audio control, balanced or unbalanced?

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dubzino

Member - Posts: 32

Joined: June 23, 2006

Location: Canada

Posted: August 29, 2006 at 9:30 AM / IP Logged

Ok under the case there are settings for balanced line or unbalanced. I not quite sure what exactly this means. Could someone kindly explain to me which setting I should be using or teh difference between the two.Thanks

haemphyst

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Joined: January 19, 2003

Location: Michigan, Bouvet Island

Posted: August 29, 2006 at 9:54 AM / IP Logged

Which inputs are you using? If using the balanced inputs, you use the balanced settings.

If you are using JUST RCA's, then you are most likely going to be using the unbalanced settings.

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."

dubzino

Member - Posts: 32

Joined: June 23, 2006

Location: Canada

Posted: August 29, 2006 at 10:56 AM / IP Logged

I am using RCA's comming from the pac interface hooked up to my factory deck. " If using balanced inputs? How do I know if I am using balanced inputs?

Flakman

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Joined: April 25, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: August 29, 2006 at 12:42 PM / IP Logged

dubzino: Maybe this will help:

Unbalanced Audio

Most domestic audio equipment has unbalanced audio inputs and outputs. This means that the audio output (left, right, or mono) appears on a single wire, and is referenced to "0V" or "Ground". Typical connectors used are RCA "phono" connectors, DIN plugs/sockets, and 0.25" (6.3mm) or 3.5mm jack plugs/sockets.

Unbalanced audio is fine for the domestic environment, and for line-level signals in a typical broadcast studio. Problems start to occur if the signals are being carried over long distances, especially if the source and destination have separate mains supplies.

Balanced Audio

A lot of professional equipment will have balanced audio inputs and outputs, usually on 3-pin "XLR" connectors. A balanced audio signal consists of a pair of wires carrying the audio signal in anti-phase with each other. Relative to 0V, if one wire carries a positive voltage, the other carries an equal and opposite negative voltage.

The 3 wires used in a typical XLR lead are often referred to as Ground, Live and Return, or Ground, Hot and Cold. "Live" and "Return" carry the "in-phase" and "out-of-phase" versions of the audio respectively. Calling the signals "Live" and "Return" makes it nice and easy to remember which goes on which pin of the XLR plug/socket:

X = Ground
L = Live
R = Return

The advantage of balanced audio over unbalanced audio is it's ability to reject external interference added as the signal is carried over the wire. The receiving equipment takes the voltage difference between the two wires as the input signal. Interference will usually get added to both wires equally, and so gets ignored by the receiving equipment.

The Flakman

I feel strange. I have deja vu and amnesia at the same time.

John | Manteca, CA

kfr01

Gold - Posts: 2,121

Joined: April 30, 2003

Posted: August 29, 2006 at 1:30 PM / IP Logged

Flakman:

When you copy text to this forum, please give credit to the original source.

It appears you took the above text from:

http://home.btconnect.com/woodGREEN/ tech_tips/techtip/art6.htm

New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

Flakman

Copper - Posts: 365

Joined: April 25, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: August 29, 2006 at 1:38 PM / IP Logged

kfr01: My bad. That is the correct source. audio control, balanced or unbalanced? -- posted image.

Thanks.

The Flakman

I feel strange. I have deja vu and amnesia at the same time.

John | Manteca, CA

punkbastard

Copper - Posts: 137

Joined: May 25, 2006

Location: United States

Posted: August 29, 2006 at 2:58 PM / IP Logged

http://www.bcae1.com/amplfier.htm

Read that page, about half way down it talks about balanced versus unbalanced audio outputs. I could just regurgitate (sp?) what he says on there but i'd probably mess it up.

dubzino

Member - Posts: 32

Joined: June 23, 2006

Location: Canada

Posted: August 29, 2006 at 3:11 PM / IP Logged

So is what is comming out of my headunit un-balanced then?

Flakman

Copper - Posts: 365

Joined: April 25, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: August 29, 2006 at 3:26 PM / IP Logged

dubzino wrote:

So is what is comming out of my headunit un-balanced then?

Yes.

The Flakman

I feel strange. I have deja vu and amnesia at the same time.

John | Manteca, CA

dubzino

Member - Posts: 32

Joined: June 23, 2006

Location: Canada

Posted: August 30, 2006 at 10:18 AM / IP Logged

Ok so I set the input to un-balanced. Do I want to set the output to balanced? My amp is teh Hifonics bx1205d.Thanks again for all of yrou help guys.

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