Mic cable as single ended interconnects

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Alexandre

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Joined 2004
This is somewhat related: I´m looking forward to try a step-up output transformer in my tda1543 dac. I will try a garden variety low-VA trafo, I think the magnetisation losses/parasitics will be lower with a small transformer.

This was suggested by John (ecdesigns) in the ultimate tda1541 thread. His schematic showed the trafo in step-up mode, primaries in parallel, secondary driving a very high impedance, if I recall correctly.

Well, in my case I would drive a balanced interconnect directly from the trafo, and I´m not sure what I´d use on the receiving end. Suggestions?
 
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davym

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Joined 2013
marce said:
There is balanced (differential) routing cables and there is balanced (differential) signals...
Balanced signal - balanced wiring best
SE signal - balanced wiring very good if done correctly.
SE signal - SE wiring can be excellent (coax etc) or bad, but is the most prone to noise pick up so requires the most thought on shielding....
Click to expand...

SE signal - balanced wiring is something i considered since my buffer and power amps have signal return connected to the boards not the chassis, well not directly anyway. I thought this might create a ground loop on each channel though.
 
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Alexandre

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Joined 2004
My reasoning is if one cheap trafo can compromise SQ, I´d rather not take my chances with two of them.

Then again, line input trafo always makes more sense (than output). We want to reject RF at the input of a component.

Any other suggestions? I have an idea, but I must look again at some jensen papers.
 
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davym

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Joined 2013
jplesset said:
Suggestion:

Test and measure in actual use. Decide which is "good enough". Report. I've been using mic cable SE for nearly 20 years, in lengths over 50 feet with no audible noise. That's good enough for my use.
Click to expand...

Tested and measured, mainly by ear because my meter reads things but it can't hear anything.

Ready to report.

It's good enough! in fact i'm quite impressed :up:

Thanks everyone for your balanced input :D
 
Speedskater

Speedskater

Member
Joined 2002
marce said:
There is balanced (differential) routing cables and there is balanced (differential) signals...
Balanced signal - balanced wiring best
SE signal - balanced wiring very good if done correctly.
SE signal - SE wiring can be excellent (coax etc) or bad, but is the most prone to noise pick up so requires the most thought on shielding....
Click to expand...
As for SE signal - that is (RCA) unbalanced analog interconnects, after reading and rereading Henry Ott, Bill Whitlock, Jim Brown and Bruno Putzeys several times, I would still go with a coax cable that has a heavy braided shield.
 
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Alexandre

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Joined 2004
Interesting read, explains the tradeoffs with grounding the screen on both sides vs send only, and also DC grounding vs AC grounding with a small cap, for RF only. (This is all for balanced interfaces and probably intended for long cable runs, but it´s interesting to try to understand these effects).

Design of High-Performance Balanced Audio Interfaces. Bill Whitlock. Jensen Transformers, Inc

http://sound.westhost.com/articles/balanced-interfaces.pdf
 
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marce

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Joined 2007
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