From the home theater setup to the recording studios, we've all come across different kinds of cable being put into use, each having a purpose of it's own. In this blog, we're going discuss about the following stuff that one needs to be aware of before setting up their stuff -
1. What are Balanced & Unbalanced cables
2. Difference in terms of their output.
3. Purpose & usage
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1.1 Balanced Cable
A balanced cable is the one that has 2 conductors and a ground - total of 3 pins (thus, 3 wires). The 2 conductors carry audio signals which are identical to each other but 180° out of phase which helps in canceling the noise at the receiving end (more on this in section 2). The ground wire acts as a shield against the radio frequency interference that is caused during the transmission.
Examples of a balanced cable includes XLR, TRS etc. They can be quite long (as much as 25-30 meters) without much of any restriction since it is shielded properly.
1.2 Unbalanced Cable
An unbalanced is the one that has only 2 wires in it. One conductor and one ground wire, the conductor wire does the job of carrying the audio signal and the ground wire here does the job of shielding as well as carrying a bit of the audio signal (identical to that of the conductor). Thus, the shielding is naturally less effective than a balanced cable.
Examples of unbalanced cable includes RCA, TS etc. They cannot be longer than 4-5 meters as they tend to pickup a lot of noise along the way.
The TRS and TS cables are the ones that we often use a lot, they look pretty similar yet they are different with respect to their structure and output audio signal. The differences are as discussed below -
2. Difference between balanced and unbalanced cable outputs.
The TRS cable has 2 conductors, one which carries a non inverted signal (Hot signal) & the other which carries an inverted signal (Cold signal). The signal that is being transmitted on both the conductors are identical to each other (including the noise) & at the receiving end, the inverted signal is reverted to the original polarity while the noise still remains inverted, which gets cancelled at the receiving end and finally, the original/input audio signal is obtained.
On the other hand, the TS cable has only one conductor which carries the audio signal and due to this reason, the shielding is also poor which results in interference. Hence, at the receiving end you get a signal that is slightly distorted.
Now that we're done with discussing the differences, let's take a look at when and where they can be used -
3.1 The balanced cables are obviously better than unbalanced ones as they do a better job of removing the noise during the transmission of the audio from one point to another. Hence, it is preferred more than the later.
3.2 The unbalanced cables are preferred in an environment where the length of the cable required is short as longer distance will invite more noise/interference.
It should also be kept in mind that interchanging i.e using balanced cables instead of unbalanced cables (& vice versa) won't be of much use (in fact it may produce below par results). So one should always be aware of the type of connection that is available in the sending/receiving units and use the relevant type of cable connection.
Now that you're aware of balanced and unbalanced cables & it's usage, there's one more thing you should also know about, so hopefully you won't run into such issues while setting up your stuff.
BONUS SECTION!
Instrument cables and Microphone cables are some of the widely used things in a studio/live set up and more often than not, it is used in the wrong manner resulting in poor audio quality etc.
Let's talk about instrument cable first, they're designed to have high impedance and low power. It is usually used to carry a weak signal (for example, a guitar) to the amp. It is a co-axial cable consisting of a central conductor surrounded by a braided shield, this is because the weak signals can easily be distorted by outside RF/electromagnetic waves.
The speaker cable on the other hand is designed to have low impedance and high power. It is used to carry powerful signals from the amp to the speaker. It consists of 2 thick copper wires with no special shielding as it is far less affected by outside interference.
It is not advisable to use an instrument cable instead of a speaker cable because the thin wire in the instrument cable cannot handle the high power that comes out of an amp. It'll naturally generate a lot of heat and in some cases, might even damage the amp/speaker.
If you use a speaker cable in place of an instrument cable, the audio signal will be transmitted but with a lot of electromagnetic interference. Hence one should be aware of what to use and where it should be used.
I hope you found this post to be useful and practical. Do share it with people who might benefit from these tips and if you've enjoyed reading this or have any queries, then do drop them in the comments below, will definitely answer them asap!
Until next time.
References -
1. instrument cables arent the same as speaker cables
2. balanced vs. unabalanced cables
1. What are Balanced & Unbalanced cables
2. Difference in terms of their output.
3. Purpose & usage
ーーー
1.1 Balanced Cable
A balanced cable is the one that has 2 conductors and a ground - total of 3 pins (thus, 3 wires). The 2 conductors carry audio signals which are identical to each other but 180° out of phase which helps in canceling the noise at the receiving end (more on this in section 2). The ground wire acts as a shield against the radio frequency interference that is caused during the transmission.
 | |
| A typical XLR cable |
Examples of a balanced cable includes XLR, TRS etc. They can be quite long (as much as 25-30 meters) without much of any restriction since it is shielded properly.
1.2 Unbalanced Cable
An unbalanced is the one that has only 2 wires in it. One conductor and one ground wire, the conductor wire does the job of carrying the audio signal and the ground wire here does the job of shielding as well as carrying a bit of the audio signal (identical to that of the conductor). Thus, the shielding is naturally less effective than a balanced cable.
 |
| RCA cable that is used in most AV systems |
Examples of unbalanced cable includes RCA, TS etc. They cannot be longer than 4-5 meters as they tend to pickup a lot of noise along the way.
The TRS and TS cables are the ones that we often use a lot, they look pretty similar yet they are different with respect to their structure and output audio signal. The differences are as discussed below -
2. Difference between balanced and unbalanced cable outputs.
 |
| As you can see the one on top happens to be the TRS cable (Tip Ring Slip) while the one that's below is the TS cable (Tip & Sleeve). |
The TRS cable has 2 conductors, one which carries a non inverted signal (Hot signal) & the other which carries an inverted signal (Cold signal). The signal that is being transmitted on both the conductors are identical to each other (including the noise) & at the receiving end, the inverted signal is reverted to the original polarity while the noise still remains inverted, which gets cancelled at the receiving end and finally, the original/input audio signal is obtained.
On the other hand, the TS cable has only one conductor which carries the audio signal and due to this reason, the shielding is also poor which results in interference. Hence, at the receiving end you get a signal that is slightly distorted.
Now that we're done with discussing the differences, let's take a look at when and where they can be used -
3.1 The balanced cables are obviously better than unbalanced ones as they do a better job of removing the noise during the transmission of the audio from one point to another. Hence, it is preferred more than the later.
3.2 The unbalanced cables are preferred in an environment where the length of the cable required is short as longer distance will invite more noise/interference.
It should also be kept in mind that interchanging i.e using balanced cables instead of unbalanced cables (& vice versa) won't be of much use (in fact it may produce below par results). So one should always be aware of the type of connection that is available in the sending/receiving units and use the relevant type of cable connection.
Now that you're aware of balanced and unbalanced cables & it's usage, there's one more thing you should also know about, so hopefully you won't run into such issues while setting up your stuff.
BONUS SECTION!
Instrument cables and Microphone cables are some of the widely used things in a studio/live set up and more often than not, it is used in the wrong manner resulting in poor audio quality etc.
Let's talk about instrument cable first, they're designed to have high impedance and low power. It is usually used to carry a weak signal (for example, a guitar) to the amp. It is a co-axial cable consisting of a central conductor surrounded by a braided shield, this is because the weak signals can easily be distorted by outside RF/electromagnetic waves.
The speaker cable on the other hand is designed to have low impedance and high power. It is used to carry powerful signals from the amp to the speaker. It consists of 2 thick copper wires with no special shielding as it is far less affected by outside interference.
It is not advisable to use an instrument cable instead of a speaker cable because the thin wire in the instrument cable cannot handle the high power that comes out of an amp. It'll naturally generate a lot of heat and in some cases, might even damage the amp/speaker.
If you use a speaker cable in place of an instrument cable, the audio signal will be transmitted but with a lot of electromagnetic interference. Hence one should be aware of what to use and where it should be used.
I hope you found this post to be useful and practical. Do share it with people who might benefit from these tips and if you've enjoyed reading this or have any queries, then do drop them in the comments below, will definitely answer them asap!
Until next time.
References -
1. instrument cables arent the same as speaker cables
2. balanced vs. unabalanced cables
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