Quote:
Originally Posted by Remoteness  Isolated Splitter: Better to have one and not need it than to need one and not have it.
With that said, it should not be a problem when you're interfacing from the same source you're grabbing your power from.
Never the less, if I'm splitting directly from the mics on stage I always use a splitter even if the power source is the same. |
This is why I also bring a very long extension cord! :-)
An un-isolated split is one that is basically a y cord.
An isolated split has either a transformer or buffer electronics between the source and at least one of the inputs, if not all. This means that the two inputs don't interact with each other. The good side is that it protects you from that kind of interference, especially ground problems. The bad part is that it can degrade the signal, depending on the quality of the split. Buffers can add noise and transformers can add all kinds of degradation, like phase shift and distortion if the transformer is inadequate to the task. So a good quality isolated split can be exponentially more expensive. A good transformer is anywhere from $60 to $150 a channel depending on the number of outputs and other factors.
If there are no factors degrading the signal, an un-isolated split can actually sound better.
HTH. There are a few threads in this forum that go into detail about splits.
Edwin