balanced vs phono

[tech tool]

i have just got myself a firebox (thx cuttaboi) and am going to get myself 1/4 to phono cables for home use and for mixers which don't have 1/4 inputs....however, is the sound improved going through a balanced 1/4 cable? i know a&h mixers have 1/4 inputs so is it worth investing in the extra expense and bulk of having both kinds of cables in case the house rig/mixer has 1/4 inputs?

[DvlsAdvct]

I have never noticed a difference in all of the times I have run Phono to 1/4", nor the other way around. If the cables are solid the sound will be solid.

But I've never done anything really complex in sound work, but for DJing, they all sound the same to me.

[djtimmmy]

The biggest difference in the discussion in using Balanced or Unbalanced is:

Balanced has a higher Noise Rejection

Unbalanced is considered High Impedance 10k ohms
and Balanced is 600 ohms typically

With Balanced audio you can also lift the ground on one connector to help eliminate ground loops (That nasty hum in the audio) or use an audio grade isolation transformer (Humbucker) in the most severe situations

The the levels are different
Unbalanced is typically 1v pp -10db is usually zero level

With balanced 1.4 or higher depending on 0Db or a system that uses +4Db as the zero reference.


When you have options where both are accessible go with balanced



Here is a nice Write up from Rane on the subject http://www.rane.com/note110.html