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Hi Folks,

I primarily live in an unbalanced world - with the exception of microphone connections. I have just bought a new piece of gear with balanced 1/4" TRS outs and ins, and my patchbay is 1/4" TS.

O.K., here's my question: Can I use 1/4" TS cables all the way through (short runs within the patchbay - 3' the longest), even when connecting to a TRS input / output? What I mean is, do I have to build custom cables with TRS on one end, and TS on the other end, or can I just use TS to TS cables?

I understand the difference between balanced and unbalanced - as far as gain/noise reduction is concerned - but I'm curious I can plug a TS to TS cable between a TRS output, and a TS input, and have a useable connection between the two pieces of gear?

Please give me some insight. I'm trying to build cables, and it's taking forever. I would like to just to buy some 1/4" TS to 1/4" TS to patch everything together with, but I'm not sure it will work.

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KurtFoster Thu, 08/07/2003 - 23:22

Styles,
9 out of 10 time the answer is yes but some gear is sensitive to this. I reviewed the Speck 5.0 Mic Pre and this piece's owners manual stated specifically not to hook it up to an unbalanced source without a cable that lifted the low side or distortion could occur. Consult the owners manual of the piece in question. If you can't find the answer, try their customer support. You could also simply try it out and see what the results are. I don't think you will hurt anything... Kurt