Balanced vs. unbalanced

Greetings,

Should you be interested & time permits I'd suggest reading through an older Audiogon thread regarding the use of balanced technology.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?htech&1081820984

In terms of content the posts by the Moniker Atmasphere were a genuine treat to read. Not quite A'gon's version of Mythbusters but close enough ;-)

Cheers,
Bish

The false notion that balanced operation is really only beneficial in studios and for very long cable runs, pops up every time a balanced vs. single ended discussion occurs.

Balanced is beneficial no matter how short your cable runs are. The common mode rejection in a truly balanced differential system will eliminate RF picked up by circuit traces as well as cables, both of which act as antennae. The noise reduction benefits go far beyond the gross example of hearing noise when putting your ear near the speaker.

Noise in audio gets woven into the fabric of the music and reduces our ability to hear subtle details. A properly executed balanced system will remove layers of noise that you didn't know were present. Music emerges from a quieter and "blacker" background with better clarity and resolution as a result.

Are there great sounding single ended systems? Absolutely. Is balanced necessary to achieve superbly musical results? No. But when executed properly, balanced is better. The only catch is that the system will become more revealing or less forgiving, so if there are tendencies in the system toward brightness, sterile sound, or anything else you don't like subjectively, you may hear more of it when running balanced.

Davemitchell...Please explain how a differential amp input stage having frequency response appropriate for audio signals can reject signals at RF frequency.

Bob...Exactly my point. Although some op amps may be usable at RF frequency, the ones used for audio applications, especially when wired up in an audio circuit probably max out at 250 KHz or so.

Balanced interfaces do a great job on 60 and 120 Hz hum.