Lime wrote:Since I'm getting more into recording now, there's a few things I'd never really considered before that I'm not sure if I need to think about/address.
One of them is about cables (cables!)
I'm sure we all have thousands of cables, always the wrong length, with wrong connectors, and you end up with a Frankenstein's monster of a collection of cables into adaptor into gender changer and extension. I'm pretty sure none of this is any good for the signal you're trying to carry.
I'm trying to sort out my studio space once and for all - I'm going to get an audio interface with more inputs to prevent the endless plugging and unplugging, and since it'll (hopefully) be installed in one place I need to get the correct cables to hook it up from various instruments.
XLR is fine, I believe all our cables are balanced and good quality.
What I'm no sure about is jack leads for other instruments. I've always just used normal jack to jack leads, but I'm reading about 'balanced' jack leads. Should I be using these? and in what situations?
For example, so I need a balanced jack lead from guitar to effects pedal, and/or from effect pedal to audio interface? Will it really make a difference?
What about from my keyboards (I have a Roland Fantom X8)?
What about from my Ipad - I'm using the stereo headphone out, into stereo phono lead into a pair of phono to jack converters at the moment. Can I get digital audio out of it?
Should I not bother with this, since the cable runs are typically 2-3 meters or so.
I hope the above makes sense! Please ask any questions if anything's vague or unclear!
The thing you need clarity for here is the type of cable being used, not necessarily the connector.
For a proper XLR cable you have at least 3 cables inside, for a basic "instrument cable" you have two, positive and negative signal.
In XLR, beside positive and negative you also have the shield wired up which is used to capture noise alone and then essentially subtract this "empty noise" signal from the + positive signal, giving you a cleaner signal. This is what "balanced" actually means. A third cable /pin carries phantom power voltage to power certain microphones e.g. Large diaphragm condenser or electret mics.
However, a balanced cable does absolutely nothing if the equipment is only accepting or transmitting the basic +/- signal, regardless of whether it has XLR female or male connections. Noise will always be present in those signals to some degree and might pick up interference from, for example, mobile phones, FM radio or mains hum.
Guitars are 99% of the time NEVER balanced so don't bother using a "balanced" Jack (TRS - tip ring sleeve, as opposed to unbalanced, which is TS Jack - Tip Sleeve only) on those. Most keyboards/synthesisers aren't either. However, on higher end instruments they sometimes are so its worth connecting that up to an audio interface or mixer with BALANCED inputs too. You can also do this in stereo by using two cables.
A balanced TRS Jack cable can also be used to carry a unbalanced stereo signal in one cable, but this is rarely actually implemented. That's why balanced cables are sometimes referred to as "stereo" cables as opposed to "mono" ones. But you can use the exact same cable to carry a mono signal. You can also use a TRS Jack-fitted balanced cable to carry an unbalanced mono signal like a guitar - it won't make any difference though. More often, for equipment that has stereo capability, you have two seperate (Ideally balanced) outputs to use either balanced or unbalanced TRS Jack cables with (or sometimes XLR - the only different in this case is the connector used).
XLR connnectors are useful because they are solid connections that also lock in. One manufactured to good tolerances will take effort to plug-in and "click" satisfyingly into place, and have strain relief. If you want versatility, get some adapters (unreliable to be honest) or XLR to TRS balanced cables. Neutrik are generally regarded as the best connectors and the best instrument cable is Van Damme XKE instrument/microphone cable. Neutrik brands also include REAM.
In short, use a heavily insulated standard instrument cable for a guitar - wether it's balanced or not, it doesn't matter.
Some top end microphones used balanced circuitry, which is rare, so use those with XLR connections and balanced cable, because this will help eliminate noise, improve signal to noise ratio and thus dynamic range. But this will only matter if your equipment - together with everything else in the signal chain, is balanced.
For example, you should also (if you can) use balanced cables, whether XLR on both ends or perhaps TRS Jack on one end XLR on the other, to connect your studio monitors so you have little to no audible "hiss" coming fromy your monitors when your interface is on. I have this, and it's nice.
Most super carboid pickup pattern vocal mics e.g. Shure SM58 are not balanced, so for these it will not matter.
Connect good quality keyboards/synthesisers and other kinds of "electronic" equipment (including outbound hardware) with balanced cables.
Balanced cables don't generally cost that much more than unbalanced one so, if you're unsure, or you want to be able to use the same cables in a future set up where more and more of your equipment is balanced, studio grade stuff, then just buy them. They will still work with unbalanced gear and generally be better quality anyway.