Audio patching question???

[AR]

Hi Guys
Should it be nessasary to only run balanced stereo patch leads to and from
your mixing desk to your effects and everything else? Is the difference
between mono patch cables and stereo that bigger deal?
Im a real novice sorry if its a dumb question.
Regards
Andy

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> Should it be nessasary to only run balanced stereo patch leads to and from
> your mixing desk to your effects and everything else? Is the difference
> between mono patch cables and stereo that bigger deal?

You're mixing up your terms here. Balanced and stereo aren't the same
thing. A balanced mono connection uses two wires. A balanced stereo
connection uses four wires. An unbalanced mono connection uses one
wire. An unbalanced stereo connection uses two wires.

Often, a cable that has two wires (plus a shield, almost always) and
1/4" phone plugs is called "stereo" since it's the same kind of plug
used on stereo headphones. However, in the studio it's not often used
to carry a stereo signal, but is sometimes used to carry a balanced
mono signal.

One point of confusion with most mixing consoles is that the "insert"
jacks, which in reality are an input and an output combined on a
single jack, are "stereo", but are really two unbalanced connections.
If you're connecting an effect to a channel using the insert send and
return jack, it will be an unbalanced connection regardless of whether
the effect device has balanced or unbalanced inputs and outputs.

The difference between using a balanced or an unbalanced connection
can sometimes be a big deal and sometimes not. An unbalanced
connection is more prone to picking up hum and other interference than
a balanced connection, so the sound can be "affected" in this way. But
a balanced connection has no lower inherent distortion or superior
frequency response than an unbalanced connection.

In general, if you have a balanced connection on both ends, it's worth
while using two-conductor cable to connect the two units.


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