Balanced audio: how it works, why it works, and should you use it?
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- Опубліковано 18 жов 2024
- This video is showing you the technical ins and outs of balanced audio.
many other video tutorials on UA-cam have referenced to it, but none have actually explained how it works.
this is a bit of a long in depth video, but you know me I don't do things by half.
Hope you enjoy and thank you for watching.
Ten years + and I'm still learning from your videos. Thanks again James.
Thank you so much! I'm in Audio Production 101 and didn't understand balanced signals until your demonstrations. You're a life-saver!
Great video, James. Just to pick you up on a little point at 11:30 - the signals in a balanced pair are not 180degrees out of phase, they are locked at the same phase but are inverted. If you shift the phase, you shift the position of the signal along the X (time) axis. With your demonstration sine wave it wouldn't make a difference, but with a real-world, complex wave form it'd sound a bit shifty if the signals were 180 degrees out of phase!
You can't simply just invert the signal without it introducing lag of at least the amount of half the 180 degrees wave at a given frequency.
@@arpakyna try swapping the wires
@@arpakyna Why?
Exactly - and you couldn't do common mode noise rejection if they were out of phase.
Lol, I love how the video suddenly turns into an unboxing video when the box arrives.
I wasn't expecting this to be a good video because it just popped up automatically, but this was one of the best explanations of this I've ever seen. Most other videos on the topic are hard to follow or poorly made. The part about the ground lift was super helpful.
thanks, really well explained. you are right, you can hardly find a deep explanation of unbalanced and balanced audio on youtube. As an electrical engineer, I appreciate your content.
Don't know why youtube have this habitude of suggesting old videos but it is 2021 and learned a lot about audio today ! Thanks !!
Just found your channel. ❤ the way you explain things and love listening to the beautiful Britishness in your language and demeanor. Man’s got style
Thanks a lot for explaining most of what I didn't understand about audio cables in one video. You're a great teacher.
First video I have watched out of many that clearly explains the concepts. I doubt if all the others really understand what they are explaining. I am sure some of them are just repeating what they have learned and leaving out stuff that they never completely got. You obviously understand all of it. Very cool.
Absolutely brilliant. Thank you so much for this in-depth explanation. It's so difficult these days to find information that breaks things down right to the source and explains them thoroughly. I have the hardest time learning anything unless I can understand the fundamentals first. People explain how things work, but too often fail to mention WHY, and you did a fantastic job of explaining the difference between the two cables, how they work, and why they work.
I'VE BEEN IN ROCK BANDS FOR 40 YEARS and you just answered everything we all didn't know in 20 odd minutes THANKS BUDDY LOVE YOUR STYLE TOO
no worries, I'm glad the video helped you. I'm always glad to hear that my viewers are learning from my content.
thank you for your comment.
Most excellent video! All the questions I have had surrounding balanced audio, ground loops, and phantom power have been thoroughly answered. Thanks so much for all the effort! Have a good one!
Great, long time searching for making me understand, I know it is simple in basics, but it is an art to bring it over in all its simplicity, dismantle the complexity piece by piece. Thank you very much !
Best explanation I've yet seen out of a few videos. The dry humor is great, too.
Tried a half dozen other tutorials to be STILL left baffled , you've nailed it though , many thanks - at least now i have a bit more of a clue !
Thank you so much for this video. I have searched all over trying to get a full understanding of balanced vs. unbalanced. You explained everything in great detail and went deep enough into the subject that I feel like I really understand it now. Many thanks
Great video on audio balanced and unbalanced cables! Loved it!
Yeah, this is an old video, but I love this guy. He really knows what he’s talking about and how to teach it to others. So few “educated” audio geeks actually understand these basic principles so foundational to excellent sound reinforcement and helpful for problem troubleshooting. Hopefully you learned something or refreshed your physics 101.
I'm currently an audio engineering student and this helped me out a great deal. Thank you very much!
Very happy i found your videos. I have been considering using balanced cables and now I understand how they work. Keep up the great work. Thank you.
Fantastic video, thanks James! Learnt such a lot from the last 20 minutes.
And bonus points for the kittens :)
Nice video.
Couple of things to add. The ground in the signal wires is better referred to as "common." On better equipment, this common is "lifted" above the mains (safety) ground to prevent common mode noise from the mains wiring from getting into the signal. In fact, the common can float entirely free of ground, and everything will still operate properly - it is only tied to earth for safety reasons.
There is also a major downside to balanced audio. The entire signal passes through a differential amplifier at both ends of the wire. Parts quality and implementation will play a huge role in retaining the original signal, and will always add some distortion. Cheap or damaged wires can introduce a phase shift in the inverted signal, leading to huge loss in resolution - a problem that only gets worse as the wire gets longer.
A well implemented unbalanced set up will often be "better" than a poorly implemented balanced.
Thank you for sacrificing the cables. Very informative. Great job!
Hey Viperfrank, very good video.. great explanation, in-depth sure.. I agree, none of the youtube videos are even half as close to how you explained. Learnt a lot. Truly appreciate, many thanks.
Guys, if there's a video to watch on balanced audio, watch this.. look no further..
So you need an inverter at the audio source and an un-inverter at the destination (speakers)?
You should be a teacher mate! (That's coming from one). You can really explain tricky subjects very clearly! Good stuff!!
great video. I really liked the physical demonstration on scope and actual equipment. Especially phantom power demonstration was awesome.
When does your audio class start! I've never had anyone speak so clearly and precise. I fully got all of that for the first time. Please make more videos of this type. Keep up the excellent work. Again, you should start an online class. I'll definitely sign up. Peace out!!!
Thanks for refreshing that for me and learning a bit more details about it. wish u would make more video's, I've learnt so much from your channel. You're a great teacher !
If only someone could explain to me how hiss in speakers works and how to eliminate it.
Great video. You express your ideas very well and in a very thoughtful, natural way. Easy to understand.
Interestig, thanks. A tip for a next topic may be a talk over input impedence, i've read about it several times on tech specs of equipment, but did not get exactly how it affects the signal.
Great tutorials, simple and straight to the point, explaining is an art in itself. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Man you prove internet is not only full of crap, thank you.
Very complete, you should do a series on phase and polarity. Great job!
great detailed video, guys like you is the reason why youtube is very worthwhile
Really, really well put together video and really well explained, in a way that anyone can understand and not be bored.
Why the hell aren't you a lecturer at college, or on TV?!!
This video is very important for every recording & studio engineers. Thanks a lot!
Thank you for this video!! I've been digging around trying to understand this topic. You state it in a way that I "get" it. Thank you!
Exemplary tutorial, Well thought out, with Useful Examples. Fantastic.
I've been using pro audio equipment for years and balanced return/send/earth cables are only required for signal sending over large distances like about twenty metres or more and generally unnecessary for bands doing small gigs on small rigs with their desk pretty close to the stage. Oh, I see you are explaining that, good job. If you cut the cable closer to the connector end you could just solder another one on.
Wonderful tutorial, thank you very much. Very helpful for the exam I'm sitting for in about 5 hours :P Wish me luck.
Greetings from Argentina.
Very nice article James.. Being following your videos for quite a time, especially on the Technics.. Hope you'll do more similar videos in the future. Learnt quite alot from your videos.. Greetings from Singapore
you have a knack for teaching! wonderful explanation
Great video. I especially enjoyed the "glitch in the matrix" with the two cats in the background.
Check out 22:20 or so.
Super. The clearest explanation on UA-cam
thank you very much, I'm glad you like the video.
thank you for your comment.
Dude. you are a badass you could be working for freaking NASA, best explanation out there ,thank you
Best one ive seen so far on the subject. (You explained it better than my teacher did 😂)
Thank you! Your teaching method is spot on! Visual and practical. I finally understand.
Thanks for that very clear explanation. Like Wolfgang else mentioned, though, taking the earth off of say, your guitar amp, can (sometimes) lead to nasty shocks when your sweet, wet lips touch the mike. This has happened to me live (and I mean live!), as the earth was always disconnected on my amp plug, but when when connecting up to a festival sound system rather than our own. Zap! had to put a smelly sock over the mike! I didn't die, though I suppose I could have.
Not the kind of explanation I expected, but might be enough to warrant a purchase for many people.
thank you for this six yr old vid now I know how my knock sensor circuit work
You are the greatest teacher keep doing this.
Great explanation!!!!!!
Thankyou for sharing.
Hope you make a tutorial about understand
-10, plus 4 db difernse in audio signal.
Good luck.
Your videos are Very imformative. All the info i needed you delivered then some!!! Keep em coming!!!
best I've seen. nice shoes too. can I admit I've been playing live gigs for 40 years, and this is the first time I understand what's going on with cabling? for shame
Great tutorial. So technically in theory, I should be able to use a twisted pair of cable between an amp to a passive speakers and eliminate all noises? I am speaking of a typical home stereo setup.
I agree, well explained. I have a question though. I'm making a bunch of cables for recording equipment, would you suggest leaving all of the shield ground wires unconnected?
The most important thing you can do to eliminate noise background hum etc is to upgrade your mains leads to shielded mains lead's.
Now this can be really expensive if you buy branded lead's but you can make them your self for a fraction of the price and this will also dramatically improve sound quality if you have a fairly decent system to start with.
Your videos are some of the best mate please make some more I'm enjoying them fully... I have a bit of a request for a video...since the technics 1200 is now officially out of production and the audio technica at lp 120 usb is a direct clone of the 1200 I would like to hear your thoughts and possibly a review of the lp 120 and comparison ! Cheers mate!
Thanks for the info. I hope you can answer this question. You say in the end of the video that you cant take "two legs of a balanced pair" and run it to L/R panned mono inputs.. What do you mean by two legs of a balanced pair.. Like a TRS Y-split to 2 TS male jacks? or simply two TRS cables into two mono inputs, panned L/R. ?
Great job on this video. You explain things so well.
Good work James and very detailed oriented. Thank you.
Yes, well explained. Do you think that it is worth the trouble and expense to put a balanced cable on a "audiophile" headphone? I is about 3 meters long.
Great video, mate! Informative and entertaining. You remind me of my physics teacher.
Very informative. Thank you!
no worries, thank you for your comment.
brilliant-finally someone who tells it in plain english-i get it ! so the 3rd ground wire is not actually necessary for the operation of the differential system-in that case in theory you could get the hot and ground wire from a quarter inch jack and connect them to the main terminals of a sm58 or similar and take the 2 twisted wires to the bit of the xlr that does the balancing and it would work? also with ground lift wouldnt it in some cases be like removing the equipotential bonding from your rads in a house? at some point there could be a pd enough to give a shock? prob why you get zapped on the lips sometimes!
Brilliant! Love the details, understand it so much better! And good humour!
Brilliant. Thanks! You're a great teacher -concise. I'm a pianist. Use my digital via my M-audio fast track. I'm using standard 1/4' jack cables. Recently I found that most of my XLR (needed for phtm. power mics) disappeared & I've been left with 1/4" to XLR. Is this automatically considered a balanced cable? I was thinking of using them to connect my digital piano to the M-card (phantom power OFF).
Thanks for a reply if you can spare the time.
thanks
navalverde12 Thanks. I'll give it a try.
electrical tech, unboxing, funny remarks and kittens.
good, youtube has taught you well young one.
you are doing a great job .A audio engineer like u is fantastic because most of dont how to teach they never share there knowledge properly,many...many..thanks...ple send me u,re male
So you can't use a balanced cable for unbalanced stereo at both ends?
With the ground as the return path for both speakers and each inner core feeding one speaker?
I presume that balanced principle also applies to TV antenna. They said that the old obsolete 300Ω twin lead balanced cable has a lower signal loss than the newer RG-6 coaxial cable.
That's just great. Thanks for the clear explanation.
Nice one.
With what you described , How do you connect a XLR Main out DJ mixer to a Mixing Board with XLR ins that has a Stereo a spread button. I use a an ECLER NUO2 that has XLR Mains out and I run that into a Yamaha MG06 compact mixer using the 2 XLR ins for the mixer Stereo signal channel 1/2 and use the Stereo feature to split the sound and better control the sound (I think !) I use the XLR Main outs of that mixer to run the Powered monitors (all at the Local PUB) I am using the external Yamaha mixer in case an epic fail and I need to run an Ipod.
Thank you for this video - very clear and informative
Hi, how do you get rid of ground loops? Do you isolate the audio or the power supply ?
Good video thanks.
This was such an awesome watch!! Appreciate your effort!!
thank you very much for great explanation .. can you make a similar detailed video on "impedance" for audio recording and studio? regards
Very good explanation of what a balance audio is. I had always thought or better still been taught TRS is a stereo audio now I know better, it aint!
Great explanation and wonderful humor!
thanks, I'm glad you like the video.
thank you for your comment.
Great Video with very clear explanations. How about regular speaker cables and RCA cables, does the concept of balance and unbalance applies to them also ?
Great tutorial. Brilliant in fact. Regards. Shamil-South Africa
Fantastic video! Thank you for taking the time to explain this thing in depth
There's one thing I'd like to now more about: at 16:40 you explain the term "ground", which "refers to the return path of the audio". Earlier on, at 6:37 you also explain that the "ground" works as a reference for the equipment to understand what amplitude (or voltage?) does the wave have. Does this mean the ground has a double function?
In addition, could you recommend me a video, webpage, or text that explains more in depth this "return path of the audio" thing and other related features? It'd be really helpful!
Thanks in advance
about time you showed up !!!!
Good video even with the trainers & kittens.. can you wire your system with unbal & bal equipment at the same time? On a nl4 neutik plug & cable which conductor is + & - when cable is black & white?
SO well explained
+Zillion thank you, im glad you liked it. thanks for your comment.
+viperfrank great! man
Great explanation and very good teacher !
Great Video!! You break it down the right way sir. cheers!
Great video mate! Been a follower for years glad to see some new videos :-)
thought you were in prison, welcome back!
Great explanation! Thank you for being so didactic and easy going with an often heavy topic for musicians... Cheers
Fantastic video, funny and very clever !! Thank you so much !!
Thanks for the informative video. I have a buzz problem on my system that I figured out is coming from my laptop. I know it's from the laptops power brick, but how can I easily fix it? I did buy one of those Dual Transformer Isolators but it doesn't seem to help. Maybe I am hooking it up wrong. Can you help me with this?
Hi, thought i'd ask you this as you seem to the knowledge on this sort of stuff. I have an ortofon concord that is only producing audio on 1 channel. i've swopped stylus over for new and tried it on other cartridge and on different decks so i know its the one cartridge that's faulty. Do you know how to take one apart and check connections? thanks for all the videos you've helped me out loads with my turntables
great video ! Btw what is that Breaks track you testing a phantom power on :)))
great video and a very professional approach, Thanx a lot, just must see video for a beginners at least.
Excellent explanation. Bravo.
So, I have an ATR1300 microphone that I want to plug into my Sound Blaster ZxR's 6.3mm jack, after passing it through a Rolls MP13 preamp. The problem is, the manual doesn't tell me whether the 6.3mm jack takes the balanced or the unbalanced format. I suspect it might only take unbalanced.
The thing is, it will be connecting to the preamp with a 3 foot XLR-to-XLR cable, and then only the final three feet from the preamp to the Sound Blaster would be unbalanced, if that's what it turns out I need.
Based on your video, it seems like the big advantage of balanced audio is being able to travel long distances. Does that mean that I should be able to get away with a three-foot cable being unbalanced?
Same here I stop everything when I get a delivery Christmas time all the time.
Cheer mate