unbalanced / balanced

[SDB Guitars]

My friend that I mentioned earlier didn't use effects at all, he just ran straight into the amp. Sometimes when recording, he would send a signal to his amp, and also a completely dry signal directly to the board from the balanced XLR output that was built into the bass. He seemed to like that option a lot.

Of course, he later traded the bass for a Warwick Corvette Standard, which didn't have that option... lol

 

[Suburban]

Please excuse a mechanist, but can somebody explain the meaning of "balanced" and "unbalanced"?

I find this thread very interesting, even though I know little of these words. I have often wondered why the industry haven't left the inferior telejack connections, which is a side note on this track I believe.

If the balanced line is better (enough to be audible for the audience of a not loud concert), then all we need is a manufacturer that has the guts to deal with the whole line (pup-(wireless)-effects etc-amp), the dough to market it and the capacity to flood the market when it realizes the availability.
The metal scene and similar is not a market for balanced gear. At that noise level, nobody hears the difference.

 

[pilotjones]

Please excuse a mechanist, but can somebody explain the meaning of "balanced" and "unbalanced"?

A conventional guitar signal, or a standard analog home stereo "line" signal that runs over cable with RCA jacks, is unbalanced. There are two conductors; one is held at ground potential, and the other is "hot", and is the signal voltage. Another conductor can be added to the cable for shielding, but is not part of the signal path.

A conventional microphone signal is balanced. There are two signal conductors; one is is "hot", and is the signal voltage, generally labelled "+", while the other is aalso "hot and is a negative or inverse of the signal, generally labelled "-". Another conductor is usually added at ground potential, although this may be disconnected at at least one end; likewise, a fourth is usually added at ground potential as a shield, although this generally should be disconnected at at least one end.

A balanced signal is generally eventually resolved to a hot and a ground at some point in the circuit (even if it's at the speakers); to do this the - signal is inverted and added to the + signal. Because any EMI noise that added itself to the signal along the way should have been added equally to the + and the - lines, this results in the two EMI signals cancelling each other out when they are combined. This is one of the reasons mic cables can be run hundreds of feet, while guitar and "line" signals cannot.