driving distance for prosumer models

[zaphod]

i've been trying to get my new room built which will have a HT system and a sonic frontiers Line Two preamp (with bypass) for the two channel side.

i'm having trouble placing the equipment, and one set up has the reels (B77, Tascam 32 and Teac 2234) sitting in view. nice.

but the distance from those units to the preamp will be about 40 feet.

one of the 10" will feed through a dbx type I machine that pushes balanced out (the Line Two has balanced in) but the other 10" will be running that 40 all single ended.

The little Teac will hit an outboard dolby before the pre, but again that will be a single ended run.


how far can a standard pro/consumer machine push single ended signal? and will the dbx/dolby units have better push? my electronics isn't strong enough to look at the voltages and know the answer.

i will however be running goo quality unbalanced cable that i build from Canare star quad with the braid detached at on end only.

thanks.

[steveidosound]

AFAIK it's a matter of output source impedance and cable capacitance per foot. In general I would guess that 40' would still work.
 The older the machine and the thinner the cable the more likely you will have issues with frequency response and noise.
A tube machine, even with cathode follower output would probably not work well. I am guessing that all your prosumer machines and outboard noise reduction units, being of similar vintage, have similar output level and source impedance.
Why not listen with a good short cable in a temporary setup, then swap for the 40' ad see if you notice a difference?
I would not leave the braid shield disconnected on one end unless the wire you are using  allows a "quasi-balanced" setup where there are either 2 center wires (like balanced cable) or some sort of dual isolated inner and outer braid shields.

[zaphod]

thanks Steve,

the starquad mic cable has 4 22Ga multistrand conductors. the two blues are twisted together and also the two whites. then the two pairs are twisted together. the whole thing is then wrapped in cotten and then a braid.

i take the two blues for signal and the two whites for ground and then attach the braid to one end for a directioned interconnect. so i'm not leaving the ground open ;)  i use this recipe for all my interconnects, even in the wall. using mic cable like this also lets me convert to balanced on the in wall cable by replacing the RCA with XLR wall sockets.

this make very very quiet cables, and solved a few hum issues i had using infinitely crappy cables for long runs.

cheers