![]() ![]() But now it’s time to get our hands dirty and talk about the intricate details of microphone cables. We’ve explored the purposes of different audio and digital cables you’ll come across while recording and producing music. ![]() ![]() Why are microphone cables so expensive?.Though not as critical as the specifications of studio monitors and audio interfaces, you do have to wonder why XLR microphone and speaker cables can get so expensive. Something truly baffling about the music industry is the disparity between the price of low and high-end cables. The three pins inside the base of most microphones require an XLR (external line return) cable. In cases where balanced connections are available, they will yield better noise rejection, a lower noise floor, and ultimately a cleaner signal path.After spending some time with studio microphones, you’ll notice that they require an oddly specfic cable you may have not seen before. Inclusion of balanced audio connections in components like DACs, CD players, subwoofers, and power amplifiers is more expensive because additional electronics and circuitry are required to derive the benefits of a balanced signal. Likewise, balanced connections are often preferred for high-performance consumer electronics. Professional recording studios and other pro audio applications often have long cable runs or low-level signals from microphones and musical instruments and will usually default to balanced connections for their noise rejection benefits. Typically, the longer a cable gets, the more likely it is to pick-up unwanted noise artifacts. One key advantage of noise-resistance is the ability to support much longer cable runs, or to transmit low-level signals such as those from a microphone. What are common uses for balanced XLR cables? Additionally, you can invest in higher quality RCA cables with better shielding. Separating them can be a simple way to get rid of unwanted noise. TIP: If you must use unbalanced RCA cables and are noticing interference, make sure the cables are not running parallel or too close to a power cord. Also, conventional RCA cables are often less expensive than XLR, and quality designs like the SVS SoundPath RCA Audio Interconnects feature their own protection against interference. This can be an issue especially in stereo or home theater systems passing a large amount of electrical current since power cables are a common source of interference.ĭistortion isn’t much of a problem in cable runs of less than 10 feet so conventional “unbalanced” RCA cables will work perfectly for most applications. If radio frequency (RF) or electromagnetic interference (EMI) are an issue in your system, balanced XLR cables can provide added protection to lower the noise floor. However, in more challenging environments with low-level signals and long cable runs, the added noise-resistance of balanced connections provides a sonic benefit by lowering the noise floor and ensuring better signal purity. In most home theater and stereo systems with short cable length runs and little to no interference, conventional RCA cables (RCA/3.5mm) work perfectly to provide a low noise floor and pure audio fidelity. This forms a balanced (differential) connection and is generally how balanced XLR cables are used.ĭo balanced XLR cables sound better than RCA cables? When used to transmit a signal between balanced source/receiver connections, both signal wires in a balanced XLR cable carry the same signal, but with opposite polarity - one carries a positive signal, while the other carries the inverse, a negative signal. The two signal wires are built with the same materials and have the same electrical impedance. The ground wire’s role is to surround the signal wires and protect against RF, EMI, and other interference, but what makes a balanced cable special is the way it uses the two dedicated signal wires. Two of the wires are for passing the signal, and one is a ground wire. If you’ve heard people refer to “unbalanced” cables, what they really mean is a conventional RCA cable where the negative and the ground wire are wound together.īalanced XLR cables feature male and female terminals where each of three pins connect to one of three dedicated wires in the cable. XLR cables are by design a balanced audio cable. SVS SoundPath Stereo RCA Audio Cable Pair SoundPath Tri-Band Wireless Audio Adapter ![]()
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