Balanced Vs. Unbalanced Cable: When To Use Them?

Nowadays, there are two basic types of cables available in the market. The first one is the balanced cables that are well-known as the name of XLR cables, while the other one is the unbalanced cables. Both of these cables possess a shield inside and the purpose of that shield is to stop the noise reduction from the outside to the signal wires inside.

Two general types of interferences are continuously trying to mess up with the sound. Otherwise, there will always be perfect audio signals. The two noise interferences are:

1. Radio Frequency Interference
2. Electromagnetic Interference

Keep in mind that if the noise frequency is more than high, it will always be Radio Frequency Interference. But if the noise frequency is low, that noise frequency will be Electromagnetic Interference. So, it is essential to detect the type of interference to deal with them properly.

Short Cables And Long Cables

If you need short cables that are about 15-20 ft. from the instrument or line-level audio, unbalanced audio cables will be perfect. For instance, you can use unbalanced cables for a guitar and speaker. The reason is that the signals from these devices are robust, and due to less distance, the chances of noise interference are low. This way, unbalanced cables will work perfectly as they can handle low noise frequency.

Long-distance cables and microphones are more affected by the outside interferences. Microphones become weak and are easily influenced. That’s why microphones should always be connected with balanced cables.

However, the balanced cables have the advantage among these two cables as they possess double shield protection and the unbalanced cables are more prone to noise interferences. Thus, it is essential to use balanced cables for big events.

How Do Balanced Cables Perform And Why Are They Incredible?

The best noise reduction cables are balanced cables. For example, when the audio source is fed in the XLR cable, the negative signal wire inverts the audio signals so that two similar signals are created that travel with each other out of the Cable.

It can be explained like there are two audio channels and channel; one possesses the audio in the waveform, and it duplicates it into channel two, then the output audio signal will be doubled. Furthermore, if you take out that channel two waveforms and invert it and then play the audio, you will not hear anything from it. This is because waveforms will be cancelling each other.

In the balanced cables, two identical sounds are travelling with each. When any outside interference enters, that noise will be equally applied to both positive and negative signals.  But when the noise is passing through the XLR connector, the negative signals get inverted again.

Thus, the noise becomes identical to the noise in the positive signals, and both of the noises will eventually cancel each other. And finally, without noise interference, the audio output will be observed. However, XLR cables’ mechanism is straightforward and best for long distances and microphones, and these XLR cables can reduce the noise in a better way.

Winding Up!

You should make a one-time investment that will work for you for a longer time. It’s better to buy balanced cables so that they can work properly and provide better sound quality. On the other hand, unbalanced cables are outdated and can’t stop the latest noise interferences as compared to the latest balanced cables.

So, before buying any musical instruments, you need to check that it should be balanced properly because only then, its balanced cables will be able to reduce noise. If you have proper guidance about these cables, you don’t have to worry about any noise interference.