Connecting unbalanced output of preamp to balanced input of the ADC1
Connecting unbalanced output of preamp to balanced input of the ADC1
Submitted by marc on Fri, 2011-04-22 08:46Hello,
I bought recently Benchmark ADC1 USB and I understand the ADC1 has balanced inputs and my preamp, Avalon M5, got unbalanced output, what is the best way to connect both cable-wise and which settings from the following should I be using on my RME HDSP 9632 sound card: Input: Lo gain, +4db, -10db and Output: Hi gain, +4db, -10db (these are the 3 choices that are available on the interface of the RME for the input and output)?
At the moment, I am using a 'normal' balanced XLR cable to connect the Avalon to the ADC1, AES 100 Ohm cable to connect the ADC1 to the sound card, and the input on my sound card is set to -10db and output to 4+db. Is this correct?
Thanks in advance for your reply!
Best regards,
Marc
ADC1/ADC1USB
Hello Marc,
Since the Avalon has a balanced XLR output, you just need a balanced cable to run to the ADC1USB. I would run coax (75ohm) cable to the digital input of the RME if you want to record higher than 96kHz sample rate. If recording at 24/96, I'd go with the USB output. The gain settings that you mention are for the analog inputs of the sound card, not the digital, so you don't have to make any selection there.
Best regards,
Rory Rall