[jconly]

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I got the EMU 0404 a few days ago.
My cables are coming in the mail hopefully by Friday.

I CANT WAIIIIT!!!

(sorry, I needed to announce my excitement somewhere)

 

[infinitesymphony]

Which cables did you choose?

 

[jconly]

I spoke with the guys at Blue Jeans.

He said the difference in impedence would not be an issue for short cable runs, such as the 12' I ordered.
He said there was a obviously a slight difference in shielding, but advised me to purchase both types, since going from unbalanced to balanced would probably be enough to solve my issues.

I was told I could try them both out, and then return the pair I didn't like..however...it would cost me about $10 to ship back.

The cost difference between cables is only $10, so I ordered just the Canare Star Quad.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Wow, what an interesting deal. I'll have to think about that when I order my next pair.

 

[xollox]

I have a pair of the BX5As a they don't hiss at all for me. Here's my setup

Onboard sound -> mini to XLR -> KRK RP10s (sub) -> balanced XLR -> BX5a

I have the speakers plugged into a standard power strip.

 

[jconly]

How do you like your KRK RP10s?
I've been thinking about purchasing a sub.

 

[xollox]

It's pretty kick butt. It's way more sub than is needed for the bx5as. It'll definitely shake the house. As far as SQ is concerned, I'm not so sure. I'm no audio expert, but it sounds a bit muddy to me. Honestly, I'd probably look at other options to pair with these speakers. I got mine used for $200 when I bought my speakers at guitar center.

 

[jconly]

Ah sweet.
I've been thinking about doing either a subwoofer or a good set of cans.
It probably makes more sense to purchase some cans, as it's rare I can really listen to a lot of music loud through my speakers. I guess if I get a sub, I just want something that will complete the frequency range, not rock the apt building.

 

[jconly]

Oh man....

My cables arrived today.
The SQ is nice, but it def didn't fix my noise issues :-/

 

[aych]

hmm.. can anyone give me a quick explanation between balanced and unbalanced? always thought all xlr's were balanced?

 

[Jon118]

I'm kind of surprised they don't have any RCA input on them, that's how I connect my DX4s. Mine don't have any hiss to them, I know we are talking about different speakers though, but they aren't terribly different. It could be a power issue causing the hiss. Mine are just to a power strip, with onboard audio, 1/8th mini to RCA. Nothing fancy. But if you want a sub for them you might want to look at the AV123 X-Sub. It might take a while to actually get it, but it should be pretty good at a reasonable price.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jconly /img/forum/go_quote.gif The SQ is nice, but it def didn't fix my noise issues :-/

Ugh, that stinks. Remind us again of what the noise issues are: what does the noise sound like, when is it present, and can you hear it through the 0404's headphone jack as well?

Quote:

Originally Posted by aych hmm.. can anyone give me a quick explanation between balanced and unbalanced? always thought all xlr's were balanced?

Balanced uses 3-pin (or more) connections, unbalanced uses 2-pin. It's possible to have an unbalanced XLR cable if the third pin is not used. For example, that's how you'd want to wire an unbalanced 1/4" to XLR cable.

But you're right, in most cases XLRs are used for balanced audio.

 

[jconly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ugh, that stinks. Remind us again of what the noise issues are: what does the noise sound like, when is it present, and can you hear it through the 0404's headphone jack as well?

well, ok, here's the deal.
previously, without the cables connected, when the speakers were powered on, there was a significant amount of noise. now that I've purchased the isobar, the noise is significantly less, although still present. it is very faint, and i need to put my ear to the speakers to hear it. it sounds like an electrical type of buzz. kinda of staticy (is that a word?), but with a definitive bzzzzzz.

when i connect the cables (which are connected to the emu), the sound is amplified.

ill takes some pictures of my listening setup if it helps.

i get the noise weather the 0404 is on or not.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Try experimenting with plugging all of the devices into different places again... It sounds like a ground loop problem. Technically, if you plug all of the devices into the Isobar one by one, you should be able to determine which is causing the noise. I'm thinking that if the computer is not plugged into the same place as the monitors and 0404, there may be a difference in ground potential that causes the buzz. Ideally, the computer won't be plugged into the same place since it can cause its own interference issues, but it's worth a shot.

Also, it's reasonable to expect some amount of noise or buzz with any speaker. Even a $2,500 pair of Dynaudios had a faint hiss when I put my ear near to the drivers.

 

[warrior05]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif Balanced uses 3-pin (or more) connections, unbalanced uses 2-pin. It's possible to have an unbalanced XLR cable if the third pin is not used. For example, that's how you'd want to wire an unbalanced 1/4" to XLR cable. But you're right, in most cases XLRs are used for balanced audio.

I'm going to expand on this a little. First off - if you want to really understand balanced configuration, check out Headroom's articles. In an unbalanced configuration you have L/R/ground taken care of with one plug (usually either 1/4" or 1/8" TRS). With balanced you have +/-/ground per each channel. Typical XLRs have 3 pins to account for the balanced configuration. Most pro audio equipment is set up for balanced because it is typical that they have extremely long cable runs and balanced maintains inherent noise levels with such long runs to an absolute minimum.

As for your noise issue. I believe I mentioned this before - my BX5s have the same characteristic in regards to standing noise. But, the difference is with mine - it doesn't get louder when audio cables are plugged in. My point being, you'll never get the BX5s totally silent unless you open them up and do some kind of mod inside. What that mod would be, I don't know. Perhaps upgrading power caps? I'm considering this myself.