Mike Rivers wrote:
John Doe wrote:
There is an electrical difference between TRS [you mean TS]
cables and XLR cables, going to the speakers from the same
soundcard stereo output jack?
Yes. TS cables have one conductor and a shield, TRS and XLR (and
TRS-to-XLR) cables have two conductors and a shield. There's a
detailed article on my web page about the differences and why they
matter:
https://mikeriversaudio.files.wordpr...he_ins_and_out
s_of_gozintas_and_gozoutas_revised.pdf
The short version is that TRS and XLR cables are used when making
"balanced" connections. TS (or RCA, for that matter) cables are
used when making "unbalanced" connections. The difference is that
for a balanced connection, the cable shield, which is
conventionally connected to the chassis ground, doesn't carry the
signal voltage, and in an unbalanced connection, it does. If
there's noise present on the ground of one or both of the devices
that you're connecting, the noise gets added to the signal when
you have an unbalanced connection. With a balanced connection,
_unless there's a wiring problem in the equipment_, noise that's
on the cable shield doesn't go anywhere important.
And before you ask, in order to make a balanced connection, the
devices on both ends of the cable must have connectors that carry
two signal wires and the shield. You can't make an unbalanced
output balanced just by sticking a TRS plug in a TS jack.
Are you saying that the difference between a "balanced" and an
"unbalanced" connection can be made simply by the cable used?
In other words... An ordinary stereo output from a PC soundcard can
be balanced by simply using XLR cables?
I like balanced.
A new power supply arrives today or tomorrow. Will see whether it
helps. The idea that increased power draw might cause the problem is
logical.