Balanced vs Unbalanced Cables

Do you understand the difference between balanced and unbalanced audio cables? The practical differences reach far beyond whether your cable has two or three conductors. Mitch Gallagher explains the differences between balanced and unbalanced cables, and how they impact your audio workflow.

#Sweetwater #UnbalancedCables #BalancedCables

[sweetwater]

Thanks for checking out this guide to Balanced and Unbalanced signals! For more great pro-audio and live sound advice, like this video and subscribe to our channel 👍

[hubbarao]

THANK YOU! Incredibly useful info and the first clear explanation I've seen on this topic. Support from the experts at Sweetwater is outstanding.

[RyanTSherk]

Thank you so much for making this video. I will forever share this video with anyone who gives me guff about using a DI box for unbalanced signals.

[dpgoguen]

Nice overview. I wish I had access to videos like this when I was young in the 1970s. I would have gone through life so much more informed. LOL

[theaudioeng]

Thanks Mitch for the refresher for us audiophiles.... so a common ex. of this I noticed recently being 'pro-end' vs. 'consumer' (note apostrophes due grey area now...) are the Yam Montage balanced outputs vs. MODX's unbalanced offering. For me MODX is fine for what I use it for in studio (short run in to desk). 🍻👍

[jeffmill]

Good video. I was surprised that there was no mention of a DI box.

[hulem]

a simple but effective way to explain terms, pros, cons of balanced vs unbalanced,

[ChurchOfTheHolyMho]

Ah. Now I understand how the Cat 6 as an audio snake works with balanced signals. Useful and easy to understand video.

[ZaChousenWan]

Woah. Short, sweet, and straight to the point. It's only here that I got to understand the concept of Common Mode Rejection without even looking for it.
I love this video so much. You've earned my like.

[themunk]

Dear Mitch,
I think i am in love with you and the way you present facts with your very own down-to-earth touch.
Yours truely - Audio_n00b #1

[covolt]

Good vid. To the point and informative

[showtime]

I can see one disllike? for what? so the best explaination.

[EgadsNo]

I love you said 180 degrees out of polarity and not 180 degrees out of phase.

[hi-fi-guru]

I have an outboard DAC that has both RCA (unbalanced) and XLR (balanced). I am connecting to a high end pre-amp that only has the standard unbalanced RCA's. If I use a XLR -> RCA converter, would I get a benefit from using the XLR ouputs on the DAC or should I just stick with the RCA's? By the way... great explanation and video on an often obscure topic. Thank you.

[AlexanderKorotkov]

I was wondering about this today. Get out of my brain Sweetwater

[CharlesFerraro]

Alright here’s something that confuses me...
Let’s use abbreviation U for Unbalanced and B for Balanced.
Now let’s use that abbreviation for both cables and jacks.
Look at this list of abbreviation combos. The letters on the outside are for jacks and the middle is for the cable connecting them. Signal flow is from left to right. So for example: BBB will mean a Balanced Output jack sending a signal down a Balanced Cable going into the Balanced Input of a mixer.

What can be said about all these different combos?

BBB (clearly the best)
BBU (I think this might lose 3dB?)
BUB
BUU
UBB
UBU (I think this is technically no different from UUU)
UUB
UUU

I need to make a post on gearslutz or something sometime about this.

[tonymon]

Please explain how the original signal is inverted at the source.

[SuperWolfkin]

short, sweet nad to the point. So nothing I'll have to worry about on my end as a budding not even yet a wannabe audiophile but st ill good to understand.

[theoliviaarchives]

How can you tell if you should be using a balanced or unbalanced cable for a specific device?

[LucianoClassicalGuitar]

How do you properly connect a multi effects unit to the PA system?