Balanced in and balance out inverted ? puzzle

Some UK gear is done differently from US convention - it doesn't matter as this is just phase inverted.

That is happening because the XLR connection is not really standardised. And some vendors are implementin pin 2 and 3 in opposite logic. It generates phase inversion, which is hearable. You have several options to put phase "back in track". Some pre-amps do have phase inversion switch. You might also switch pins by yourself in the XLR cable that you are using (not recommended for high quality cables though).

My amps have the old standard (1= ground, 2= negative, 3= positive) and my preamp has the current standard (1=ground, 2=positive, 3=negative). No problem with hums or buzz.
It is only a phase invertion. According to Victor Khomenko of BAT, 50% of recordings are recorded out of phase anyway, so this really isn't an issue at all. Though I would recommend having a phase invert switch on your preamp or cd player.

Cheers,
John

thanks for all those who replied.

noli

Thanx for your answers. I believe I got the message ...

Concerning the problem I want to solve by using XLR connections ... The question seems to be a logical one, unless you ask yourself: which problem do you want to resolve by using sengle-end connections ? To connect two units, I guess would be the logical answer ... That is exactly the case why I would like to use XLR cables.

I think that we have even at homes always some issues with noise, hume, grounding ... And my experience is that XLR cables very often provide a bit better sound than RCA cables. This difference cannot be generalised, but very often that is the case. For example: I never heard the same RCA cable sounding better than XLR one, but I can say so for the opposite situation. And that is the main reason ..

Saying all this, it is also known that implementation of balanced connections is better when done with transformers than otherwise (OPA's, Tubes,...). It is very difficult to say why this is the case, but it is so ... Just like TVCs are sounding so good and even better than RVCs although they have transformer in the signal path (even if you resolve impedance matching issues for RVC).

I hope I made my motivation now clear ...

But again - thanks a lot for your comments ...