2. amps-preamps
  3. 1179016837

Balanced in and balance out inverted ? puzzle

not to mention any specific gears but came across a pre-amp whose configuration is different from the norm.

Normally in most cases i've seen pre-amp and cd player and power amp where xlr connection: pin 1 = ground, pin 2 = positive, pin 3= negative.

Recently I saw an equipment manufacturer whose cd, pre, power are configured : pin 1= ground, pin 2- negative, pin 3= positive.

If to mix a normal pre-amp with a power amp whose config are inverted, is there any problem here ? hums or buzz ? is this just simply a matter of phase invertion ?

for ex: cd player xlr config: pin1=ground, pin 2=neg, pin 3=pos. connect this gear to a pre-amp with pin1=ground, pin 2=pos, pin 3=neg. Would this work ?

thanks for enlightement.
nolitan
dejanm
72 posts
 
That is happening because the XLR connection is not really standardised. And some vendors are implementin pin 2 and 3 in opposite logic. It generates phase inversion, which is hearable. You have several options to put phase "back in track". Some pre-amps do have phase inversion switch. You might also switch pins by yourself in the XLR cable that you are using (not recommended for high quality cables though).
nolitan OP
865 posts
 
thanks for all those who replied.

noli
dejanm
72 posts
 
Thanx for your answers. I believe I got the message ...

Concerning the problem I want to solve by using XLR connections ... The question seems to be a logical one, unless you ask yourself: which problem do you want to resolve by using sengle-end connections ? To connect two units, I guess would be the logical answer ... That is exactly the case why I would like to use XLR cables.

I think that we have even at homes always some issues with noise, hume, grounding ... And my experience is that XLR cables very often provide a bit better sound than RCA cables. This difference cannot be generalised, but very often that is the case. For example: I never heard the same RCA cable sounding better than XLR one, but I can say so for the opposite situation. And that is the main reason ..

Saying all this, it is also known that implementation of balanced connections is better when done with transformers than otherwise (OPA's, Tubes,...). It is very difficult to say why this is the case, but it is so ... Just like TVCs are sounding so good and even better than RVCs although they have transformer in the signal path (even if you resolve impedance matching issues for RVC).

I hope I made my motivation now clear ...

But again - thanks a lot for your comments ...
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