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Subject: Re: [motm] Balanced vs. unbalanced I/O (was: External feedback...)

From: Andre Majorel <aym-htnys@...>
Date: 2007-09-27

On 2007-09-26 23:08 -0700, Larry Troth wrote:

> I get totally confused and lost on this one. What is the line
> level of our modular synths (10vpp) vs. typical digital
> synths/samplers/effects units and 1/4 I/O mixers? I have the
> old Roland M-160 rack mixers which have both 1/4" and xlr in/out
> connectors.

Consumer gear is supposed to be -10 dBm. That's 0.2 Vpp.

Pro gear is supposed to be +4 dBu. That's 3.5 Vpp. In practice,
a lot of modern pro equipment is powered by +/-15 V or more and
can take anything up to one or two volts below the rails. You
often see specs like "maximum input level +22 dBu". That's close
to 28 Vpp.

There's a nice converter at

http://www.analog.com/Analog_Root/static/techSupport/designTools/interactiveTools/dbconvert/dbconvert.html

--
André Majorel <URL:http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/>
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