Balanced and Unbalanced connections

Unbalanced Connections

One of the most common types of unbalanced cable is a guitar lead. This contains two connections, the audio signal and ground. All unbalanced cables come in this configuration. A downside to unbalanced signals is that they do contain some noise, however they’re cheap to make. They are used for instruments and equipment that don't directly benefit from a balanced connection, an example of these being guitar, bass, and many synths.

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Balanced Connections

Balanced jack cables come in a similar configuration, however instead of having just one signal and ground it carries 3 three signals: 2 audio signals and a ground. These two signals are identical in what they are carrying but they both have opposite polarities, the final product is a signal with little to no noise. The same technology is used in XLR cables (mostly used for microphones.)

To summarise:

· Unbalanced cables contain some noise, whereas balanced contain very little. · Unbalanced cables and equipment are cheaper to manufacture. · There are 2 audio signals in a balanced cable that are used to remove noise for the signal. · XLR is a balanced connection.