Connecting Up Your Sound System

Connections Tips to prevent RFI and HUM Problems

Here are some highlights of a document you can get from the Rane Corp.
http://www.rane.com/library.htm

RaneNote 110

© 1985, 1995 Rane Corporation

SOUND SYSTEM INTERCONNECTION

Interconnection-1

This note, originally written in 1985, continues to be one of our most useful references. It’s popularity stems from the continual and perpetual difficulty of hooking up audio equipment without suffering through all sorts of bizarre noises, hums, buzzes, whistles, etc.— not to mention the extreme financial, physical and psychological price. As technology progresses it is inevitable that electronic equipment and its wiring should be subject to constant improvement. Many things have improved in the audio industry since 1985, but unfortunately wiring isn’t one of them.
However, finally the Audio Engineering Society (AES) is trying to do something about it, by working on a recommended practice document for inter-connection of pro audio equipment.
Rane’s policy is to accommodate rather than dictate. However, this document contains suggestions for external wiring changes that should ideally only be implemented by trained technical personnel. Safety regulations require that all original grounding means provided from the factory be left intact for safe operation. No guarantee of responsibility for incidental or consequential damages can be provided. (In other words, don’t modify cables, or try your own version of grounding unless you really understand exactly what type of output and input you have to connect.)

GROUND LOOPS

Almost all cases of noise can be traced directly to ground loops, grounding or lack thereof.
Each component of a sound system produces its own ground internally. This ground is usually called the audio signal ground. Connecting devices together with the interconnecting cables can tie the signal grounds of the two units together in one place through the conductors in the cable.
Ground loops occur when the grounds of the two units are also tied together in another place: via the third wire in the line cord, by tying the metal chassis together through the rack rails, etc. These situations create a circuit through which current may flow in a closed "loop" from one unit’s ground out to a second unit and back to the first. It is not simply the presence of this current that creates the hum—it is when this current flows through a unit’s audio signal ground that creates the hum. In fact, even without a ground loop, a little noise current always flows through every interconnecting cable (i.e., it is impossible to eliminate these currents entirely).
Balanced interconnect was developed to be immune to these noise currents, which can never be entirely eliminated. Unfortunately, many manufacturers of balanced audio equipment design the internal grounding system improperly, thus creating balanced equipment that is not immune to the cabling’s noise currents.
There are those "Professionals" who think connecting unbalanced equipment into "superior" balanced equipment should improve things. Sorry. Balanced interconnect is not compatible with unbalanced, since balanced and unbalanced interconnect are truly not compatible.

THE ABSOLUTE BEST RIGHT WAY TO DO IT

Use balanced lines and tie the cable shield to the metal chassis (right where it enters the chassis) at both ends of the cable. A balanced line requires three separate conductors, two of which are signal (+ and –) and one shield (see Fig. 1a). The shield serves to guard the sensitive audio lines from interference. Only by using balanced line interconnects can you guarantee (yes, guarantee) hum-free results. Always use twisted pair cable. Chassis tying the shield at each end also guarantees the best possible protection from RFI [radio frequency interference] and other noises [neon signs, lighting dimmers]. Neil Muncy 1 , an electroacoustic consultant and seasoned veteran of years of successful system design, chairs the AES Standards Committee (SC-05-05) working on this subject. He tirelessly tours the world giving seminars and dispensing information on how to successfully hook-up pro audio equipment 2 . He makes the simple point that it is absurd that you cannot go out and buy pro audio equipment from several different manufacturers, buy standard off-the-shelf cable assemblies, come home, hook it all up and have it work hum and noise free. Plug and play. Sadly, almost never is this the case, despite the science and rules of noise-free interconnect known and documented for over 60 years (see References for complete information).
Since standard XLR cables come with their shields tied to pin 1 at each end (the shells are not tied, nor need be), this means equipment using 3-pin, XLR-type connectors must tie pin 1 to the chassis (usually called chassis ground) — not the audio signal ground as is most common. Not using signal ground is the most radical departure from common pro-audio practice. Not that there is any argument about its validity. There isn’t. This is the right way to do it. So why doesn’t audio equipment come wired this way? Well, some does, and since 1993, more of it does. So why doesn’t everyone do it this way? Because life is messy, some things are hard to change, and there will always be equipment in use that was made before proper grounding practices were in effect.
Unbalanced equipment is another problem: it is everywhere, easily available and inexpensive. All those RCA and ¼" TS connectors found on consumer equipment; effect- loops and insert-points on consoles; signal processing boxes; semi-pro digital and analog tape recorders; computer cards; mixing consoles…
Unbalanced equipment when "blindly" connected with fully balanced units starts a pattern of hum and undesirable operation, requiring extra measures to correct the situation.

THE NEXT BEST RIGHT WAY TO DO IT

The quickest, quietest and most foolproof method to connect balanced and unbalanced is to transformer isolate all unbalanced connections. Many manufacturers provide several tools for this task, including Rane. Consult your audio dealer to explore the options available.
The goal of these adaptors is to allow the use of standard cables. With these transformer isolation boxes, modification of cable assemblies is unnecessary. Virtually any two pieces of audio equipment can be successfully interfaced without risk of unwanted hum and noise.
Another way to create the necessary isolation is to use a direct box. Originally named for its use to convert the high impedance, high level output of an electric guitar to the low impedance, low level input of a recording console, it allowed the player to plug "directly" into the console. Now this term is commonly used to describe any box used to convert unbalanced lines to balanced lines.

THE LAST BEST RIGHT WAY TO DO IT

If transformer isolation is not an option, special cable assemblies are a last resort. The key here is to prevent the shield currents from flowing into a unit whose grounding scheme creates ground loops (hum) in the audio path (i.e., most audio equipment).
It is true that connecting both ends of the shield is theoretically the best way to interconnect equipment –though this assumes the interconnected equipment is internally grounded properly. Since most equipment is not internally grounded properly, connecting both ends of the shield is not often practiced, since doing so usually creates noisy interconnections.
A common solution to these noisy hum and buzz problems involves disconnecting one end of the shield, even though one can not buy off-the-shelf cables with the shield disconnected at one end. The best end to disconnect is a matter of personal preference and should be religiously obeyed; choose inputs or outputs and always lift the side you choose. If one end of the shield is disconnected, the noisy hum current stops flowing and away goes the hum — but only at low frequencies. A one-end-only shield connection increases the possibility of high frequency (radio) interference since the shield may act as an antenna. Many reduce this potential RF interference by providing an RF path through a small capacitor (0.1 or 0.01 microfarad ceramic disc) connected from the lifted end of the shield to the chassis. The fact that many modern day installers still follow this one-end-only rule with consistent success indicates this and other acceptable solutions to RF issues exist, though the increasing use of digital and wireless technology greatly increases the possibility of future RF problems.
If you’ve truly isolated your hum problem to a specific unit, chances are, even though the documentation indicates proper chassis grounded shields, the suspect unit is not internally grounded properly.

GROUND LIFTS

Many units come equipped with ground lift switches. In only a few cases can it be shown that a ground lift switch improves ground related noise. (Has a ground lift switch ever really worked for you?) In reality, the presence of a ground lift switch greatly reduces a unit’s ability to be "properly" grounded and therefore immune to ground loop hums and buzzes. Ground lifts are simply another Band-Aid ® to try in case of grounding problems. It is, however, true that an entire system of properly grounded equipment, without ground lift switches, is guaranteed (yes guaranteed) to be hum free. The problem is most equipment is not (both internally and externally, AC system wise) grounded properly.
Most units with ground lifts are shipped so the unit is "grounded" — meaning the chassis is connected to audio signal ground. (This should be the best and is the "safest" position for a ground lift switch.) If after hooking up your system it exhibits excessive hum or buzzing, there is an incompatibility somewhere in the system’s grounding configuration. In addition to these special cable assemblies that may help, here are some more things to try:

FLOATING, PSEUDO, AND QUASI-BALANCING

During inspection, you may run across a ¼" output called floating unbalanced, sometimes also called psuedo-balanced or quasi-balanced. In this configuration, the sleeve of the output stage is not connected inside the unit and the ring is connected (usually through a small resistor) to the audio signal ground. This allows the tip and ring to "appear" as an equal impedance, not-quite balanced output stage, even though the output circuitry is unbalanced.
Floating unbalanced often works to drive either a balanced or unbalanced input, depending if a TS or TRS standard cable is plugged into it. When it hums, a special cable is required.

SUMMARY

If you are unable to do things correctly (i.e. use fully balanced wiring with shields tied to the chassis at the point of entry, or transformer isolate all unbalanced signals from balanced signals) then there is no guarantee that a hum free interconnect can be achieved, nor is there a definite scheme that will assure noise free operation in all configurations.

WINNING THE WIRING WARS

REFERENCES:

Band-Aid is a registered trademark of Johnson & Johnson
RANE NOTES are available from Rane at http://www.rane.com and are often supplied with the products sold. There is now a full version HTML file link at Rane of this article

Comments from Joe


In the field, I have found some products to use XLR connections wire as Quasi-Balanced. This can be a hidden monster that can be a hummer of a problem.

Also, some wire fixes and direct boxes can lower the sign between units by 6dB. Often a person will connect mixer - balanced out to an unbalanced EQ. Depending on how you wire it, you will loose 6dB or more. Then you go from the unbalanced EQ to a balanced amplifier. Again, you loose 6dB. When you fire up such a system, don’t be surprise if there are hissing sounds from gain noise problems. This comes from having to increase volume at the mixer, which can be pushing the limits of its output gain.
If you have any other suggestions for this article, send your e-mail to: jdb@jdbsound.com
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