Gents, I have an interesting scenario I'd like to run past you - I purchased a nicer silver conductor XLR cable a while ago, but here is the thing: The pin-2/+ Conductor is a beautiful solid core silver, but the cable itself is constructed with this one silver conductor with the other two comprising of 2 separate layers of silver plated braided sleeve. Pin-3/- is a conductor of lesser quality - with GND being fine, whatever.
With most equipment being differential, what might I be losing with a lesser quality conductor on the negative path? I was thinking of changing cables to one which has both pins 2&3 solid core silver, but in a differential setup internally within the components, would it matter?
Much of this is based on the clear audible differences and improvements from silver conductors to that of other material.
Thoughts?
With most equipment being differential, what might I be losing with a lesser quality conductor on the negative path? I was thinking of changing cables to one which has both pins 2&3 solid core silver, but in a differential setup internally within the components, would it matter?
Much of this is based on the clear audible differences and improvements from silver conductors to that of other material.
Thoughts?
show the data that corroborates this....otherwise this thread should be marked as troll bait!!!
Ah no man, this isn't a cable debate thread - forgetting for a minute any reference to signal quality per conductor material, if we have an XLR cable with pin-2 made of silver, and pin-3 made of - say rusty nails from my deck, on a differential setup would this downgrade the signal given clearly the conductivity of the silver over the nail creates a difference..
if anything affects the impedance on one leg of a differential input of course it's going affect signal quality.
so what's the logic of using something that doesn't satisfy that criteria....???
sorry this is a troll bait conjecture...moderators should close this thread before it wastes server space!!
so what's the logic of using something that doesn't satisfy that criteria....???
sorry this is a troll bait conjecture...moderators should close this thread before it wastes server space!!
My thought is that no one has so far managed to prove audible differences between conductor materials, not even unclear ones,
ok, so all snake oil, and in this case, silver on pin2 v. braid on pin3 - no difference because even if we had the crappiest dollar store wire on either or both pins, the components will exhibit the same sound performance, right?
That is a very strange construction. Did they maybe send you the wrong stuff? It smells to me like super phono or mike capsule: unbalanced with driven shield.
Not having both live conductors the SAME will degrade crap rejection. The difference CMRR silver against copper is probably moot for domestic use, but why even make it?
I say consult with your supplier.
I'm thinking the same. It also seems to me the cable itself was really designed as a coaxial with double shielding or as you suggest driven shield - in this case turned into an XLR. Crap rejection, I'd think so too.
Appreciate your thoughts on it!
Appreciate your thoughts on it!
it's all about raising the price of cable on a deluded belief that silver is better then copper... to which there is no data to corroborate it (the delusion that silver is better than copper)
silvia massy took on that question
silvia massy took on that question
The one of the main reasons for balanced cables is good interference rejection. This requires symmetry in construction. Both signal conductors need to have the exact same diameter and be of the same material. The insulation around the conductors needs to be of the same outer diameter. Both conductors need to be molded in place with respect to the shield.
The other reason for balanced cables is rejection of AS power line Common Impedance Coupling noise.
The other reason for balanced cables is rejection of AS power line Common Impedance Coupling noise.
A balanced interconnect cable should have only two central wires. Pin 2 plus and pin 3 minus.
Pin 1 should only be the shield. Adding a wire to pin 1 will increase cable asymmetry.
Pin 1 should only be the shield. Adding a wire to pin 1 will increase cable asymmetry.
what is the proper cable geometry for a balanced cable? (ie for unbalanced rca, it's coax cable). is it use a twisted pair for the 2 signal lines and whatever for the round line?
Avoiding the which sounds better trap, a balanced cable works because the properties of the conductors are the same. It doesn’t matter if it’s made of tin vs silver or whatever. You actually do more harm than if you used unbalanced cables. If one conductor rolls off or has higher resistance it will ruin the whole balanced concept and it’s noise cancelling benefits. The ground or braided shield does not have to be the same as the other two conductors as it is common to both + and - signals.
The proper geometry is symmetry. 2 (or 4) identical wires spaced the same distance from each other (as a twisted pair or Star Quad) and the same distance to the shield for the entire length of the cable. Note that a balanced interconnect cable does not have a 'ground' but a balanced microphone cable might use the shield as the phantom supply common.
The +/- signal cables must have equal or "balanced" impedances to ground over at least the audio band. So any external interference picked up by the signal cables will be
equal ie common in each polarity and can be removed by a differential receiver with high common mode rejection. So a proper cable geometry is one which achieves this.
Sounds logical. I'll plan on using some cat 6/6a ethernet cable. they consist of 4 twisted pairs of wires. I'll use one wire of a pair for the +, the other for -, and a complete pair (2 wires) for the ground pin. that gives me a stereo interconnect in one cable. or I can use a cable for each channel, cat cable is cheap enough.
FYI, I'm running very short distances, about a meter. so why balanced over such a short distance? why not? my dac, phono stage and preamp have balanced connections.
FYI, I'm running very short distances, about a meter. so why balanced over such a short distance? why not? my dac, phono stage and preamp have balanced connections.