balanced/unbalanced connections

this is prob straight forward but just to clarify for maself

unbalanced = mono
balanced = stereo

so just say a bit of equipment has one output (tht would mean mono right) and ye were connecting it to yer interface, would you just connect it to a mono input in yer interface or would there be a need to connect it to a stereo input in yer interace?? if this is possible would this improve sound? can you get a mono to stereo connection??

can you use 2 unbalanced connections to connect to an interface to make a stereo connection?

It is a little more complicated than that, but not much.

You can not really compare it to mono and stereo as its really a different animal.

Unbalanced signals contain a single signal, and a grounding.

Balanced signals contain 2 signals - hot and cold, and a grounding. This still carries just a mono sound source, where the hot wire carries the original sound, and the cold wire carries the inversion of the exact same sound. I wont go into detail of this unless you want me to do, but basically it is a method which is used to remove noise from a single mono sound source.

So in order to carry an unbalanced signal you need a cable with at least 1 single core wire for the mono signal, and a shield for the ground.

In order to carry a balanced signal you need a cable with at least two cores, to carry the hot and cold signal, and a shield or grounding.

What you probably know as a mono jack, is actually called a TS jack, which stands for Tip-Sleeve which allows connections to two wires, which is generally the single core and the sleeve.

What you probably know as a stereo jack, is actually called a TRS jack, which stands for Tip-Ring-Sleeve which allows connections to three wires, which is generally two core wires and the shielding/ground.

A single stereo socket, like a headphone socket on your mixer takes a TRS jack because it uses the three wires to carry Left, Right, and Ground.

With the exception of headphone sockets, stereo signals are rarely output on TRS sockets in pro audio equipment. Usually every input and output will be mono, and either balanced or unbalanced depending on the equipment.

So if your sound card has two balanced outputs, you could use this for 2 mono signals, or 1 stereo signal. You need to use 2 connections for a stereo signal regardless generally.

If you connect a TRS balanced cable to an unbalanced output or input the cable will act just the same as a unbalanced TS cable.

Erm. Hope that makes sense. If not please ask. And it would make more sense if you explained exactly what you were trying to do. I might be able to explain it better detail.

more or less understand wot yer sayin mate - thanx well good explanation

rite this wot i have

interface with 8 inputs... barig in mind i need 2 inputs for my speakers

acid bassline with 1 output

dave smith mopho with 2 outputs

mbase with 1 out put

t-resonator with 2 outputs (but tht wont be goin directly in2 the interface)

vermona with L+R master output plus 8 individual outputs

in an ideal world i would luv to have another interface to have everything connected at the same time (the 8 individual outs of the vermona) but tht will need to wait for now

ive got room for everythin if i use the mono outputs from the machines so all is ok for now but thanx for the explanation

wot is the SPDIF inputs/outputs used for on the interface?

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Originally Posted by ritaheed

more or less understand wot yer sayin mate - thanx well good explanation

rite this wot i have

interface with 8 inputs... barig in mind i need 2 inputs for my speakers

acid bassline with 1 output

dave smith mopho with 2 outputs

mbase with 1 out put

t-resonator with 2 outputs (but tht wont be goin directly in2 the interface)

vermona with L+R master output plus 8 individual outputs

in an ideal world i would luv to have another interface to have everything connected at the same time (the 8 individual outs of the vermona) but tht will need to wait for now

ive got room for everythin if i use the mono outputs from the machines so all is ok for now but thanx for the explanation

wot is the SPDIF inputs/outputs used for on the interface?

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SPDIF - Sony Philips Digital Interface

its a co-axial type connector which looks similar to Phono cables, they carry a stereo digital signal. This signal requires a clock source to function correctly. In your situation its usually the soundcard which supplies this. They work at either 44khz or 48khz.

You could use it with anything else that has a similar connection. In my studio i use it to send the master bus audio to another computer which acts as a recording device and itself has a basic soundcard with SPDIF capability. It is noise free and simple and because its digital to digital i dont need balanced cables or even a very expensive soundcard. And advtange of this is that in some sequences im running close to the limit of CPU power and/or disc recording and if i try to bounce realtime by sampling from the master OP then i get drop outs or stalls of the audio engine.

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Originally Posted by RDR

SPDIF - Sony Philips Digital Interface

its a co-axial type connector which looks similar to Phono cables, they carry a stereo digital signal. This signal requires a clock source to function correctly. In your situation its usually the soundcard which supplies this. They work at either 44khz or 48khz.

You could use it with anything else that has a similar connection. In my studio i use it to send the master bus audio to another computer which acts as a recording device and itself has a basic soundcard with SPDIF capability. It is noise free and simple and because its digital to digital i dont need balanced cables or even a very expensive soundcard. And advtange of this is that in some sequences im running close to the limit of CPU power and/or disc recording and if i try to bounce realtime by sampling from the master OP then i get drop outs or stalls of the audio engine.

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mostly understand of all tht mate. Can you explain what the master bus audio is and also the bit about "try to bounce realtime by sampling from the master OP" n then i would fully grab wot yer saying

The SPDIF is the Digital Input.

I have a external Lexicon effects processor, and if I want to use it in cubase I would normally need to use 2 of my outputs to connect to it, and 2 inputs to connect back in, but instead it has a digital output, and a VST plugin for cubase which allows the external unit to be used as if it was a regular software plugin. I can use this and dont loose a single analogue input or output.

You can also use them to connect to external CD and Hard Drive recorders with SPDIF inputs in order that the best possible signal can be received by the recorder etc.

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Originally Posted by Milesy

The SPDIF is the Digital Input.

I have a external Lexicon effects processor, and if I want to use it in cubase I would normally need to use 2 of my outputs to connect to it, and 2 inputs to connect back in, but instead it has a digital output, and a VST plugin for cubase which allows the external unit to be used as if it was a regular software plugin. I can use this and dont loose a single analogue input or output.

You can also use them to connect to external CD and Hard Drive recorders with SPDIF inputs in order that the best possible signal can be received by the recorder etc.

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Ahhh. the MPX 200 we use one of those in the studio at work, its a great bit of kit.

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Originally Posted by ritaheed

mostly understand of all tht mate. Can you explain what the master bus audio is and also the bit about "try to bounce realtime by sampling from the master OP" n then i would fully grab wot yer saying

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Master bus audio = what you send into your amp or monitors... the main mix

in most programs you can record into a new audio track what is coming out of the master fader in real time as the sequence plays through. Hence

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bounce realtime by sampling from the master OP

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OP = Out Put

kool mate cheers