Balanced cables


Do different brands/levels of balanced XLR ended cables going to and from differentially balanced components make a difference?
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Showing 4 responses by cleeds

  audiozen
... I had no idea that a recording engineer was such a low level profession.
Actually, the term "recording engineer" is a misnomer, because real engineers - such as electrical, electronic, civil, structural - are licensed and degreed professionals.

A "recording engineer" is really a "recording technician." They are not truly engineers unless, of course, they've actually earned that designation. Most haven't.
  transaudio
The reason most pros use XLR is noise floor- having a shield that encloses the positive and negative audio cable inside to protect it from outside noise. 
No, pros use balanced XLR cables because of their Common Mode Rejection Ratio - the very nature of a balanced circuit. They don't require shielding to achieve low noise. Unbalanced lines, however, often benefit from such shielding.

 

handymann
Balanced cables are a huge asset ... You have two separate signal wires, both shielded by the woven mesh. This eliminates possible 60hz hum, or IR interference, that can and sometimes will present itself, when using SE cables.
Again, this is mistaken. The ability of a balanced cable to reject interference isn't because of shielding, which many balanced cables completely lack. Rather, it is the nature of the balanced connection itself and the common-mode rejection ratio that results. Shielding can very much be a benefit with single-ended cables, however.

ronres
Do balanced interconnects, perhaps because of common mode noise rejection, tend to suppress even order harmonics?
I don't think so, or even understand how that could be possible.