audio control, balanced or unbalanced?

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=82213
Printed Date: May 12, 2025 at 5:04 PM

Topic: audio control, balanced or unbalanced?

Posted By: dubzino
Subject: audio control, balanced or unbalanced?
Date Posted: August 29, 2006 at 9:30 AM

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

Replies:

Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: August 29, 2006 at 9:54 AM

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."

Posted By: dubzino
Date Posted: August 29, 2006 at 10:56 AM

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?

Posted By: Flakman
Date Posted: August 29, 2006 at 12:42 PM

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

Posted By: kfr01
Date Posted: August 29, 2006 at 1:30 PM

Flakman:

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

It appears you took the above text from:

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

-------------
New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

Posted By: Flakman
Date Posted: August 29, 2006 at 1:38 PM

kfr01: My bad. That is the correct source. posted_image

Thanks.

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

John | Manteca, CA

Posted By: punkbastard
Date Posted: August 29, 2006 at 2:58 PM

https://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.

Posted By: dubzino
Date Posted: August 29, 2006 at 3:11 PM

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

Posted By: Flakman
Date Posted: August 29, 2006 at 3:26 PM

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

Posted By: dubzino
Date Posted: August 30, 2006 at 10:18 AM

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.

Posted By: Flakman
Date Posted: August 30, 2006 at 10:32 AM

No, you do not have balanced inputs on your amp.

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

John | Manteca, CA