drumnbass.be forum » Production » Hardware » balanced vs unbalanced wiring balanced vs unbalanced wiring Author Post wicked_wayz Cool Producer Registration Date: 19-03-2004 Posts: 194 Helpfulness rating:  jups, kinda related problem as why i wanted to control volume with my soundcard (which is still not possible, even after consulting my technical freak friends ). Meaning I just bougth some monitors (these babies , quite a 'sobering' experience, want to delete all my older stuff now ). My soundcard only has a RCA output (this would mean the're unbalanced, not?), so hooked them up through the RCA input of the monitors. Now if i raise the volume in fruityloops from 0 to max, you can hear a noise level increasing... (which is non existing if the outputvolume is 0 btw). Now is it worth the effort to buy some of those rca to XLR transition cables? so i can hooke it up to the balanced xlr input of the monitors? or is that no use, since the output is unbalanced. read somewhere that also rca can be balanced, or is this a load of crap . otherwise, is this noise 'normal', any other way to decrease it? read some stuff about the balanced/unbalanced thing. but don't know if this noise is indeed the effect of that thing 30-08-2004 11:13 Surya The Robot Registration Date: 04-11-2002 Posts: 11,238 Helpfulness rating:  What soundcard do you have __ "In dnb you should make people jump not swim" - Pieter Frenssen 2004 30-08-2004 11:35 wicked_wayz Cool Producer Registration Date: 19-03-2004 Posts: 194 Helpfulness rating:  audiophile 2496. was real happy about it, but it's all a bit changing lately, after control panel/driver problems, and the fact that balanced outputs are missing apparently (according to store owner who sold me the monitors). 30-08-2004 11:47 Surya The Robot Registration Date: 04-11-2002 Posts: 11,238 Helpfulness rating:  Strange, I've heard great things about that card... But I don't really know the solution to your prob, I'm afraid... __ "In dnb you should make people jump not swim" - Pieter Frenssen 2004 30-08-2004 12:04 djfreemc Sponsor Registration Date: 25-07-2003 Posts: 1,117 Helpfulness rating:  U can transform a unbalanced (cinch) to balanced (xlr), but just a cable wont do the full trick. Gonna have to do some research on how to transform'em though. Are u shure the noise is caused by the cables/new monitors and not by the soundcard itsself in a way? __ The mysteries of the distorted snare... Can't win if u don't play 30-08-2004 17:51 rorschach Cool Steppa Registration Date: 24-08-2003 Posts: 110 quote: Originally posted by wicked_wayz My soundcard only has a RCA output (this would mean the're unbalanced, not?), so hooked them up through the RCA input of the monitors. Now if i raise the volume in fruityloops from 0 to max, you can hear a noise level increasing... (which is non existing if the outputvolume is 0 btw). mmm sounds to me like fl or your card generates the noise? and don't worry too much about cinch/xlr conversion, we do this at work 50times a day, just connect xlr pin 3 to the outer cinch part and xlr pin 2 to the inner part, and you've got your audio signal. More noise? maybe. Will anyone hear it? no, unless you're running cables of 100m length or so or your house is built on a place where all electric interferences come together at 1 point, like in Poltergeist 30-08-2004 18:31 wicked_wayz Cool Producer Registration Date: 19-03-2004 Posts: 194 Helpfulness rating:  quote: Originally posted by rorschach mmm sounds to me like fl or your card generates the noise? and don't worry too much about cinch/xlr conversion, we do this at work 50times a day, just connect xlr pin 3 to the outer cinch part and xlr pin 2 to the inner part, and you've got your audio signal. More noise? maybe. Will anyone hear it? no, unless you're running cables of 100m length or so or your house is built on a place where all electric interferences come together at 1 point, like in Poltergeist my new neighbours probably think that polergeist just moved next door... Saw some cable-conversions like that at radio scorpio yesterday, didn't seem hard to make, good to know. but i think it's fruityloops . opening winamp, and increase (winamp) volume from 5% (my usual setting) to max-> no noise comming through the boxes. However, the master in fruity (normally around 50%) increasing to max-> static noise. kinda strange no? for an audio application to produce so much noise... 31-08-2004 09:11 rorschach Cool Steppa Registration Date: 24-08-2003 Posts: 110 quote: Originally posted by wicked_wayz but i think it's fruityloops . opening winamp, and increase (winamp) volume from 5% (my usual setting) to max-> no noise comming through the boxes. However, the master in fruity (normally around 50%) increasing to max-> static noise. kinda strange no? for an audio application to produce so much noise... strange indeed (so noise comes out, without playing anything and without any instruments/fx connected?), but probably they couldn't do much about it when they developed fl i guess.. But are you sure the noise level is significant in proprtion to your audio level? When i turn up my amp halfway i hear noise too, but since the audio signal itself is much much louder, this noise just doesn't have an audible effect. Hell, they even add a bit of noise to your audio in A/D and D/A convertors to get them more precise (dithering).. 31-08-2004 11:12 thechronic admin Registration Date: 01-11-2002 Posts: 5,293 Helpfulness rating:  Your problem is not in the cable but in the sound card!!! It is true that unbalanced cables pick up noise, but then the noise level should remain constant regardless if your sound card volume is at zero or at maximum. If you told this to the store owner and he claims it's the cables then he's a moron who should be selling roasted chickens. Check your soundcard installation. Make sure it is not in the PCI slot underneath the graphics card, and that it is not in the PCI slot at the bottom (because that often has shared resources). Install the latest drivers. Mess around with the DirectX settings and the settings in the audio programs. My RME Digi96/8 was also really noisy in winamp until I found the right settings, now I can't detect any noise in it anymore! __ If you find spam on the site, please hit the button and select my name. I'll personally kick it to the murky depths of hell where it belongs! 31-08-2004 11:54 thechronic admin Registration Date: 01-11-2002 Posts: 5,293 Helpfulness rating:  quote: Originally posted by rorschach and don't worry too much about cinch/xlr conversion, we do this at work 50times a day, just connect xlr pin 3 to the outer cinch part and xlr pin 2 to the inner part, and you've got your audio signal. True, but that doesn't make it balanced, so that wouldn't help The monitors have an RCA input anyway And you need to connect the outer RCA to pin 1, not pin 3 BTW with a DI box you can make an unbalanced signal balanced. __ If you find spam on the site, please hit the button and select my name. I'll personally kick it to the murky depths of hell where it belongs! 31-08-2004 12:00 wicked_wayz Cool Producer Registration Date: 19-03-2004 Posts: 194 Helpfulness rating:  damn that bloody soundcard 'download the latest drivers', mmhh, yeah, that's probably what started the whole deal (remember previous thread). btw: at the chronic; the store where i bought it just went bankrupt, guess they were morons after all... but anyway, i just lost my warrantee i guess 31-08-2004 12:25 rorschach Cool Steppa Registration Date: 24-08-2003 Posts: 110 quote: Originally posted by thechronic And you need to connect the outer RCA to pin 1, not pin 3 mm u sure about this? cause i checked our connectors with an ohm meter yesterday and it was pin 3.. or maybe the numbering is different 31-08-2004 13:52 thechronic admin Registration Date: 01-11-2002 Posts: 5,293 Helpfulness rating:  Pin 1: ground Pin 2: + (hot) Pin 3: - (cold) In the US they used to have pins 2 & 3 swapped (but this is getting rare since most manufacturers are now using the European standard). Pin 1 is always ground. You can solder pins 1 and 3 together though for an unbalanced cable. __ If you find spam on the site, please hit the button and select my name. I'll personally kick it to the murky depths of hell where it belongs! 31-08-2004 13:55 thechronic admin Registration Date: 01-11-2002 Posts: 5,293 Helpfulness rating:  quote: Originally posted by wicked_wayz the store where i bought it just went bankrupt, guess they were morons after all... but anyway, i just lost my warrantee i guess Normally you can send in a registration card and can get support from KRK directly. Be careful of your tweeters, KRKs have very fragile tweeters, a mate of mine had to replace them 3 times in one year time. __ If you find spam on the site, please hit the button and select my name. I'll personally kick it to the murky depths of hell where it belongs! 31-08-2004 13:58 drumnbass.be forum » Production » Hardware » balanced vs unbalanced wiring