I've been offered a DS201 Noise gate as I've been after some for a while. Its a very reasonable price but I just found out its the unbalanced version. Its been a while since I owned ANY unbalanced gear so I'm a bit skeptical. As its going to be at the end of some pretty nice recording chains, I don't want it to scupper all the outboard that precedes it.

Is an unbalanced noise gate going to be okay do you think?

Thanks guys.

Don't worry abut it

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Mac Pro, Logic Pro, lots of software and 17 hard drives!

It was designed to be used as an insert effect and, even today, most inserts are unbalanced. Provide you've got your grounding sorted out, I wouldn't worry.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

+1 > Wot James said.

Hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Great, thanks folks.

I was reading the other day that Vic Keary of Thermionic Culture prefers unbalanced to balanced because it actually sounds better. What's the thinking behind this, Hugh?

It depends how it's implemented. There are good unbalanced designs and bad balanced ones... and vice versa.

Balanced interfaces have two advantages: 1. substantially reduced susceptibility to external EM and RF interference, and 2. substantially reduced susceptibility to ground loop problems.

The down sides vary with the implementation, but potentially the signal-noise ratio is 3dB worse and the balanced interface is more complex and more costly to manufacturer.

If your grounding arrangements are sensible, and the cable runs are fairly short, there's nothing wrong with unbalanced interfacing. There are at least two high-end mastering studios that use unbalanced interconnectons throughout.

Conversely, the vast majority of professional audio installations use balanced interconnections exclusively without any qualms about audio quality.

It's all about how well the interfacing is designed and implemented rather than any one generic format.

There are valid reasons why the Thermionic gear is designed with unbalanced interfacing, but those reasons are specific to that equipment and can't be applied or extended univbersally to all audio equipment.

Hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Thanks Hugh. So how do you go about making sure you have sensible grounding?

By grounding sensibly!

Star mains distribution, keeping cable lengths as short as practicable. Take care to resolve any ground loops at source by breaking signal cable shields where necessary, and avoid multiple ground paths between equipment.

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Thanks Hugh. I was thinking things like connecting ground wires to gear etc

One last question (sorry) - What would be multiple ground paths between equipment? And where would you need to split the shields? (okay 2 questions) In the studio I'm at they are on a separate ring main for all the studio gear and everything has a dedicated wall socket (lots of wall sockets!)

Quote Phat Man:

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Thanks Hugh. I was thinking things like connecting ground wires to gear etc

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There is rarely any need to add additional ground wires to equipment.

All Class 1 equipment is grounded via the mains cable, so loops can exist between any two class 1 devices via the screens on the audio cables. USually this isn't a problem, but it can be and then needs to be resolved -- either by using transformer isolators or by cutting the relevant cable screens.

Class 2 equipment (double insulated) doesn't have a mains ground and so is less likely to be involved with ground loops, although it can still happen if they are connected to more than one device.

However, if all the equipment is class 2 there will be no proper ground at all, and in that case adding a separate ground bond wire can actually be very helpful and cure all manner of odd buzzes and whistles.

Quote:

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One last question (sorry) - What would be multiple ground paths between equipment? And where would you need to split the shields? (okay 2 questions)

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Answering the second question first, you would normally break the ground at the destination end of the cable.

Multiple ground paths are exactly that -- such as where there are eight separate outputs to a mixer via eight separate cables. It can also happen with an interface that has audio inputs and outputs connected to other equipment, as well as USB or Firewire cables with their own grounds via a computer etc.

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In the studio I'm at they are on a separate ring main for all the studio gear and everything has a dedicated wall socket (lots of wall sockets!)

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Running audio gear on a separate dedicated ring main is a sensible idea. Lots of sockets make life easy too. The important thing is that the impedance of the mains socket earth connections between sockets is as low as possible. This minimises the voltage that develops between the earth sockets when current flows in the ground circuit. Smaller voltage means less risk of audible ground loop hums.

Hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Everything I could want to know! Thanks Hugh!

No problem.

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound