[bflat]

Hi All,
 
I have a Gungnir DAC waiting for delivery of a Liquid Carbon amp. In the mean time, I only have portable DC powered amps and I can get by hooking up a simple RCA to mini cable. However, I happen to have an dual XLR to RSA adapter and tried that so I could get balanced out, but I am getting some buzzing noise due to the amp not being AC grounded. Any quick remedies anyone can suggest? If not, I'll just stick with unbalanced RCA.
 
Thanks!

 

[Speedskater]

The only info I could find on an 'RSA' connector:
 
"The Kobiconn Connector for Balanced Portable Amplifiers"
The Ray Samuels Audio Emmeline SR-71B
http://www.diyaudioblog.com/2011/12/kobiconn-connector-for-balanced.html
 
*******************************************************
So isn't that an amp-out to headphone cable?
AC grounding is not part of a portable system problem.
Check shielding and mis-connections (or broken connections).

 

[bflat]

  The only info I could find on an 'RSA' connector:
 
"The Kobiconn Connector for Balanced Portable Amplifiers"
The Ray Samuels Audio Emmeline SR-71B
http://www.diyaudioblog.com/2011/12/kobiconn-connector-for-balanced.html
 
*******************************************************
So isn't that an amp-out to headphone cable?
AC grounding is not part of a portable system problem.
Check shielding and mis-connections (or broken connections).

Thanks for the suggestion,
 
RSA is used for balanced input as well as output to headphones. I confirmed that my XLR adapter has no connections to the ground pin so I am stumped as to where the buzzing is coming from. When I go RCA, no buzzing. When I connect the RSA input to the balanced output of my DC powered DAP, also no buzzing.
 
I still think this is a grounding issue with the XLR to RSA adapter because when I ground myself to the Gungnir chassis while wearing my SE846 IEMs, the buzzing will go away, but come back immediately when I take my hand off the chassis.

 

[Speedskater]

A correctly designed balanced interconnect system has no ground connection, but it does have a shield connection which is connected to the chassis. Note that the circuit ground and the AC Safety Ground all also connected to the chassis, but each has a separate function. Balanced interconnects sometimes don't terminate the shield a the receive end of the cable and they work just fine.
We should note that some hi-fi manufactures just don't understand the 'pin #1 problem' and get it wrong.
 
Is there any info on using an RSA as an interconnect?
Is the XLR a 4 pin two channel connector?

 

[bflat]

  A correctly designed balanced interconnect system has no ground connection, but it does have a shield connection which is connected to the chassis. Note that the circuit ground and the AC Safety Ground all also connected to the chassis, but each has a separate function. Balanced interconnects sometimes don't terminate the shield a the receive end of the cable and they work just fine.
We should note that some hi-fi manufactures just don't understand the 'pin #1 problem' and get it wrong.
 
Is there any info on using an RSA as an interconnect?
Is the XLR a 4 pin two channel connector?

Thanks, The XLRs are 3 pin but I think your explanation settles it. I don't think RSA is ever used in an AC application so looks like I should just stick with RCA until my Liquid Carbon arrives. The adapter was actually designed for a balanced dual XLR headphone cable to single RSA so I don't think it works well as balanced line out to RSA input to a DC powered amp.

 

[Steve Eddy]

RSA is used for balanced input as well as output to headphones. I confirmed that my XLR adapter has no connections to the ground pin so I am stumped as to where the buzzing is coming from. When I go RCA, no buzzing. When I connect the RSA input to the balanced output of my DC powered DAP, also no buzzing.

It really depends on the equipment. Some gear you can do just pins 2 and 3 and get awa with it. With others, they need pin 1 connections to avoid noise. Technically pin 1 is shield, not ground. But some manufacturers connect their circuit reference grounds to it. Google "pin 1 problem" for more information on this.

The Kobiconn connector has just four pins for both channels, so it's impossible to have a pin 1 connection which makes it unsuitable for use as a proper balanced line level input with certain gear. It's fine for use as a headphone output however as there are no ground loop issues there.

se

 

[bflat]

It really depends on the equipment. Some gear you can do just pins 2 and 3 and get awa with it. With others, they need pin 1 connections to avoid noise. Technically pin 1 is shield, not ground. But some manufacturers connect their circuit reference grounds to it. Google "pin 1 problem" for more information on this.

The Kobiconn connector has just four pins for both channels, so it's impossible to have a pin 1 connection which makes it unsuitable for use as a proper balanced line level input with certain gear. It's fine for use as a headphone output however as there are no ground loop issues there.

se

Thanks Steve!
 
Always a great day when I learn something new.

 

[Steve Eddy]

Thanks Steve!

Always a great day when I learn something new.

You're quite welcome. Though of course it depends on exactly what it is you've learned. Not every new thing I've learned has resulted in a great day, but we won't go there.

Have a great weekend!

se