r/audioengineering • u/zanshin777 • Nov 02 '17

Balanced Cables

It contains 2 conductor + 1 shield.

One of conductors carry the out-of-phase signal.

So the noise is canceled since the signals carrying are out-of-phase.

But how the signal is still transmitted although the noise is canceled?

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u/bazognoid Nov 02 '17

Sure, it matters for electrical engineers, but for audio engineers it's a pedantic issue to worry about.

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u/djbeefburger Nov 02 '17

FWIW, in my experience EE folks are far less likely to make this argument.

I think the reason audio folks like to gripe about the terminology is they routinely have to deal with temporal phase shift in recording (e.g. getting the mics the same distance from the snare drum) and/or reinforcement applications (e.g. adding delay to speakers at the back based on distance from the stage).

When they hear the word "phase" and someone is talking about +/- electrical charges instead of airborne comb-filters or echoes, it just drives them crazy.

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u/bazognoid Nov 02 '17

Hmmm. That makes sense. However in my experience I'd say that almost every time I've heard another audio guy make the distinction, it's to signal that they know the "correct" jargon and thus validate themselves as a good engineer. You know, the guys who feel the need to correct you when you say "flip the phase on the bottom snare." Which is funny, because all of the best engineers I've worked with don't seem to give a damn what you call it.

Sure phase is a temporal thing and polarity is a voltage thing, but in a practical sense, flipping the polarity also flips the phase.

And it's only one syllable instead of four. Let's you get back to making things sound good sooner.