cliveb;213024 Wrote: > ...it is impossible for the impedances of the two sides of a balanced > line to absolutely identical... there is only one signal line in an > unbalanced connection, so there is nothing for that to be "out of > balance" with... The signal seen by the receiving device (eg. the power > amp) is the voltage difference between two wires... I wonder if it's the > grounding arrangement that makes balanced a bit better... if noise on > the ground line modulates the signal in the unbalanced case...
Allow me to share my current understanding, and please correct me if I'm wrong, as I enjoy learning new things: Even though the impedances to ground of balanced signal lines will not be *absolutely* identical, their similar impedances to ground are the key element here - this is in fact precisely what enables the differential connection to cancel EMI picked up in the signal line interconnection. In contrast, in an unbalanced connection, this interference tends to be picked up in the interconnect ground (shield) line due to its lower impedance - thus correspondingly altering the voltage, and directly adding the interference noise to the signal (since this interference is not nulled at an unbalanced input). The separate chassis-ground line also critically helps isolate balanced signal lines from being modulated by inter-chassis ground currents and power line noise. Balanced connections are also easier on the component power supplies, level-out cable quality/length differences, and provide more secure connections. In other words, I believe it must be the reason you mention, and more, that account for balanced sound/performance differences. If I'm wrong though, I will greatly appreciate you (and anyone else who wants to chime in here) helping me to understand this all better. You sound like you know more about it than I do, certainly - and my experience with these things is fairly limited! -- NewBuyer ------------------------------------------------------------------------ NewBuyer's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=7862 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36550 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
