{"id":154401,"date":"2018-05-01T18:29:18","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T16:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/?p=154401"},"modified":"2018-04-30T12:21:26","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T10:21:26","slug":"cabling-your-home-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/learn\/cabling-your-home-studio\/","title":{"rendered":"Cabling Your Home Studio"},"content":{"rendered":"

The cabling<\/strong> in the home studio is one of those things that you first worry about when there is danger<\/strong> to your body and soul: when you stumble<\/strong> over cable loops, or instead of music only hum<\/strong> comes out of the speakers.<\/p>\n

Here are a few tips for anyone planning to rewire<\/strong> or optimise<\/strong> the existing wiring<\/strong> of their home studio<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Tip 1: If possible, balanced!<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>In principle, two types of signal transmission<\/strong> are used in audio technology: balanced<\/strong> and unbalanced<\/strong>\u00a0transmission. Unbalanced cables<\/a><\/strong> have a conductor sleeve and a tip. It can be recognised by the connectors with two contacts (only one plastic separator)<\/strong>, for example the instrument cable<\/strong><\/a> or cinch cable<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>The classic balanced<\/strong> cable is the microphone cable<\/strong><\/a>, it has two conductor sleeves and a tip (two plastic separators<\/strong>). Accordingly, the plugs of a balanced cable – usually XLR plugs<\/a><\/strong> – have three pins. Balanced transmission<\/strong> is an “ungrounded<\/strong>” transmission; only the two conductor sleeves of the cables are involved in the transmission. For unbalanced transmission<\/strong>, the cable screen is used as the conductor for the audio signal because, after all, we need a closed circuit<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Neutrik<\/a>
Neutrik male XLR connector<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Balanced transmission<\/strong> with stereo jacks<\/strong> is also possible. In the home studio these are often used because the (balanced) outputs of an audio interface<\/strong><\/a> are often designed as jack sockets to save space. What’s important for a balanced cable are the number of contacts<\/strong>, not the type of connector.<\/p>\n

Whether your outputs and inputs<\/strong> supply balanced signals is indicated by an appropriate imprint on the device. The English expressions “balanced<\/strong>” and “unbalanced<\/strong>” are often used here. If there’s nothing there, you have to check the technical specifications.<\/p>\n

Only balanced cable routing offers effective protection against electromagnetic interference (noise\/buzz\/hum)<\/strong>: The signals on the two cores are transmitted with their\u00a0phase shifted<\/strong> and the difference<\/strong> formed at the end of the balanced transmission eliminates interference. This works pretty well, so you should connect all outputs and inputs in your home studio that can supply or receive balanced signals accordingly!<\/p>\n

You can connect balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs, but you will lose -6 dB of level<\/strong>. And you lose the special protection against interferences! Unbalanced connections<\/strong> are much more susceptible to noise<\/strong>. Every guitarist knows the problem of single coil pickups<\/strong> on a Fender Stratocaster. Unbalanced connections should always be kept as short as possible<\/strong> in the home studio.<\/p>\n

Here are two typical examples of unbalanced cables, a 3 m jack cable (the sssnake IPP1030<\/a><\/strong>) and an adapter cable from RCA to jack (Cordial CFU 3 PC<\/strong><\/a>):<\/p>\n

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