To Balance or not

[Randy]

Is it best to run your system with Balanced (XLR) cables from board through to amp or does it really matter? How does this work?

Is there a noticeable difference in sound?

[ November 20, 2002, 09:58 AM: Message edited by: djmaine ]

[Cpt Rick]

Very deep subject Randy, there are books written on it.

Depends on your needs IMHO.

Balanced is theoretically better and introduces far less noise, yet in the strictest sense of DJ'ing, I've never used balanced because of the noise floor and cost involved in maintaining a close to true balanced system on the road.

I generally use balanced everything in the studio though. Again, depends on what level of noise, hum, interference you are willing to put up with.

Other than just throwing a few XLR cables into the mix, you have to understand the whole signal flow from point A to point B, along with the underlying voltages, impedence, etc., to truly work a decently balanced system and match up all your components.

Unless you are doing it strictly for an audiophile purpose, or because you are pushing so much power that it makes it necessary to do so to avoid deafening people with hum and noise, I wouldn't worry about it for normal DJ use.

[KJDJ]

Balanced is better for long cable runs.

I run all balanced because:
A. my mixer, EQ, BBE, X-over, and amps are all balanced XLR.
and
B. XLR connectors are more robust and can handle many more connect/reconnect cycles.

C. I am one of the few DJ's hired at 2 golf clubs in east Atlanta because of all the megawatt TV/Radio towers are within a mile. Un balanced don't get it if you are giging in an high RF area.

DR DRAX if you are seeing this post.
I've got a good one for you. The area of town I mentioned above is so "RF hot" I can put on my $100 Sony headphones not pluged into anything and hear the harmonic buzz of the video carriers from these transmitters. I have to put a clamshell choke on the headphone cord when I play in that area. Cool-eh!

[DJ Dr. Drax]

Balanced. All the way. It is the only way to go. It is technically better for many reasons. The runs do not need to be long to benefit from balanced lines.

It is more than XLR or TRS connections. The lines must be truly balanced to get any benefit. ANY good PA system used by a DJ should be ran in balanced mode.

Now can you run unbalanced? sure. But as has been shown by KJDJ you see the reasons why. I run balanced. The above are just one less thing to worry about. Running balanced is EASY, simply buy gear that uses it, cables & your all set.

[Randy]

My board has balanced out puts and my present amp has balanced in puts. Now my BBE in not balanced so I was thinking of replacing it with a balanced one (the 682?).

Due to the close fit it be a good thing to go balanced then?

So you know, everything is mounted in a single tall rack unit so all equipment fits very close together.
10-space top (light controls, board and CD controller) and 10-space front ( Furman PL-Plus, Sony Minidisc, duel CD players, BBE 482, hum eliminator small box single L. & R. in/out ¼ plugs and a 8 Channel on/off Power Panel.) Attached to the bottom is another 4-space amp rack with my amp in it. Both racks are Showcase so good heavy wood construction. I set this on top of another 4-space amp case containing my backup amp so it stands a good height to work it and no wires to show. Plug to wall and speakers and go. wink

[djxtreme]

well i just got my feedback destroyer, and although it hasn't worked so far , here is my hook up:
unbalanced (i'm assuming) rca out of mixer, 1/4" into feedback destroyer
balanced 1/4" out of feedback, 1/4" balanced into amp

[MusicMixers]

One thing I have learned is that it is near useless to use balanced unless every component in your system has true balanced inputs/outputs. Break the chain anywhere in the system and it is no longer balanced... Signal to noise ratios should be good for live music with regular cables but I would agree that a sound studio really needs to be balanced..

[Randy]

Thanks for all the info, I due appreciate it. wink

[DJ Dr. Drax]

Balanced are MORE important in Live events. In the studio you can control a lot of issues. Live you are stuck with unknown power, & a host of other things.

I don't agree that the whole system has to be balanced. There are devices that are RCA in & balanced out. The issue is to be balanced as far upstream as you can. If you only do it for the last 2 feet, it can still yield benefits depending upon the noise in that area.

Good system design is something thought out in the begining, rarely done later.

[Bill Cronheim]

Drax is quite correct as usual.

Using balanced cables where ever possible just makes sense. Each balanced cable eliminates a potential antenna which could pick up RFI.
The fewer the better.