Difference between xlr and rca interconnect

[CLEARCUT]

Two different types of interconnect s are available xlr and rca. I had a chance to check the quality difference of them when I had Belcanto pre power. I felt only output gain difference that's all. If any body have opinion and experience pl discuss here. I had no chance of using xlr cable between pre and source. So that too are welcome

 

[cyber_cat]

What was that the length of the connectors RCA and XLR ?

 

[omishra]

First of all they are different purposes.

RCA is unbalanced interconnect like this

Shield carries ground or return path of signal

And signal goes like this -

For XLR (Balanced) audio signal is accompanied with its inverted counterpart.

Shield carries ground or return path of signal

So these carry signal like this -

What happens with noise -

So this is the difference -

For short length of good interconnect wire, unbalanced (RCA) works fine. For greater length and noisy environment you need unbalanced-Balanced conversion at sender and at receiver end reverse. Quality of balanced<-->unbalanced conversion also matters.
I hope it helps.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Omishra, one of the best explanations of balanced/unbalanced! Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words

Two different types of interconnect s are available xlr and rca. I had a chance to check the quality difference of them when I had Belcanto pre power. I felt only output gain difference that's all. If any body have opinion and experience pl discuss here. I had no chance of using xlr cable between pre and source. So that too are welcome

If there is noting wrong with your RCA cables, and you are not unfortunate enough to have a very noisy environment, there is no reason that there should be a difference. The purpose (contrary to popular opinion ) is simply to carry the signal. Both do that.

Balanced cables are designed to carry audio signals for much longer distances, in much more electrically noisy environments. But even that is actually a wrong statement! It is the system including the circuitry at both ends, that achieves the noise rejection as per the diagrams in the above post.

Personally, I appreciate the purpose-designed elegance of balanced audio, as against the largely accidental history of domestic connectors. That's the sort of thing that contributes to my pride-of-ownership measure!

Why are XLR connectors louder? They are not: the whole balanced-circuitry system works at much higher levels.

 

[gobble]

Two different types of interconnect s are available xlr and rca. I had a chance to check the quality difference of them when I had Belcanto pre power. I felt only output gain difference that's all. If any body have opinion and experience pl discuss here. I had no chance of using xlr cable between pre and source. So that too are welcome

Possible that the bel canto is only using balanced connector but not a true balanced circuit?

G0bble

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I believe that there are some "only-cosmetic" XLR connectors. The specs should state, and if any manufacturer actually lies about this, then that is serious.

The fact that CLEARCUT hears a difference in levels, suggests to me (non-engineer) that the balanced circuitry is genuine.

 

[vkirti]

I had been using my CDP connected to the amp with RCA connectors and then shifted to balanced (The option always existed, was unable to source decent quality balanced connectors) some time ago. In my experience output gain was nearly unchanged (maybe a little less than RCA) but everything else improved. The spaces between the instruments and voices got darker and bigger, the bass became much more controlled and more which I am unable to express fully. I heard all my favorite tracks with only the RCA's changed to XLR's so am sure in my system it does make a big appreciable difference.

 

[Santy]

In unbalanced, whatever voltage is applied on the cable is used as it is by the receiving equipment.
In balanced, two wires carry same voltage in opposite phase. The voltage difference between two wires is taken as input signal. So noise if any gets added to both the wires which gets cancelled out at the receiving end.

X= Ground
L= Live (Hot) - in phase
R= Return (Cold) - out of phase

Standard voltage ref. level in pro audio: 1.23 Vrms
Standard voltage ref. level in home audio: 0.316 Vrms

Balanced audio will have a gain of +6db (factor of 2).

XLR connectors are generally more robust and can withstand rough usage. They have locking mechanism (some RCA too have).

One more difference. XLR cables have far lesser snake oil and marketing BS than RCA cables.

 

[kanwar]

One more difference. XLR cables have far lesser snake oil and marketing BS than RCA cables.

Pro-gear relies on performance rather than mood swings hence XLR is always a defacto choice.:licklips:

 

[kanwar]

In my experience output gain was nearly unchanged (maybe a little less than RCA) but everything else improved.

XLR commands +6dB increase in nominal gain, if that doesn't happens something is not right.

 

[kanwar]

The normal snake [8X Balanced]running from Cube cinema server to the active speakers behind the Projector screen sometimes exceeds beyond 150 ft, in that case the normal audio signal riding level is 10-22dBv balanced, which actually exceeds the voltage output from a typical 50W home audio amplifier speaker outputs.

 

[vkirti]

XLR commands +6dB increase in nominal gain, if that doesn't happens something is not right.

Well what I actually meant was that the music didn't sound louder rather
the perception was of a better quality of reproduction and not just yanking up the volume. I guess my choice of words was wrong.

 

[kanwar]

What i meant was, if you keep the volume at say 9'O clock position, changing from RCA to XLR will make the sound louder by at least 4X, owning to +6dB increase.

 

[Santy]

Yes... With XLR, I have to keep the volume knob on my active monitors at 9'o clock to get the same loudness as RCA set at 12'o clock. Really loud on XLR.