could you explain what is balanced and Unbalanced connection? A quick googling revealed that balanced cable is immune to external interference...
however what i want to know is---> if my source is sound card of the computer which has 3.5mm out jack (which i think is unbalanced), does a balanced cable do any good if i have XLR in my active monitor?
Analog unbalanced audio cable uses two leads - one carries signal, the other is the return or shield. The return is typically a shield around the signal carrying lead, but it need not be.
One the other hand, Balanced cable has a hot, cold and shield. If noise gets introduced into the signal, it is carried by both the hot and cold leads. At the receiving end, the noise gets cancelled because the noise component in the hot and cold leads are exactly at 180 degrees out of phase. This is called Common Mode Rejection.
Balanced is therefore favoured by professional users, as one can run longer runs of audio cable inside the studio, while being more immune to noise.
Another difference is that balanced signal is 6 dB higher than its unbalanced counterpart.
Balanced circuitries are obviously more complex.
To answer your question, you will need a pseudo balanaced cable - one end with a 3.5 mm jack and the other end with XLR. Please google for connection diagram. I will also try. I have made this in the past.
