Do I need to replace 48 cables? (Patchbay gain reduction - Balanced vs Unbalanced)

I went from all balanced to unbalanced on my patchbay some time ago. Still have a box with short balanced cables I don’t use anymore lol, but going unbalanced made it much easier to patch in all sorts of effects, from cheap old rack effects, to stomp boxes and modular.

Especially with short cable distances like on a desk, using balanced cables usually isn’t a notivable improvement over unbalanced. Unbalanced cables are much cheaper and you can happily patch in all sorts of gear, maybe even patch in your mixer…

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Is your patchbay specifically unbalanced, or did you keep your TRS one?

Thanks for all the info here!

After messing with unbalanced versus balanced cables, patchbays etc, I’ve been using Overbridge to record Elektrons (DT/DN) and their inputs, and use my Volt interface to record everything else, usually unbalanced sources. Working great so far, zero noise issues… all my cable runs are under 10 feet however, with two standard Furman power conditioners powering everything from the same wall outlet.

I was also all unbalanced until I got an RME and a patchbay, seems to have complicated it a bit

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I have a Hosa mini-patchbay also that is technically balanced, but I run unbalanced in and out. No issues, but haven’t formally tested both types of cables in and out, because it sounds good to me.

I imagine it also helps that my unbalanced sources (i.e. SP-16, RML distortion boxes, Uno Synth Pro X etc) are extremely loud output-wise. Quieter sources might reveal noisefloor issues though.

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My patchbay is trs, but works perfectly with ts/unbalanced cables. Afaik, all trs patchbays can work with ts. Mixing ts and trs can cause all sorts of issues depending on how the inputs or outputs are wired and what type of balancing they use, but if you only use ts, it should work. The manual of my patchbay even mentions that it’s possible to use unbalanced cables.

As the issue was solved during testing by swapping out to a TRS cable, I ordered replacements for the cables. As you say, might be the wiring of the patchbay. At least I won’t have the issue anymore.