Hi

Thanks for your AWESOME website! I have a tech question. I cannot tell if you have a forum, so I'm sending the question here.

I have a piece of audio gear with balanced outputs, and i need to send it to gear with UNbalanced inputs.

I want to build the balanced to unbalanced adapter from:
http://www.rane.com/note110.html
(scroll down to "The Next Best Right Way To Do It")

Here's my question. Would any of the transformers below work for this purpose?

http://r.ebay.com/CWd0TA
http://r.ebay.com/yRsln2
http://r.ebay.com/Ga5xaI
http://r.ebay.com/k9tGkA
http://r.ebay.com/L0xB4e
http://r.ebay.com/TWNtAW
http://r.ebay.com/BmtLRp
http://r.ebay.com/JAlJO0
http://r.ebay.com/SgrWzs

-Thx for helping a noob!

 

Is the galvanic isolation a requirement ? If not just use an opamp as per the balanced line receiver project on elliot sound products website.

 

i like the transformer method because it's simple, passive (no power needed), and Rane says it's the quietest.

 

Atleast i can say that none of those transformers you posted are suitable.

Your looking more at like the transformers lundahl sells, which are transformers made specifically for audio.

You will find that at the end of the day, the opamp version is alot cheaper.

 

i'm sure you're right. But for my purposes, i don't want to include any pcb stuff. A transformer seems to lend itself better to old fashioned point-to-point wiring.

Can you say specifically why these transformers would not work?

One of the transformers i linked is called an "audio" transformer. http://r.ebay.com/yRsln2 Why is that one incorrect?

thx!

 

The specifications posted are false and inadequate. According to the seller, the DC resistance is the audio frequency impedance (false) and it has no frequency range.
You shouldn't bet money on a part that has no valid specifications.

You're looking for something in the audio range with about 600 ohms to 10k ohms impedance ratio. The cheapest one I can find costs $51 plus shipping...which suddenly explains why people would use a 59 cent op-amp with a gain of 16&2/3rds.

 

Here's one designed for balance to unbalanced audio applications.

But its also pricey...~$60

eT