XLR to RCA cable


Hello,
My new phono preamp has both balanced and single ended outputs, but my line premap has only single ended inputs. I'm wondering whether there would be any sonic advantage to running an XLR-RCA cable from the phono preamp to the line preamp, such as this Mogami. I'd prefer not to waste money if there is a clear answer. Thank you.

XLR-RCA
actusreus

Showing 1 response by almarg

Hi Marek,

I agree with Albert that using the adapter cable would be unlikely to provide any benefit.

Also, the XLR connector on the cable you linked to is the wrong gender. "XLRM" means that it is a male connector, which can also be determined from the photo. XLR outputs on components are always, or at least almost always, male, so the connector on a mating cable would have to be female (XLR-F). It is the opposite for XLR inputs, which is what this cable would be used for.

Finally, I would not purchase an XLR-F to RCA adapter or adapter cable without verifying that it does NOT connect XLR pin 3 to ground (the RCA ground sleeve and XLR pin 1). That SHOULD be (and usually is) done in an adapter or adapter cable that would be used to adapt to an XLR input, but for reasons that are unfathomable to me it is usually also done on adapters (and perhaps also adapter cables) having XLR-F connectors, that would be used on XLR outputs. That would result in one of the two output signals in the balanced signal pair being shorted to ground. A lot of equipment can tolerate that, but some cannot. Here is one example.

Best,
-- Al