixchat
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Unbalanced, also referred to as single ended, cables are constructed with 2 wires. One wire carries part of the signal and the second wire carries remainder and connects to ground. The ground wire provides some shielding but also acts as an antenna, picking up noise #audiomixchat

Typically, unbalanced cables are used for shorter signal runs, 15-20 feet. The minimal shielding properties of single ended cables makes them undesirable for longer runs due to noise introduced into from outside interference. Examples: guitar cables, RCA cables #audiomixchat

For short runs, with care taken in cable routing (crossing other cables, elimination of coiling), unbalanced cables provide a high quality signal from source to destination. Since they deliver full signal, no signal summing or inversion is required to process signal #audiomixchat

Balanced cables are constructed with 3 wires, a positive +, negative -, and a ground. The + and - wires each carry half the signal. The ground wire offers superior shielding since it does not carry signal. Balanced cables are appropriate for lengths up to 100’ #audiomixchat

Examples of common balanced cables/connectors are XLR, TRS, 3-wire Phoenix. You will typically find balanced connections in pro audio and high-end home/audiophile audio components. #audiomixchat

I’m not sure if in all balanced amplifier topologies but with differential amplification the negative wire carries the inverse signal of the positive. The negative is then polarity flipped and and run through the amplification stage. Only differences are amplified #audiomixchat

Noise introduced into the cables between source and amplifier will have no difference, thus are filtered from amplification and not introduced into the output stage of the amplifier to the speakers #audiomixchat

In either case of balanced or unbalanced cables, resistance is a factor for performance. While nowhere near as important as speaker level voltages, having an appropriate AWG for the length of cable is nonetheless important. #audiomixchat