RCA to XLR to RCA

Does the EQ have XLR connections? My wife will never understand why, lucky for her!

I dont know who told you that about XLR's but if it's not necessary I wouldn't use them. If you think it will make any audible difference you are mistaken. XLR's are only used for balanced signals and passing +48v phantom power to mics. RCA's actually have more connection surface area and therefore are a better choice for an unbalanced clean signal.My wife will never understand why, lucky for her!

Precisely.  Good quality coaxial RCA cables are in general better signal carriers for standard unbalanced line-level audio signals than are three-conductor cables with XLR connectors.  Microphone cable CAN have better RF shielding properties, but unless you devise a seperate ground plane scheme for the shield it would be ineffective in an unbalanced audio system.Support the12volt.com

They do only have one purpose - balanced signal connector. Way less signal loss through what? Any signal loss will be through the resistance of the wire unless you have a corroded connector. If you have to use the two RCA's from one point to another anyway, what's the point of slapping an two XLR's in between them? The only difference between an RCA and an XLR in the unbalanced application is the hard case shell. If you want better shielding, just buy shielded pair wire and connect the shield and negative at the RCA. From the application you want to use it for, you won't gain anything and will have more connections to check if something goes wrong. I use XLR's everyday and there is nothing magical about them.My wife will never understand why, lucky for her!

robb420in323 wrote: These XLR's are perfect for a car.. No matter how good the RCA's u loose signal and u get noise.. XLRS have professional Sheilding.  More resistant to noise and resistance is lower.

Sorry, that's not even close. An xlr wired with 3 loose wires and no shielding will be just as quiet as one made with Canare L4ES and Neutrik's gold series. The reasons XLRs work the way they do is that they're fully balanced. Pin 3 is ground, connected to, well ground. Pin 2 is "hot, and carries the "in phase" signal, the one normally carried by the center pin of an RCA. Pin 1 carries the "cold" signal, which is the inverse of the one on pin 2. The reason they're more immune to noise is that a balanced input cancels common mode noise amazingly well, and when connected to a balanced output, that's functioning correctly, common more noise is all that can appear. It also allows balanced inputs to work without a ground at all, which removes the possibility for ground loops through the input. The resistance and shielding have almost nothing to do with the lower noise floor. It's all about topology. As for losing signal, the only way that happens is with a high resistance cable and a low impedence input, with a faulty output, or when the connector falls out. the biggest downfall that RCAs have is that they're dependent on a ground referenced signal, and when you ground reference something to a car, which has an inherantly compromised ground from an audio standpoint, you invite trouble in the form of hiss, humm, noise, etc. XLRs use a perfect opposite for their reference signal, and not only does it save them from ground induced problems, it gives a +6dB boost, because the voltage "seen" by the input iis 2x that of an unbalanced connection (well, +6dB for volts, +3dB for power, which is irrelevant because line level interconnects require next to no current delivered). -daveThis is not a sig. This is a duck. Quack.

DYohn, since this subject came up, how do you connect your ECM8000 to your PC's soundcard input? I know the thing needs a phantom power supply, with ±48v, but I would LOVE to have a phantom power supply with an 1/8 inch output, so I can plug it right in to my soundcard... Suggestions? Lemme know, eh?It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."