Technical Information for Users of Yamaha Professional Audio Products

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Unbalanced and balanced connections Unbalanced connections (sometimes called single-ended) employ two conductors, one at ground potential and the other carrying signal. Equipment operating at -10 dBV invariably uses unbalanced connections. Balanced connections employ two conductors, each of which carries the same signal potential but with the polarity of one reversed with respect to the other. Balanced connections may or may not be referred to ground; if not, they are termed floating connections. A balanced connection referred to ground requires three conductors, the third being at ground potential. (A floating connection may have a third, ground conductor but it is used as a shield and not connected in a way that references the circuit to ground.)
NOTE: The term push-pull has been used to describe a balanced output, but is more correctly reserved for describing the output of power amplifiers, not line-level driver circuits.

Why use balanced connections? Particularly in sound reinforcement systems, or in complex recording and broadcast systems, balanced connections are preferable to unbalanced because they are far less susceptible to pickup of interference. Professional +4 dBu equipment usually (but not always) features balanced inputs and outputs. Unbalanced connections can work just fine in small sound systems, or in fixed systems where ground loop problems can be eliminated once, and then forgotten. It is best to avoid unbalanced connections in portable sound systems.

Balanced inputs with and without transformers More often than not, modern professional equipment uses direct coupling (no transformer). Direct coupled balanced inputs are sometimes called differential inputs. One of the short comings of differential circuits is that they may not be floating, which means that auxiliary transformers sometimes must be added to eliminate induced noise (due to "ground loops" or due to very high level noise voltages). Balanced inputs (and outputs) are sometimes implemented using a transformer, which may or may not have a center tap. If present, the center tap usually should not be grounded. The presence of a transformer does not guarantee a balanced circuit; unbalanced connections may be transformer-coupled, and a balanced output can be unbalanced by connecting it to an unbalanced input. How to interconnect various types of circuits The nature of the active output determines the type of cabling that may be used when that balanced output is connected to an unbalanced input. Usually a dual-conductor shielded cable should be employed, allowing the cable to remain more or less balanced right up to the input of the unbalanced device. This actually helps cancel noise because the shield drains noise to the earth ground and is not relied upon to carry the signal. The shield's finite resistance means that grounding the shield and the low side of the cable at the input to the unbalanced device is not the functional equivalent of doing so at the output of the balanced device.

Figure 2 illustrates recommended practices for handling standard unbalanced and balanced connections in various combinations. There are other ways to do it, but these represent a good place to start if you aren't sure what to do.

What kind of connectors should be used? Figure 2 describes which input circuit points go to which output circuit points, and whether the cable is single- or dual-conductor with shield. It also shows how the shield is to be connected (at one end, the other, or both ends of the cable). The figure does not show the actual connectors. Often you do not have a choice of which connectors to use; you have to match the connectors on the equipment you're hooking together. Sometimes you do have a choice, as with phone jacks are they intended for 2-conductor or 3-conductor phone plugs? you'd better know before you connect any cables. Refer to Figure 3 for suggestions in where to utilize various cables and connectors.

Connectors may be well made, with low contact resistance (and low tendency to develop resistance over time), or perhaps not. They may be well secured to the cable, with thoroughly soldered shields and inner conductors and good strain relief, or they may be carelessly put together. Ask your dealer about these things in the long run, you may find it's more economical not to buy the cheapest cable. Also, with a given connector, it is possible to use various types of cable (wire), and again, you can select better or not-so-good cable for a given job. What makes this all complex is that "properly" depends on the nature of the output and input circuits being interconnected. The importance of good cables A given cable probably costs less than any other component in a sound system (unless it is a multi channel snake, which is pretty costly). Still, there may be hundreds of cables in a single system, so the cost can add up to a sizable figure. Hum, crackles, lost signal due to open circuits, or failed outputs due to shorted circuits can all be caused by a cable. Never try to save money by cutting corners with cable. All wire is not the same, nor are all look alike connectors made the same way. Even if the overall diameter, wire gauge, and general construction are similar, two cables may have significantly different electrical and physical properties such as resistance, capacitance between conductors, inductance between conductors, overall flexibility, shielding density, durability, ability to withstand crushing or sharp bends, tensile strength, jacket friction, and so forth. Mic cables should have strain relief cords or fibers. The best shielding you can use in fixed (permanent) installations or within a rack or piece of equipment is a foil shield, but such cables are not particularly strong, and the shielding will deteriorate if they are flexed very much. Braided or wrapped wire shielding is more commonly used for mic and instrument connections to the sound system. We prefer braided because the wrap tends to open up with flexing, which not only degrades shielding density, but can also cause microphonic noise. If the cable capacitance changes when you flex it, this can change the induced noise level, and the cable is said to be microphonic. This is a major problem with phantom power in mic cables, although it can happen in any cable, and you definitely don't want this internally generated noise to occur in any sound system. Avoid the problem by using cables with stable dielectric (insulating) material, and with a tightly braided shield that is well-trapped by the outer jacket so the shield itself does not open up as the cable is flexed. A rubber outer jacket is often favored for mic and instrument cables because it has a good feel and is flexible over a wide temperature range, but good quality vinyl has become popular, too. Some single conductor shielded cables appear to be similar to the coaxial cable used for TV and radio signals (i.e., RG-58, or RG-59), but there is a major difference. Coaxial cable for RF use generally has solid center conductors (or only a few strands of heavier wire), and the cable capacitance differs significantly from that of audio cable. The coax is also less flexible so don't use RF cable for audio frequency work. Unshielded cables and speaker cables Shielding adds capacitance, bulk, weight and cost to a cable so some people try to avoid it. This is OK for telephone lines, but never consider using unshielded cable for microphones or instruments.

The signal level is so high in speaker cables that electromagnetic noise is insignificant in comparison so unshielded cable is OK. In fact, the higher reactance of shielded speaker cables can induce deleterious parasitic oscillation