时光流逝之“平衡与非平衡”——》
Q) What is the difference between balanced and unbalanced audio connections?
A) Balanced is better. Balanced means it takes a 3 conductor plug like a headphone plug on each channel (as opposed to the little stereo jacks that carry both channels on a soundcard). They are often called [B]TRS[/B] plugs for tip+ring+sleeve, The tip is Hot, the ring is cold, the sleeve is ground. The ring part serves to stabilize the voltage in the tip and counteracts some forms of line noise. Unbalanced is just tip and sleeve and is called a [B]TS[/B] connector. These may come on 1/4" phone jacks or on RCA (home stereo) plugs.
Can you tell the difference? If the cable runs are short, it's hard to. If you turn the volume up all the way on your amp, you typically will find that unbalanced connections are noisier. The longer the cable run, the more noise in the signal. Unbalanced lines may pick up electrical interference or even act as an antenna for radio stations. But most of the time, in short runs, there are no problems