Balanced vs Unbalanced Cables: What's The Difference?

You may have heard of Balanced and Unbalanced audio cables, but what are they? What do they do? and is one better than the other?
This video examines the difference between them, so wonder no longer.
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[@gwrw1964]

I am 55 years old. I have learned more from Colin's channel in the past 2 weeks (I only found out about the channel 2 weeks ago) than I have from any other source in the 40 years I've been playing guitar. One of the best channels on KZbin! Great work, Colin

[@HosaTechnology]

Very well done per usual, Colin! Probably more impactful than our own explanations, which lack a Scottish accent.

[@HosaTechnology]

@NoiseFeedMusic Awesome! We appreciate the faith & support, my man.

[@RudyAyoub]

I miss u Papa

[@fantom9574]

Wtf is this

[@jonspeidel]

Rudy you are truly a weirdo. After your finger instagram I officially like you now☝

[@thewitchfindergeneral4015]

Bro

[@denielematanguihan2698]

What bro

[@jakeqwaninne8502]

i've watched coutnless videos on this topic, yet this is the first time i'm walking away confident that audio system isn't going die from multiple , catastrophic body system failure, and set my house on fire, thank you so much for explaining WHY this ballanced vs un-ballanced thing works

[@fukazer0]

"Black Spaghetti", sounds like a metal band featuring just a bunch of squiggly lines as a band logo lol

[@mugglepower]

mine is red. It must be broken

[@frugihoyi]

It sounds like a subversive black metal band making a mockery of our great savior, the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

[@KayoMichiels]

That's pretty much Arctic Monkeys - AM album

[@Tritium21]

If you, for example, have to run your pedal board far away from your amp (say, your amp has to be off stage because you brought a 4x12 and a rolling rack to a postage stamp sized stage), there are boxes that convert instrument unbalanced to balanced and back again so you dont start blasting the local AM station through your cab. Radial makes one, but other brands are available.

[@ScienceofLoud]

I should really have mentioned DI boxes in this video, maybe I do a video all about them soon to fill in that gap.

[@Tritium21]

That IS whole topic in and of itself, deserving of its own video.

[@jasondoe2596]

CSGuitars, please do (and it'll need to be a *long* video). There are so many things to consider when choosing one (active vs. passive, impedances, instrument circuitry, flexibility with different instruments and audio interfaces etc.) and these things can end up costing *a lot* ...

[@AlexRooneyComposer]

I remember a few years ago I was in school and we could randomly hear our local radio station coming from somewhere and everybody in the room got really confused. Then we traced the sound back to the source and I had left my guitar on a stand next to the amp and it had started picking up the radio. We started wanting this to happen more often but every time we tried it never happened.

[@goatsurgeon]

Who else wants to go over to this guys house and have a sleepover with an N64?

[@Videohead-eq5cy]

Me!!!

[@steelman774]

I’m in! I call the 4th controller!

[@monsterk7603]

I have heard this explained over countless (and much longer) videos and walked away still not completely understanding the idea. This was very clear and to the point. Thanks Colin. You are the man! ALL THE GAIN!

[@mihneazoican2479]

You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this. Cheers

[@radiojet1429]

Thanks, Colin. Your explanations are some of the best on KZbin and that includes from the dozens of engineers with their own channels. Great stuff!

[@andreapetucco6746]

Hi Colin, you forgot a very important point, which apparently very few people know. When dealing with a JACK balanced output a lot of people don't care and connect to it using a normal balanced cable to get out the signal. This, depending on how the output is made can be very dangerous for the output circuits and this can be divided into 3 differnt cases: 1) output circuits coupled by audio signal transformers: No problem at all, one side of the transformer will be connected to the ground of the unbalanced cable and the other one to the signal out. 2) output active circuits (mostly operational amplifiers) wich has in series output resistances: the 180° shifted output will be shorted through this resistance to the ground, this, depending on the value of the output resistance (10 to 47 Ohm) can be dangerous for the operational amplifier, the smallest the resistance the worst. 3) output active circuits (mostly operational amplifiers) which has not a series output resistance: this will almost surely destroy the output of the operational amplifier which does the phase inversion as the inverted pin is shorted directly to ground. This is not very common, only very badly designed devices can suffer from this but it happens. One example come to mind, the cheap studio compressor Art Pro VLA, plug a balanced jack -> output fxxked. To sum up: When you have to connect a balanced output to an unbalanced input ALWAYS USE BALANCED CABLES! this will always save you from shorting one of the phase shifted output! Spread this bit of knowledge, there are so many people that damage their expensive stuff because nobody told them that. Keep up with your good work, Andrea

[@theHAL9000]

Excellent overview of this. Short, sweet and very informative.

[@wfrancis25]

Shit. I literally just got home from a seminar where the topic was "EMC/EMI" and it was said that all conductors are inherently antennas...spooky

[@jasmine2501]

Back when I worked on a spacecraft, I had to take a TWO DAY class about EMI. It was company policy, my degree didn't matter, everyone had to do it.

[@stevenmgyori3826]

Well done Colin! A topic rarely covered! Helpful to many and thanks for sharing brother!

[@TomBelknapRoc]

This is great information, really well presented. Thanks so much, dude! Subscribed!

[@Claimjumper55]

Thanks so much Colin!!! I just got some TRS to XLR adapter cables and replaced the 1/4" instrument cables I was running between my Line 6 HX Stomp and my PA speakers. It completely killed the hum and now they're totally silent when I roll the volume all the way off on my guitar. This video was super helpful.

[@stevemaass3074]

Well done, Colin. Another simple to understand explanation of how stuff works.

[@AshaLightbearer]

Excellent description! Thank you. You just made this VERY simple. (Love the graphics!!!) Thanks for sharing.

[@BoneDrop92]

Thank you Colin for spreading the knowledge in such simple ways so anyone can understand! These videos are awesome! You are awesome :D

[@reneeschke]

Everytime I research something and see your face on an explanation video, I smile and have more fun with that topic immediately. Thanks, mate!

[@oliverjames7315]

another brilliant explanation. Cheers Colin

[@dwolivas]

The exact video I've been looking for. Thank you sir.

[@gringogreen4719]

Never thought of this. Thanks for the info Collin!😎👍

[@Mick_The_Vid]

The main advantage of balanced cables and wiring systems, are simply “common mode rejection”, which for those who don’t know is the fact that any noise induced on both leads (hot& cold) which would be by nature unwanted, are cancelled out when they reach the input of the board or mic pre amp!

[@MSH3423]

Wow such a clear information with graphics thank you

[@ramoncordova3435]

So well-explained! Thanks man!

[@RiddleKingOnline]

So so helpful. Thank you.

[@jasoncary7957]

After so many KZbin videos, it was at 2:30 I had my AHA! moment! Thank you so much, Colin!

[@chuckelator]

Thanks Colin. Was getting a nasty hum from my monitors from when I first hooked them up, saw your video, and bought balanced cables, and just like that, hum eliminated (and knowing how they work is a bonus as well!)

[@goldhillproductions]

Great explanation, thank you!

[@Claimjumper55]

This is very helpful and cleared up some confusion for me. I just got the new Line 6 HX Stomp and, due to the small footprint of the unit, it has 1/4" outs but not XLR. The 1/4" outs are balanced if a TRS cable is used so it looks like all I need are a couple TRS to XLR adapters to be able to use XLR cables.

[@TomTobin67]

Colin,this is a great and useful video. Thanks!

[@JKLokam]

Balanced vs Unbalanced Audio explained in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/ep26p5x9lp16e80

[@d1l4te43]

Thanks for the info Colin

[@justin.m.drummond]

awesome video, I never understood this until now!

[@klasjonsson6387]

This is a well made video. I knew nothing about this and now i do. I like videos where every second actually teaches you somethin as apposed to 99% of yt videos where 2 minutes is lost telling the audience why the youtuber wants to make the video, what his/her pets names are and really just repeating what is already clear from the title. So therefore i had extra time sharing my views on a well produced video. Cheers!

[@ScienceofLoud]

I'm here to educate in as concise and compact way as possible.

[@musicwithmatt6531]

This was an incredibly good explanation, thanks!

[@magnush9581]

Great explanation!

[@achrisofalltrades5620]

They both work n sound pretty good... Just need a bit more gain... N Less mids...

[@wadecarefully]

Slayer?

[@rockstar450]

Great vid. Thanks mate

[@robotman7945]

Awesome., its why i use TRS balanced cables for my studio recordings..thanks

[@ohvnaq]

very helpful, thank you!

[@brCharlieNagy]

Very good clean explanation

[@mattmanbrownbro]

I had no idea there was even a difference. Thanks for allowing me to learn something new!

[@MrPrase]

Great explanation

[@DareToShine]

Well thanks for that! Always been a curiosity but never researched it.

[@musicmixups66]

Perfect explanation i found👌👍🤗👏👏👏👏

[@mitchell2719]

Fantastic explanation

[@wisteela]

Very well explained.

[@koalemos1679]

This is great, I had no idea what that meant or where to find out.

[@reddwarf1999]

Good video man, love getting educated by you tbh

[@123elvislives]

Thank you my friend you answered a lot of my questions I am a bedroom player and I was thinking of using a balanced cable to connect a pedal to my amplifier because the pedal has a balanced connection and it also has a normal connection Thank you

[@jourblue]

Thank you so much for making this video. Broke it down enough for a noob like myself to understand. God Bless!

[@Darakkis]

Amazing video thx man

[@Furiora]

Thanks for this info Colin. I feel slightly smarter then normal because I was able to figure out the end result the moment you mentioned the phase cancellation.

[@nathanielblake1816]

Great Vid!

[@noLeeblueski]

well explained. straight to the point. 🍻

[@ImRichardShepherd]

Thank you!!!

[@JunkfoodZombieGuns]

Thanks for the rundown, Pippin. :-)

[@IdovShai]

Thanks alot man!

[@KaoswareMetal]

Thanks Colin! I didn't even know that I needed to know this.... If that makes sense :)

[@hazrod13]

Aww yesss gimme that knowledge Colin 🤘

[@therealunklefreaky]

Thanks!

[@CitizenWarwick]

If only the folks in music shops gave such useful and important advice when first buying cables1

[@alteredanimesh]

this video changed my life, really

[@ZILtoid1991]

I have experimented with balanced guitar wiring since my E-Mu Tracker Pre audio interface has high-impedance balanced inputs. It doesn't worth the effort, with only a few decibels are being gained in exchange for cable rattle noise. I personally recommend to get a better unbalanced cable alongside with upgrading your guitars' shielding (copper foil in every cavity possible, etc).

[@andvgeo2253]

Great video, only getter better. One day the quality would be so good that us mortals would have no way of watching :) A while back you did a video about making patch cables and you said you used double shielded coaxile cables, do you remember what comoany?

[@goprightist6623]

Best explanation

[@sPARROWiNNISHIROW]

good job.

[@gastonruiz10]

Great video and explanation! Is there a reason why guitars, pedals and amps aren't designed to take advantage of balanced cables? It seems to me that if they were, it would be a great improvement in noise cancellation.

[@nobnobnobnob]

I needed this info two weeks ago but I manage to google it myself. However, this is the first time I hear that the same principle is used by Humbucking Peckups.

[@flatsix666]

Every day's a school day ! Thank you

[@onpsxmember]

0:45

[@andrecepeda1]

Finnaly someone explained it in a simple way!

[@unboxedtravels]

Thank you, I finally understood what balanced cables are !

[@kalanbays2]

Very well done, easy to understand. Can I use an unbalanced cable in a balanced jack (TRS plug in a TRRS jacK). Thanks

[@infernal4132]

Could you do a video on the differences from live picks ups and normal ones?

[@sagerice9917]

Phase and polarity inversion are different. Phase inversion is like very very short delays relative to two audio signals, polarity inversion like you said completely flips the voltage upside down. This only becomes important when really getting into it but I have a feeling that it could potentially confuse some.

[@ThatBaritoneGuitarGuy]

That makes perfect sense. In my own case, my guitar cables are only 2 meters long. Whereas, the distance between the amps and the sound desk can easily be 40 metres, and then another 40 metres from the sound desk to the stage monitors. 40 metres gives a lot longer span to pick up interference, as opposed to the 2 metres from my pedalboard to the amp, and the another 2 meters from the pedalboard to the amp. 2 metres almost seems negligible when compared to 40 metres.

[@JDODify]

Ooo, I loves a bit of Fizicks.

[@Oilid]

Thank you Professor Colin!

[@larrytownley2231]

I have picked up am RAIDO on my amph intha background!!

[@witeshade]

I watched a youtuber once who somehow mixed their audio in a way that the signal was mono but it was output in stereo but with flipped phase. It sounded fine on computers but on mobile phones with one speaker, the stereo got mixed back to mono, and cancelled out completely, leading to a lot of angry saying "Video is silent" and "What are you talking about? It's fine."

[@wingracer1614]

I wonder if we were watching the same one. I remember a live stream that had the same thing happen. I could hear it fine through my surround sound but lots of people in chat were saying no sound. Might have been the WAN Show (Linus Tech Tips) but can't remember. They fixed it after about 10 minutes of screaming in chat.

[@DrumWild]

I vaguely remember this one. Was it Yanni or Laurel?

[@witeshade]

@@DrumWild nah it was just some small electronics channel, I don't even remember which one specifically.

[@ccandrew111]

In addition, there’s a relatively new transmission method known as Dante audio that uses cat5 (Ethernet) to transmit signals. This can obviously handle longer runs. I believe the limit of cat5 is around 100m

[@dimebagisGOD866243]

Fantastic video, I actually understand the difference now! What type would you recommend going from the output of a modeler into the input of a power amp? I was thinking about going for a TRS or XLR cable but not sure which would be best.

[@thomasvanzoelen2354]

Trs and xlr work exactly the same, it's just different connections.

[@AndrewKonkey]

Fantastic tip video as always, Colin! Just out of curiosity, what about multiple patch cables between multiple guitar pedals, (more than 5?). Does it depend more on cable material, quality, or just how many you have which can potentially pick up more outside noise?

[@ScienceofLoud]

Over all length and how many junctions there are will make a difference, but I believe a larger part is played by the changing of impedance from cable to cable, particularly if you are using a mix of different branded patch cables. Ideally, having all the patches made from the same reel of good quality cable would result in the most consistent impedance and the best chance for noise rejection and signal quality retention.

[@grantkoeller8911]

Really great information.What are Colin's education degrees and credentials?

[@OEpistimon]

4:45 NYAAAAAHA

[@Mick_The_Vid]

Sorry I should have said in the case of guitar leads, exchanging them for balanced leads will make no difference as they have no “common mode rejection” circuitry at the input of the guitar amp or pedal effect inputs. If you wished to take advantage of this effect you would need two tiny transformers one to fit at the guitar end to change the impatience from 10K ohms to 600 ohms and effectively split the electronics’ and float them through the transformer but still grounding the strings and metal parts to the screen. And a balanced transformer to fit at the amp end that changed the impedance back from 600 ohms with centre tap grounded, to about 50k ohms to the amp. This then becomes the same as a studio might use when connecting a guitar straight to the board, using what is called a DI box! Which contains similar type of circuitry. At “Antique and Vintage Sounds Studios” we use for instance the ETEK personal DI box from world wide music. Have fun.

[@ConorNoakes]

Important to note that pro-level PA equipment used to successfully run unbalanced signal down 100+m multicore snakes and still regularly run balanced signals down similar lengths. Quality of equipment goes a long way... figuratively and literally

[@Justin_the_Analog_IC_architect]

It depends on the impedance seen by the cable.

[@ConorNoakes]

Justin Fisher you mean the impedance of the cable? Pretty much all balanced line cabling is around the 100R mark. The biggest issue is the capacitance but again... “Pro-level equipment” You can run balanced line down a twisted pair of an Ethernet cable 😂

[@Justin_the_Analog_IC_architect]

No, I mean the impedance seen by the cable.

[@ConorNoakes]

In that case you are talking complete pigshit 😂 The cable is an entirely passive element in the circuit. It doesn’t ‘see’ anything. The voltage source may ‘see’ the combined impedance and capacitance of the cable and load device. The input of the load device may ‘see’ the combined impedance and capacitance of the cable and the voltage source. Other than that there are no other active elements to the circuit. As far as signal degradation goes the concern is that the combined RC filter as formed by the effects of the entire circuit must be outside of the audible spectrum (or at least outside of the appropriate pass-band for cases such as guitar leads where there is no significant information near 20KHz or 20Hz

[@kirkbolas4985]

Colin, what flips the signal out of phase on the second conductor, with respect to the first conductor, at the beginning of the balanced cable run and what flips it back in to phase at the end?

[@khronscave]

1:40 Well, yes and no - technically, the more important thing (as far as noise rejection is concerned) is that the *impedances*, both source and load, are matched. Whether there's an anti-phase signal on the "cold" line isn't necessary / essential. ... But then again, i admit, i AM a bit of a nitpicker :P

[@ConorNoakes]

You can get away with murder as far as source/load impedances are concerned for noise rejection if you have well spec’d cable between them 😂 The tricky bit comes when the impedance of the cable becomes a significant factor in the balance ... forming an inadvertent band-pass filter on the other hand...

[@khronscave]

@@ConorNoakes Are we still talking about balanced connections? My apologies if my wording was unclear - i meant that the impedances need to be matched on both of the signal lines (ie. same source impedance on both lines, and same load impedance on both lines), not that the source and load impedances should be matched between them (on both ends).

[@ConorNoakes]

Khron's Cave ah! Yes that makes your comment make more sense! 😅 Totally agree! :)

[@Mick_The_Vid]

The main advantage of balanced cables and wiring systems are simply “common mode rejection”, which for those who don’t know is the fact that any noise induced on both leads (hot& cold) which would be by nature unwanted, are cancelled out when they reach the input of the board or mic pre amp!

[@priyonjoni]

I think it should be mentioned that the polarity inversion isn’t actually done by the cable. It’s done by both the output of one device and the input of the other.

[@famitory]

fun fact, there were a small handful of balanced output electric guitar designs made over the years. they never caught on because the pickups needed to be wound with twice as many turns to make the same, now center tapped output, and needed a stronger magnet to make the strings audible to such a heavy coil. as a result, tone, price, and volume all suffered. with modern active pickups and built-in preamps in guitars, making an affordable, good quality balanced output guitar would be simple and easy, but guitarists probably aren't interested in buying a bunch of new TRS cables and compatible pedals to take advantage of a relativity minor reduction in noise compared to just using a better shielded unbalanced cable.

[@wingracer1614]

I could see it being good for some live situations (and I think some do) but if you need to run an instrument cable that long, might as well just go wireless.

[@stoatystoat174]

It's a genius idea to get a clean signal, accept there will be filth and cancel it with anti-filth 🤯. Very good animations you made to make makin clear signals clear

[@vadimf8301]

only one thing to say : "MORE GAIN!!!"

[@vadimf8301]

by the way love your vids

[@MalinowyWampir]

Isn't that the one cable is mono and the second stereo? I thought always that the unbalanced was for example output from a cassette deck or other decks rca with low sound level. And the balanced was for example a headphones output or speakers output with high sound level. I was mistaken. Thanks for your explanation.

[@jasmine2501]

No, you're thinking of the standard stereo transmission. It's two signals - the left/mono signal which is both sides mixed together, and the right signal which is (LEFT minus RIGHT) - this allows a simple mono receiver to just play the left channel and it will sound good. In order to output the stereo signal you have to do math. This gets really fun when you're sending stereo over balanced cables - you have six wires in that setup.

[@simaojoseph]

Why don’t you do a video about the Nyquist theorem? That should be pretty much fun to watch.

[@HarryMusicStuff]

For a quite some time I am thinking about modifying my pedal board to have a FXin/FX out with XLR (you would use only one cable to connect pedal board instead of two). But it wouldn't work since they would share the same shielding and interfere with each other. Am I right?

[@ScienceofLoud]

In theory, yes the two cores could interfere with each other, but whether that would even be noticeable in practice would be down to experimentation. The audio signals are most likely too weak to have any impact over each other. Running power beside a signal is a different matter... There are many types of mulitcore cable that use a single shield to protect all the signal carrying cores used in all sorts of applications, so you'd probably be fine to do so.

[@HarryMusicStuff]

@@ScienceofLoud Thank you so much for your reply Colin. XLR connector is in my opinion far superior to a jack. Jack worns out fast and is not very reliable. XLR even has a lock system, which would be perfect for a pedal board. Downside is you'd have to modify your amp's outputs and inputs. I'll probably try it with my next pedal board design.

[@ConorNoakes]

Harry - Music & Stuff, you can get Mic Cable that has the conductive rubber screen on each core similar to good quality guitar lead that would be beneficial in your example (it’s actually a hinderance for balanced signals as it stops the two cores picking up the exact same induced noise so accurately) Drop me a PM if you’re in the U.K./EU and I can hook you up with some :)

[@HarryMusicStuff]

@@ConorNoakes Hi Conor! That would be great. I had no idea sucha a special case of mic cable exists. I live in EU, but you don't have public contact details. So I am not able to send you a PM.

[@ConorNoakes]

Harry - Music & Stuff ah, I don’t even know how to enable that on KZbin! drop me a message to my FB Page? facebook.com/GuildfordCableCo