To learn everything you need to know about balanced vs. unbalanced see Rane Technical paper #110 at http://www.rane.com/library.html It is the most informative article I have ever read on the subject and is MUST reading for anyone with a ground loop. Rane also makes a great unit called a Balance Buddy that converts unbalanced inputs/outputs to balanced inputs/outputs. If you need long interconect runs (> 3 meters) and dont have balanced input/outputs it is the way to go. Cost about $220 wholesale.
