Balanced vs. Unbalanced Audio Cables 

This is the most concise video I’ve seen on this subject. Thank you.

With your simple video, I just understood why I have background noise in my home studio. Very simple explanation but very clear and easy to understand. Thank you

Exactly what I was looking for. Short and to the point.. Thanks a lot.! Very helpful.

Just wanted to say "Thanks." Very concise and understandable information.

I learned something here, and quickly, too. Thanks!

FYI for only those who want the technical details: at 2:20 it shows the -signal switching polarity, but the diagram shows it flipping "back" from right to left. Which implies the signal would be going backwards in time. That's not what's happening. The polarity isn't "flipped", instead the signals are subtracted: +NoisySignal - -NoisySignal = 2xSignal.

At 2:41 isn't the Tip and Ring for the left and right speaker? Stereo sound isn't 2 totally identical channels so that would cancel out the noise. For example when a car is approaching than the sound is heard better in one ear than the other, that means that the 2 ears don't receive identical signals.

Thanks sooooooo much for such a clear and concise explanation! After viewing three other youtube videos, yours was the only one that got right to the point with all the answers I needed!

This is the only video of yours I have watched. If this is any indication, you have a winning formula with your graphics, production, information, delivery, and video length. Keep up the great work. BTW, the content in this video was extremely helpful to me.

saw it was 3 mins long video and was hoping it was going to be straight to the point - I was right! thank you! THIS is how all how-to videos should be done :D

This video helped clear things up! I recently brought a Neewer n-700 studio microphone and all my friends said they could hear static-ey sound when I spoke even after buying the Phantom Power Supply for it and found out from someone online that the xlr cables they give you are infact unbalanced 🙄 Just ordered balanced cables for it so hopefully this fixes the bad quality!! 🙄😅

You have solved an ongoing mystery for me. Thank you!

Balanced vs Unbalanced Audio explained in this video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DlWviGa8GEk.html

Very nifty & clear explanation. Thanks for posting.

Josh - Thanks very much for the visuals and fantastic simple explanation. Perfect.

Thank you! This helped me a lot in my digital music assignment.

god i love this channel. Only negative thing i can say is, i wish there were more videos, every video ive watched has been extremely helpful

Fantastic simple explanation - well done - much appreciated

Ty for the quick, concise explanation . Great video..

Thank you sir for your packaged information

Great video, thanks.

Thanks for the information. Very useful 👍👍

Thank you for this basic yet profound video (and website). I help run sound at my church, and we have had electrical hum since I started going there. I am bound and determined to fix it. :) I didn't know about balanced vs unbalanced, just assumed XLR/TRS was stereo. Doh!

I just learned something. Thanks!

Clear as crystal . Subbed !

Great info here & easily understood👍👍💙

I have an outboard DAC that has both RCA (unbalanced) and XLR (balanced). I am connecting to a high end pre-amp that only has the standard unbalanced RCA's. If I use a XLR -> RCA converter, would I get a benefit from using the XLR ouputs on the DAC or should I just stick with the RCA's? By the way... great explanation and video on an often obscure topic. Thank you.

Gracias por la explicación!

Awesome tutorial. instantly doubt cleared.👌👍🙏💐

Straight Forward! Good info for the dummies...

Quite clear! Thanks for sharing this useful informative clip.

Thanks for the information, very good stuff to know. Much appreciated.

Question, does a balanced port on a AMP/ DAC do the same thing then? Just cancel out noise / interference just like a balanced cable do? And if so, does that mean you could use unbalanced cables on a balanced port and have it do all the work instead of buying a balanced cable?

What if you want to listen to music from a turntable with RCA output (unbalanced) through a pair of active studio monitors which have only XLR input (balanced)? Can you still have that vinyl quality sound in the end? Nice vid btw!!!

Have 2 Questions: 1. You have a balanced cable 3.5mm (1/8") TRS to XLR 3 Pin Male. You connect the XLR 3 pin to your mixer and accidentally connects the 1/8" TRS to a stereo signal (like iphone). What will happen to the mixer or to the sound? 2. Your mic like (Rode wireless Go) has a TRS 1/8 out (multi-mono out). Assuming that multi-mono means having the same phase, will the signal cancels? Will it break the mixer?

Awesome! Great explanation.

very informative!

Dont' like strarchy potatoes but do like your video.

my only question is what's the point in unbalanced cables then? why would we want or have them? (presuming we all want clarity in most cases)

What does the G A stand for in the background? It looks a lot like my prep school logo.

Excellent. But what about shielding or even coaxial? Does that work? I remember these being a thing in the 90s. Like the saying was, want the biggest bang for bucks upgrade to your hifi? Get better interconnects. But it was all RCA.

So it's not a good idea to use a mono PL for guitar/bass instrument? Please elaborate more... Tnx

Hope you doing well.. Im starting out wit DIY stuff and your videos are quite inspiring! Wanted to check how to make a balanced headphone cable having one 2.5mm TRRS male jack at one end connecting to dual/2 3.5mm TRS plugs each plug connecting to Left and Right speakers/ headphone driver. Ive seen schematics that show the 2.5m TRRS plus has L+ (tip), L- (Ring1), R+ (Ring2), R- (Sleeve). Can do the continuity test on the 2.5mm TRRS, but unsure about the grounds and connections to the 3.5mm TRS plugs Some questions: 1. Im not sure how and where the ground wires get connected on either the 2.5mm TRRS and 3.5 mm TRS jacks? 2. How do i connect the L+ and L- from the 2.5mm TRRS on the 3.5mm TRS on the headphone jacks? 3. If i connect the L+ and L- wires to Tip and Ring on one of the 3.5mm TRS plugs, will it work? Assuming same will work on Right side plug as well? 4. Does it mean neither plugs have a ground connection? Appreciate your answers! Thanks!

awesome video.. love the info in small effective way

Very informative! Quick question - if unbalanced audio signals carry noise, what's the point of having them in the first place?

I have a DAP (FiiO M11 PRO) and I use a HiFiMan Sundara helmet. I was suggested to upgrade my Sundara cable for a better quality cable. I am recommended a Meze 99 Classics Series to improve the sound of my Sundara helmet. Meze has this helmet with 2.5 mm OR 3.5 mm.Which one do you think I should choose? And would this change really benefit me in terms of audio improvement.Thanks in advance for your attention.

It seems I'm too stubborn to understand all the issues. Imagine a "single-line" balanced cable (with three wires). Does this mean that even when it has those two interim black rings on the jack connector, it is still a mono cable? Does it need to have 6 wires inside (3+3) to make a balanced stereo cable? Or can you send a stereo signal through that 3 wire-balanced cable? You do not always need to plug two mono jacks on each side of the cable to be able to hear the music in stereo right? You should be able to send multiple audio channels just through a single cable ... (?) I'm not entirely getting it. Basically I thought that cables with jack connectors (and two interim black rings) are automatically considered as cables "transporting" stereo audio signal. So, that is not correct? Are there any "one-line" (three-wires) balanced stereo cables? Are there any "one-line" (two-wires) unbalanced stereo cables?

Hi :) Also...great video! Thanks for explaining all that!!!

Hi there! I recently bought a JBL 305PMKII monitor. I only bought one. How do I connect it to my PC so that I can use it as a regular speaker?

I thought TRS was for L/R stereo.

How can I tell if 1/4" inputs and outputs on a mixer are balanced ports or not?

At 2.18 it says 'when the cold signal flips back in polarity' but the animation shows the signal flipping to out of polarity - quite confusing having a mixed message like this. Otherwise good explanation.

Do you happen to know of any good xlr to lightning cables? Going from an audio mixer to an iPad that is streaming online. Right now I’m using an xlr to 3.5mm then an adapter to lightning. There’s always feedback. I tried a cable with lightning on the end, so no adapter and it was a high pitched noise vs a hiss. Help 😮

what are negative and ground? is this about a single channel or 2 channel?

Good video. Can I connect my acoustic guitar directly to a mixer using trs cable? (¼ to xlr)

thaynx bro💟

so, are all stereo extensions cords balanced then? since they have trs jack? or are they unbalanced because they carry 2 channels and for balanced they are supposed to have 4 rings on the jack? wish you had cleared this on your video.

How does one know if the device you plug in to supports balanced or unbalanced? Say a 16 channel mixer with a 1/4 inch. Or maybe a guitar 1/4 inch jack?

Loved it

This was very helpful!!

great, very useful

hi...? can u help me to understand additional to this video about the balanced xls or trs pls? hot/positive, cold/negative, groundwire/ground. how about the channel or stereo? its the same or not?? pls.

Correction: unbalanced actually means on a ts connector, shield (sleeve) also carries signal. That means the ts and trs carries the same signal on both wires. Being that the shield is a much larger gauge, it is a much lower impedance to ground compared to the tip hence “unbalanced”.

hi, So typically having balanced sockets on a portable device you're not going to notice much to any difference to the unbalanced socket as your not likely to encounter much to any interference?

So for IE80, the ear pod just has two signal input, which means that the balance audio cable is useless for it?

Can you connect a balanced cable to an unbalanced input?

thank you!

Do the balanced cables sound better when talking about sound itself

I want to know if there are any noticeable differences of balanced and unbalanced cable in using studio monitor speakers. Because my interface have RCA n my speakers have only balanced TRS and XLR input. Should I upgrade my interface for this?

My Nord Grand has unbalanced 1/4 outputs. What kind of cable that i have to use for pro recording with my “Rme fire face ucx”

my headphone cable has trrrs cable 5 poles, and trrs 4 poles on the other end. Can I use 4 poles instead of 5 poles?

thx g

If balanced cable is better than uncalanced then why not regulate balanced cable to all equitment ?

When using speaker wire and banana plugs with a receiver would that be considered a unbalanced cabled?

IF unbalanced cables are not ideal due to noise generation, why not just manufacture balanced cables? why is there a need for unbalanced cables?

Whats better for low freq (bass) balance or unbalance?

Can I use either one of balanced or unbalanced cable to connect my microphone to the mixer ? will it work with both cables ?

My amp (Peavey 60/60) has an UNbalanced xlr input. What is the point of that?

Thank you Josh! (God I love the internet lol)

Is stereo 3.5mm TRS to dual mono XLR cable balanced or unbalanced?

0:55 😂

Hi in the comments below

Omg, I'm so stupid. I thought that 3 contacts in TRS are "ground", "left" and "right" hahaha. Wait... Please don't tell me that LR in XLR doesn't stand for Left and Right! UPD. Crap!

macbook support unbalanced?

The jarred noise voice was unnecessary. Lost my shit since I was listening to this on my FH5 & BTR5. We get it noise. Bloody hell

Hi

I cant' stand those videos starting with "hey what's up guys". Thumb down and close immediately.

Hi