DAC XLR to AMP RCA

[blue-bits]

I‘m planning to complement my amp with a dac that is placed in a different corner of the room — multiple meters apart. From what I‘ve read, an XLR connection is strongly preferrable for long distances.

The dac I consider getting (dacmagic 200m) has XLR outs, however, my amp (axa35) only has RCA, so I‘ll need to convert signals. Would a passive DI-Box (e.g. a CES01) make sense here?

Thanks!

 

[Ron Texas]

That doesn't seem like a good plan to me. I would either get an amp with XLR connections or move the amp closer to an RCA jack DAC and use longer speaker wires.

 

[blue-bits]

Hm, that‘s unfortunate — i‘d really like to keep them separate and rather like the amp. What‘s the issue with this signal conversion exactly? I‘d have hoped that this can be done in a simple and clean manner.

 

[staticV3]

It's the differential XLR inputs that get you noise cancelling and resistance against ground loops.

If your Amp only has RCA inputs, then your DAC's XLR out is useless. Use RCA instead.

 

[DVDdoug]

You have to be careful connecting balanced-outputs to unbalanced inputs. I wouldn't do it unless you have a manufacturer's recommendation for how to do it. Some balanced outputs just aren't designed for it, and if you do it wrong you can end-up shorting one of the balanced signal lines to ground.

The advantages of balanced connections are mostly with balanced inputs, and it's always OK to go the other way and feed a balanced input from an unbalanced signal.

Would a passive DI-Box (e.g. a CES01) make sense here?

Maybe, but that's the wrong one... It's for connecting unbalanced line-level outputs to balanced microphone-level inputs It will attenuate the signal:

CORDIAL´s passive DI box CES 01 allows you to easily connect line level outputs or speaker outputs to balanced mixing desk inputs with microphone level sensitivity.

A passive box with a transformer would work but you'll probably get better results with an active box because you won't have "impedance issues". They seem to be expensive and it's probably best to avoid the issue and get equipment that's designed to work together.

I found this (passive stereo), this (passive mono), and this (active stereo).

 

[DonH56]

Unless you have severe noise problems an RCA run of multiple meters (how many?) will not be a problem. I had 50' (15.24 m) runs to my rears without problem. I'd try it as-is first. If that does not work, then consider a transformer/passive or active DI box.

 

[blue-bits]

Thanks for all the advice! Going to get some long RCA cables, test, and take it from there.