xlr to rca

[frasse74]

Hi all

i have seen that this subject has been talked about before
but i have some other questions..
If you use a balanced cable from your preamp and have the adapter
on your xlr-cable or is it better to have the adapter on your preamp
and use a rca cable to your amp? so is there anyone who has tested it before
and have some ideas...
Can it be so that the xlr-cable is better then the rca-cable even if you use
it on short range ..
I have been looking after some new cables to my system and i have xlr out on my preamp but not on the amp and i wanted to buy the "right" cables.

frasse74

[Glen B]

See figure 4 here: http://www.rane.com/note110.html

[Kal Rubinson]

Hi all

i have seen that this subject has been talked about before
but i have some other questions..
If you use a balanced cable from your preamp and have the adapter
on your xlr-cable or is it better to have the adapter on your preamp
and use a rca cable to your amp? so is there anyone who has tested it before
and have some ideas...
Can it be so that the xlr-cable is better then the rca-cable even if you use
it on short range ..
I have been looking after some new cables to my system and i have xlr out on my preamp but not on the amp and i wanted to buy the "right" cables.

frasse74

With any decent, well-constructed cables/adapters, I doubt it will make any difference.

Kal

[iiaudio]

f the length of cable isn't that long and both your pre and amp are single ended (RCA), I'd just use the RCA jacks. If that's not an option and you've more than 10'-15' between component put the RCA adapter on the amp end. The adapter should tie pin 3 to ground just like the Rane article. This will give you the more of the benefits of a balanced line. If the run is short, just buy the cheaper adapter as it won't make any difference.

[whoaru99]

Since you are connecting a balanced device to an unbalanced device, the connection between is unbalanced regardless of where the adapter is placed. So, IMO, you don't get the benefit(s) of a balanced line because it's not balanced.

Personally, I'd get some decent quality RCA cables and skip XLR cables - unless you plan on getting an amp with balanced inputs in the near future.

Again, there is no benefit to balanced/XLR cables in the situation you describe, afaik.

[Lex]

What 99 said, it's unbalanced, the XLR end has no possible benefit other than maybe looking cool because you got a fancy adapter cable. I hate to build them franky. Testing is a real drag, and I don't like to ship untested product.

[frasse74]

My ide was that i would buy good xlr-cables and use them untill i buy
a amp with xlr-inputs.
I hoped that if i use one of those adapter i wold not having any problems or that
things would sound worse then before, the "cool" factor hasent i looked at all i just listen and hear instead...
I had found some good xlr-cables at home and i had some thoughts before to buy them
but now i have to look at some other place for RCA cables who fits me.

frasse74

[cug]

My ide was that i would buy good xlr-cables and use them untill i buy a amp with xlr-inputs.

So, why not. But it normally only makes sense if the connection to the amp is longer than a couple of feet and you think you might get a benefit from the more robust (signal wise) XLR connection as soon as you have the new amp.

We have build dozens of these adaptors in my old company and while they won't provide you with a balanced connection they definitely connect one system with the other without much trouble, as long as they are well done.

The real question is, whether you get any benefit from XLR cables at all ...