Balancing unbalanced lines: DIY or pre-made ?

[DeadPoet]

Hi,

I need some 24 balancing transformers (preferably with ground lift switches) to go from my unbalanced DAW outputs to the balanced Ghost's inputs...

I've seen these transformers on the Neutrik website (******//www.neutrik.com/content/Produ...2id=204_174211 -> the NTE1, NTE10-3 and NTE4)
that go super cheap (<€4 if you buy some 30) but I don't know if that is what I need ... no info available on the net about these...

OR

Would it be advisable to go this route: a Multi-DI, separately powered, 16 inputs, 16 outputs, only thing is: it looks even worse than dfegad Behringer

I've seen balancing boxes go for +300$ for 8 channels, that's waaaaay out of my budget, that's why I thought building them myself would help.


Anyone ?

TIA,
Herwig

[Tim Farrant]

Do you actually need to balance the lines ?

An unbalanced output feeding a balanced input is generally OK and should not impart any sonic degradation. I would suggest this wiring set up;

HOT of output to HOT of input
GROUND of output to COLD of input

SHEILD not connected at unbal output
SHEILD connected to bal input GROUND only

This will give the best sonic performance and will eliminate any earth loops. The little Neutrik transfomers will not handle extreme level at low frequencies and the distortion will be fairly high if driven at levels beyond +10dBu, from what I've read in the specs.

Hope this helps
Tim.

[DeadPoet]

Thanks for the reply. Will try the connector thing, i have some nasty humming in my system right now...

Herwig

[DeadPoet]

Made a quick patching cable the way you described. It works, thanks !!

23 channels to go...

You wouldn't know an easy way to convert a +4 (console master out) to a -10 (DAW unbalanced input), would you? Turning down the master fader to -20 doesn't seem the best way...


TIA,
Herwig

[Tim Farrant]

Originally posted by DeadPoet
You wouldn't know an easy way to convert a +4 (console master out) to a -10 (DAW unbalanced input), would you? Turning down the master fader to -20 doesn't seem the best way...

Your're right, it's not ideal as you might end up with more noise than you would like. The easiest way would be to make a passive pad or attenuator. How technical are you ? Do you know much about resistors and soldering ?

Cheers
Tim.

[DeadPoet]

A little technical... I can solder, but never did PCB's. Know a little about resistors and that caps shouldn't be wired the other way round, but that's about it .

Maybe one of those simple Neutrik in-line pads will do the job. I'll look around on internet shops.

Thx,
Herwig