AES New York 2009
Master Class M6

Monday, October 12, 2:30 pm — 4:30 pm

M6 - Bill Whitlock

Presenter:
Bill Whitlock

Abstract:
The Design Of High-Performance Balanced Audio Interfaces

High signal-to-noise ratio is an important goal for most audio systems. However, AC power connections unavoidably create ground voltage differences, magnetic fields, and electric fields. Balanced interfaces, in theory, are totally immune to such interference. For 50 years, virtually all audio equipment used transformers at its balanced inputs and outputs. Their high noise rejection was taken for granted and the reason for it all but forgotten. The transformer’s extremely high common-mode impedance—about a thousand times that of its solid-state “equivalents”—is the reason. Traditional input stages will be discussed and compared. A novel IC that compares favorably to the best transformers will be described. Widespread misunderstanding of the meaning of “balanced” as well as the underlying theory has resulted in all-too-common design mistakes in modern equipment and seriously flawed testing methods. Therefore, noise rejection in today’s real-world systems is often inadequate or marginal. Other topics will include tradeoffs in output stage design, effects of non-ideal cables, and the “pin 1 problem.”