You are right, bad terminology. I just meant to imply that you cant neglect to connect the ring on both ends. The cable may drop the signal.RCA cables DO NOT transmit over a differential pair. The signal is single ended !!!!!!!!!
You are right, bad terminology. I just meant to imply that you cant neglect to connect the ring on both ends. The cable may drop the signal.RCA cables DO NOT transmit over a differential pair. The signal is single ended !!!!!!!!!
That's a great book! I still have my 2nd edition. 1988 isn't that old....Noise Reduction Techniques in Electronic Systems by Henry W. Ott
That pdf is testing magnetic field shielding. The best results come from ballanced twisted pair with shield connected at both ends. For unballanced the best was twisted pair with shield connected at both ends, but only 1db better than coax with shield connected at both ends. For electric fields it will be different but the common thing is shields connected at both ends.See Noise Reduction Techniques in Electronic Systems by Henry W. Ott. The book is older than Monster Cable. There are certainly some different opinions on how the shield should be terminated like in the book, but it could be that people simply had more ground loop problems in the past due to the electrical wiring.
"Ground loops at times can be a source of noise. This is especially true when the multiple ground points are separated by a large distance and are connected to the ac power ground, or when low-level analog circuits are used. In these cases it is necessary to provide some form of discrimination or isolation against the ground-path noise."
? So how does this work? What about differential connections?You need two connections on each end and a grounded shield. That's it and anything else is redundant. With two connections you don't need more than 2 wires. With line-level signals you might actually get-away without a shield because the output is low-impedance and that minimizes noise-pick-up. But I wouldn't recommend it.
There are cases where removing the ground at one end fixes a ground loop. The shield should still be grounded at one end.
A proper balanced connection is 3 wires and 3 connections at each end. Two opposite polarity signal wires plus a ground, so an RCA connection can't be balanced.
It could be done with two RCA connections but I've never seen that. Well... I have seen it accidently with the "wrong" adapters and then the left & right signals get subtracted at the differential input and you get a center-channel "vocal remover".
Is this only for gear used at home? Again, this is why this is so confusing. One person says there is no such thing, yet others say it is a balanced connection, and circuitry exists.RCA cables DO NOT transmit over a differential pair. The signal is single ended !!!!!!!!!
Sad to say that Henry W. Ott passed away on May 20, 2021.See Noise Reduction Techniques in Electronic Systems by Henry W. Ott.
Its a bit clearer. So, if I may,RCA is not Balanced.
Balanced means both inputs/outputs have the same impedance. to ground and to each other.
For cables this can be achieved with twisted pair + shild (cheapest) or better star quad + shild.
For non balanced signal you want non balanced cables like Coaxial.
What they are do doing is using "floating" RCA inputs and the Car's ground
simmilar to Hypex:
![]()
So the output and the Cable are not balanced but the input is.
In this special case a twisted pair cable with screen connected to amp ground would maybe perform better then Coax
View attachment 200069
Is this only for gear used at home? Again, this is why this is so confusing. One person says there is no such thing, yet others say it is a balanced connection, and circuitry exists.
And an metallic shield
Hi everyone! I hope you're all well.
I'm going to get a pair of RCA interconnects for my CD player to Integrated Amp, and I stumbled upon a few major types of cable structures:
Coax is not the simple design normally used for RCA cables. It is just two wires and an extra shield connected to the neutral wire. Both designs are pretty transparent as the tests on ASR show.RCA cables are simple things ... one central wire to carry the signal and a surrounding shield that both provides a ground reference and shunts interference to ground.
Anything beyond that is totally unnecessary, won't bring any improvement and prone to getting really expensive.
Here's what you need...
For RCA and any other unbalanced, single ended interconnect cable, coax IS the best choice.Coax is not the simple design normally used for RCA cables.
Coax is not the simple design normally used for RCA cables. It is just two wires and an extra shield connected to the neutral wire. Both designs are pretty transparent as the tests on ASR show.
That link for what is supposedly needed has screwed up information that is a direct contradiction. I suggest not to buy RCA cables from Amazon unless something else is bought there to save the shipping costs. The title and picture shows an RCA cable, while the description says it's a subwoofer cable.
I saved the page for reference in the future:
I already know, notice I just wrote that it's not the way RCA cables are normally designed (think of the generic "throw away" cables for example). So coax is therefore a more obscure design and not the quite "simple" choice.For RCA and any other unbalanced, single ended interconnect cable, coax IS the best choice.
Again, I already know... But Amazon didn't even make it clear which cable people are ordering. So I wouldn't consider that as an acceptable option for purchasing an RCA cable.What you're describing isn't coax ...
Coaxial cable is one center wire carrying signal surrounded by a shielding layer.
![]()
Coaxial cable - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
The error in Amazon's description won't make any difference ... The cable doesn't know what it's hooked up to.
Once again.... Coax is a type of cable with a centre conductor surrounded by a shield. It comes in all shapes and sizes and is used in audio, video and radio frequency applications ... it's got nothing to do with the connectors attached to it.I already know, notice I just wrote that it's not the way RCA cables are normally designed (think of the generic "throw away" cables for example). So coax is therefore a more obscure design and not the quite "simple" choice.
Again, I already know... But Amazon didn't even make it clear which cable people are ordering. So I wouldn't consider that as an acceptable option for purchasing an RCA cable.
An RCA cable by definition has RCA connectors.So RCA cables are simple things, two wires are basically the simplest design. You don't even need connectors or shield or anything else if you really want to talk about the simplest design.![]()
May I suggest you read your own message? You were specifically talking about coax with RCA connectors. That is how the conversation started.Once again.... Coax is a type of cable with a centre conductor surrounded by a shield. It comes in all shapes and sizes and is used in audio, video and radio frequency applications ... it's got nothing to do with the connectors attached to it.
So my message that coax is not the simple or normal design for RCA cables does obviously not have any reason to be challenged.RCA cables are simple things ... one central wire to carry the signal and a surrounding shield that both provides a ground reference and shunts interference to ground.
OK, I'm glad to have learned that from this conversation at least.An RCA cable by definition has RCA connectors.
It wouldn't, were it true. However, the reality is that the vast majority of RCA cables are some kind of coax. The reason for this probably has something to do with coax being the proper type of cable for single-ended connections.So my message that coax is not the simple or normal design for RCA cables does obviously not have any reason to be challenged.
May I suggest you read your own message? You were specifically talking about coax with RCA connectors. That is how the conversation started.
So my message that coax is not the simple or normal design for RCA cables does obviously not have any reason to be challenged.