What are Balanced XLR outputs?

[admin_exported]

I am not new to the world of HI FI, but I am new enough not to know what the term XLR outputs are!

I have just bought a dac magic, and a rotel RA 04 AMP. In the maual for the DAC it says XLR are better quality outputs. I know about audio leads, but what is strange is that there are no XLR sockets on the AMP.

please help me understand these new questions of mine.

1) What does balanced and unbalanced outputs mean in layman terms?

2)What does RCA and XLR mean?

3) How come there there are no XLR outputs on my Rotel AMP?

 

[Andrew Everard]

The sewage man:
I am not new to the world of HI FI, but I am new enough not to know what the term XLR outputs are!

I have just bought a dac magic, and a rotel RA 04 AMP. In the maual for the DAC it says XLR are better quality outputs. I know about audio leads, but what is strange is that there are no XLR sockets on the AMP.

please help me understand these new questions of mine.

1) What does balanced and unbalanced outputs mean in layman terms?

OK, the very simple version: it is Sunday morning, after all.

Balanced working basically involves two complementary amplification chains for each channel, working in opposite phase. One of the benefits is that any noise picked up happens on both 'arms' of the system, but in opposite phase, so is effectively self-cancelled.

Unlike conventional single-ended or unbalanced interconnections, which have just positive and negative poles, balanced connections have three: plus, minus and shield. Again the two connections operate in opposite phase, so noise is cancelled.

The sewage man:

2)What does RCA and XLR mean?

RCA: the conventional phono plug/socket, so-called because it was developed by the Radio Corporation of America in the 1940s.

XLR: Three-pin, locking plug/socket system, also known as a Cannon connector after its inventor. Originally called the Cannon X, the L bit refers to the 'latch', or locking mechanism, and the R to a rubber cushioning between the pins.

The sewage man:3) How come there there are no XLR outputs on my Rotel AMP?

They'd be inputs rather than outputs on the amp, to enable balanced sources to be connected. They're absent simply because the amp doesn't have balanced operation, so there's no need for them. Balanced operation, and thus XLR socketry, tends to appear on pricier amplifiers, as the cost of the circuitry is higher.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much for the stunning reply!

 

[aliEnRIK]

Just to futher go into that (very basically), the WHOLE circuit needs to be balanced else it negates the whole point of having them. There are MANY pre amps and amps etc that have them but are NOT balanced (And would therefore be better through normal phonos anyway).

Its just another of those BS hifi selling points

TRUE balanced circuits tend to be VERY pricy. I was reading just yesterday about a guy who uses a phono stage. For that to be truly balanced it would cost ANOTHER $3k on top!

 

[aliEnRIK]

Andrew Everard:
RCA: the conventional phono plug/socket, so-called because it was developed by the Radio Corporation of America in the 1940s.

Cool ~ I never knew that

 

[Andrew Everard]

aliEnRIK:Just to futher go into that (very basically), the WHOLE circuit needs to be balanced else it negates the whole point of having them.

Sorry, thought I'd made that clear - thanks for clarifying.

 

[Mike_Schmidt]

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