[AudioDwebe]

My understanding of a balanced cable is that the cable has separate ground for both left/right channel running from the plug to the iems. Am I correct?

I ask this question because I see some iem replacement cables selling as "balanced" and there are only three strands of wire going into the plug, which tells me that it's not really "balanced" although there's a balanced plug that can be used on those pieces of gear that has a balanced out.

Which tells me those cables are not really delivering the benefits of a "balanced" cable

Am I off base?

Thanks.

Mamoru

 

[ProtegeManiac]

My understanding of a balanced cable is that the cable has separate ground for both left/right channel running from the plug to the iems. Am I correct?

I ask this question because I see some iem replacement cables selling as "balanced" and there are only three strands of wire going into the plug, which tells me that it's not really "balanced" although there's a balanced plug that can be used on those pieces of gear that has a balanced out.

Which tells me those cables are not really delivering the benefits of a "balanced" cable

Am I off base?

First off, how did you know there are only three wires? Is it an accurate picture?

Because as much as that's doable, using four wires even on a single ended cable (where the two - wires from each driver connects to a common GND on the TRS plug) is more reliable than using three coming out from the plug only to have to twist separate or solder on separate wires onto that third wire just to get to each earpiece, which adds a separate point of failure.

This is why Sennheiser uses four core cables (or twin two core cables) on dual side entry headphones. The only time you're likely to see only three wires on a headphone cable is if it's a single side entry cable, where the common GND is hooked up to both the L- and a wire that crosses over the headband to connect it to to the R- on the right side driver, and likewise the R+ wire is hooked up to another cable that also crosses through the headband to the right side. See that plastic headband on AKGs thhat have two thin strips for its structure? Those wires are in there.

 

[Speedskater]

Balanced cables (or circuits) don't have a 'ground' conductor. They have 2 signal conductors (4 for stereo). They may also have a 'shield', but the shield does not need to be connected at both ends for proper operation.

 

[PointyFox]

Yeah no ground. There will be 4 wires: right +, right -, left +, left -.