[sdiy] Request brain dump on balanced lines

[harrybissell]

Transformers offer ONE overwhelming advantage...
Isolation.  Active circuits have to accomodate
common mode differences between equipment...
and the designers of the transmitter and receiver
often have different ideas and skill levels.

Without a transfomer, it is the equivalent of wiring
the two units together. They may work OK or may
not work at all... I'd go for the transformer.

"Good fences make good neighbors" is true, even in
the same rack... ;^)

H^) harry

Ingo Debus wrote:

> Tim Ressel wrote:
> > As far as I/F circuits go, transformers
> > sound better, but active is cheaper.
>
> I understand that expensive transformers sound better than cheap ones,
> but why do transformers in general sound better than active balancing
> circuits? Are there any problems with active balancing circuits, or is
> it just some "pleasant" distortion added by the transformers, even by
> the expensive ones?
>
> Ingo