Hey OP!
So professional gear uses XLR / balanced cables because it is highly immune to noise. When you are running a cable hundred feet or more from the mic to the mixing board with a variety of big AC noise sources this matters.
The truth is that in homes, with "normal" noises this may not matter or may not make a difference. I have run cheap 20 feet RCA cables without a problem.
I have also had horrible noise problems due to a nearby FM station with very short cables and wished I had XLR cables instead!
Some equipment with XLR connectors is faux. That is, it is really unbalanced as soon as it enters the chasis. Old Yamaha pro amps, as well as some Parasound amps fall into this category. The XLR cable won't make a lick of difference vs. RCA.
Best,
E
So professional gear uses XLR / balanced cables because it is highly immune to noise. When you are running a cable hundred feet or more from the mic to the mixing board with a variety of big AC noise sources this matters.
The truth is that in homes, with "normal" noises this may not matter or may not make a difference. I have run cheap 20 feet RCA cables without a problem.
I have also had horrible noise problems due to a nearby FM station with very short cables and wished I had XLR cables instead!
Some equipment with XLR connectors is faux. That is, it is really unbalanced as soon as it enters the chasis. Old Yamaha pro amps, as well as some Parasound amps fall into this category. The XLR cable won't make a lick of difference vs. RCA.
Best,
E