Balanced stereo L/R out to unbalanced stereo in

The Lounge General Discussion
1

Hi 'nauts, here some questions for the audio engineer in you,

I am looking for a simple / lightweight solution to connect my DN to a pisound (which has an unbalanced stereo jack in).

I currently see two options:

  1. Use the headphone out to connect via balanced cable or
  2. Use the L/R output to a mixer and connect the L/R mix to the pisound

Regarding 1) As simple as it would be, I am not sure if there is an issue with the impedance of the headphone jack. Is this my plain wrong thinking or can I just use it as is without harming anything?

In case 2) is recommended: Is there any other way to handle this efficiently / lightweight without a mixer (e.g. mini passive mixer) so that it can be mobile? Best case would be a cable which mixes to stereo having pots for panning.

Thanks!

2

Something wired like this is all you need

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The Elektron Outputs are Impedance Balanced (rather than full on balanced, so they are compatible with balanced and unbalanced cables) which if you search the many discussions on this you will find out there’s no need to fret - if the cable is not unusually long then there’s really no need to think about pros/cons it’ll sound the same and in your case it’ll make no difference, by introducing complexity and other gear you’ll likely make things worse that way

This is all you need, it’s possible with the handy Elektron CV Kit or just source a standard insert cable where a 1/4" TRS (Pisound ) is split to TS 1/4" (Left) and TS (Right) - make sure it’s an insert type cable and not one which has the same signal at both sides - typically coloured red(right)/white(left)

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Somebody using a short snazzy insert cable here (DT, but same for DN)

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4

Thanks @avantronica. Yeah, I guessed it would be simple as that. I have plenty of such cables (and also pretty short ones)…well more than I need :smile:

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So the basic rules is, when it is impedance balanced you can use TRS to TS…and if not you might get into trouble due to concurrent voltages?

6

No, to keep things simple, just use TS to TS when the destination is unbalanced

or TRS to TRS/XLR if balanced signals are taken at the other end

The TRS in your situation is just a stereo unbalanced signal where T is Left(Tip) and R is Right(ring)

If the device had separate L/R inputs you’d just use TS to TS cables

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Righty, of course. In this special situation we have to go down that path :sunny:. Thanks again!

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