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anonymous 3 April 2005

i have a new-to-me allen and heath sys 8 with xlr(only) bus outs, and a fostex 80 reel-to-reel, rca in/outs.
i am looking for a xlr-rca snake to hook up, but i was just told by a salesman i'd *probably* need transformers on every channel, due to impedance issues.
please advise!

Comments

jonyoung Sun, 04/03/2005 - 17:29

Transformers are more for mismatched voltage than mismatched impedance. Find a new salesman.
Can you find any specs on impedance and operating levels of the A&H and Fostex? If the board operates at +4db and the deck operates at -10db, then you'll have to build some pads (much cheaper than transformers) to get the board output down to -10db. As well, you'll have to convert from balanced to unbalanced.

anonymous Mon, 04/04/2005 - 01:46

thanks for the reply:
if i were to simply buy an xlr to rca snake, wouldn't that take care of the balancing issues in itself? i am pretty sure my a&h is wired pin-2 hot, and i read on the web (somewhere...) that any commercially available snake will be the same, and for 1. short runs in a 2. solidly wired room, i ought be fine.
i read an extended thread about pads for this type of thing, but the math had me asleep in no time. is there a quick and dirty solution for the $-and-time-short home recorder?
and thanks again!

jonyoung Mon, 04/04/2005 - 07:07

Yes, a snake in that configuration would take care of your balancing conversion....pin 1 is strapped to shield. Just keep it away from power cords, or lay them 90 degrees to each other. There really isn't any shorter cut to matching levels than pads, the good news is they'll all be the same in each direction (all inputs the same, all outputs the same). Does your board have any provision for switching operating levels? That would simplify things!

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