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RCA to XLR converter

post #1 of 23
7/19/07 at 6:55pm
Thread Starter 
Any suggestions for a quick and easy RCA -> XLR box? I know the Art Cleanbox works and Chasw98 is coming out with a mysterious black box to solve all the world's problems; so is there anything else out there besides these two that convert RCA to XLR and maybe even boost the signal a bit?
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post #2 of 23
7/19/07 at 6:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crackyflipside View Post

Any suggestions for a quick and easy RCA -> XLR box? I know the Art Cleanbox works and Chasw98 is coming out with a mysterious black box to solve all the world's problems; so is there anything else out there besides these two that convert RCA to XLR and maybe even boost the signal a bit?

I just got an RCA to XLR adapter from Guitar Center.
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post #3 of 23
7/19/07 at 7:00pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spezzy View Post

I just got an RCA to XLR adapter from Guitar Center.

Does it boost the signal or just convert it?

How much did it cost you?
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post #4 of 23
7/19/07 at 7:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crackyflipside View Post

Does it boost the signal or just convert it?

How much did it cost you?

Don't know if it boosts the signal or not, but I think it does as I run my reciever at -10db and the amplifier at the 12 oclock position to be a few dB hot of 85db ref.
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post #5 of 23
7/19/07 at 7:32pm
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SConvert/

Here is the tech document:

http://www.samsontech.com/products/r...%20Convert.pdf
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post #6 of 23
7/19/07 at 7:55pm
Anyone know if there is rolloff with this one? Has anyone tested it yet?
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post #7 of 23
7/19/07 at 8:08pm
Not that I know (the testing).

The specs do claim 10Hz, but hell..they don't say if it is down at 10Hz by __ or flat to it...so we dunno.
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post #8 of 23
7/19/07 at 8:08pm
The samson is too noisey for me. It introduced lots of hiss. It might just be this one is out of spec. I don't know. It costs the same as the Art cleanBox. So I was thinking of getting one of those and see if the noise is lower.
BTW the Samson has level control from infinite -to +6db.
Edit:
The overall sound is good. the noise is just there when the music is not playing. I am useing a PC for music so maybe it is not liking the sound card. I am going to run my cd player directly into the converter and see if the noise goes away. I will check back in.
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post #9 of 23
7/19/07 at 8:41pm
Well, if you only need to convert XLR to RCA or visa versa, you could just make your own cable. Worked great for my preout to my ep2500, only ~$10.
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post #10 of 23
7/19/07 at 8:56pm
It is the Samson converter. no matter how I connect it it makes noise.
In response to Gir_1337.
It is also about converting a -10db unbalanced signal to a +4db balanced signal. Your consumer audio is down 14db from Pro gear. so that extra 14db won't make it to the amp. Running my CD directly to the amp without the converter I can run the amp gain to 25% and get fairly loud. with the converter (set to 0db) I cant set the gain higher than a couple of detents. (3 out of 41) before it is as loud...
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post #11 of 23
7/19/07 at 9:01pm
Oh yeah, You can get all kinds of RCA to XLR or TRS cables from Sweetwater. This works fine if you don't need to drive the amp to full power.
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post #12 of 23
7/19/07 at 9:05pm
Thanks for your experience Forte.

There are of course a bunch of other RCA-XLR boxes out there, its just that some are fairly expensive.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--WHRPCDI

Review: http://www.proaudioreview.com/par/au..._Direct2.shtml
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post #13 of 23
7/20/07 at 4:53am
I was looking for something myself and was told about the the one below. Right now I just purchased a "RCA / XLR (Canare®) 6FT to XLR Male (Balanced)" cable and am using that from my BFD to a Crown XTi.

Rane BB 22 Balance Buddy
http://www.rane.com/bb22.html
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post #14 of 23
7/20/07 at 6:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by crackyflipside View Post

Any suggestions for a quick and easy RCA -> XLR box? I know the Art Cleanbox works and Chasw98 is coming out with a mysterious black box to solve all the world's problems; so is there anything else out there besides these two that convert RCA to XLR and maybe even boost the signal a bit?

Chris:
There are 3 ways to do this. One is to just wire a cable properly and make an adapter. You get no signal boost but it is inexpensive and does not affect the fidelity. Second, a transformer can be used (as in the Rane BB22 mentioned) and that will passively boost the signal from -10 to +4. Costs more, no power needed, but depends upon the quality of the transformer. A good Jensen transformer can cost $500.00! The third way is with an active circuit that needs power like the Art Cleanbox. These can range from very inexpensive (like the Art) to costing well over $1,00.00 used in a studio environment. Usually you get what you pay for in terms of performance here. A combination of transformer and active are also used. It is very easy to build your own converter with very, very good specifications using an IC and some capacitors, but, you will need to solder and provide a bipolar 15 volt supply.

The bottom line is that if you go looking for the price of the Art Cleanbox, you will probably get Art specifications in any device at that price point. One idea would be to look on eBay in the pro gear area and see if there is a used piece of gear that has unbalanced inputs and balanced outputs. As long as you put the unit in bypass, you should still get the desired boost from -10 to +4 but with good fidelity. An older pro equalizer is a good example of something that might come with balanced and unbalanced ins and outs that might serve your purpose.




Or you could come over to my house one weekend and we will put one together for ya' in a couple of hours.

Chuck
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post #15 of 23
7/20/07 at 9:41am
I'm building a RCA to XLR converter with a highpass filter. It found a bipolar power supply and DVR134 IC and Low THD OP amp for about $20. A real simple design, will be putting it together this weekend.
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post #16 of 23
7/20/07 at 10:55am
This is a good read:
http://www.rane.com/note110.html
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post #17 of 23
7/20/07 at 12:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Forte_II View Post

This is a good read:
http://www.rane.com/note110.html

Good find!
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post #18 of 23
7/20/07 at 6:02pm
I'm missing something here...

I've looked at the specs of lots of pro amps and lots of "consumer" amps. The input sensitivity doesn't seem that much different on average. For instance, a common pro amp used in HT is the Crown 402. It's input sensitivity is 1.25V. My Yamaha M-80 consumer amp is input sensitivity 1.55V.

Many of the big pro amps have 1.2V input settings, and many mid-range pro amps are still around 1.5V for full output.

What am I missing in the apparent need people have for signal boost from these boxes?
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post #19 of 23
7/20/07 at 6:12pm
preamp.
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post #20 of 23
7/20/07 at 6:20pm
Preamp?

I can hardly imagine that any pre/pro has less than several Volts of output capability - that's the part that's got me.

Besides, if the typical consumer amp has around 1.2 - 1.5V input sensitivity, why would a pro amp with similar input sensitivity require a boost box?

I don't hear about people adding external consumer amps needing any kind of boost box.
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post #21 of 23
7/20/07 at 6:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chasw98 View Post

Chris:
There are 3 ways to do this. One is to just wire a cable properly and make an adapter. You get no signal boost but it is inexpensive and does not affect the fidelity. Second, a transformer can be used (as in the Rane BB22 mentioned) and that will passively boost the signal from -10 to +4. Costs more, no power needed, but depends upon the quality of the transformer. A good Jensen transformer can cost $500.00! The third way is with an active circuit that needs power like the Art Cleanbox. These can range from very inexpensive (like the Art) to costing well over $1,00.00 used in a studio environment. Usually you get what you pay for in terms of performance here. A combination of transformer and active are also used. It is very easy to build your own converter with very, very good specifications using an IC and some capacitors, but, you will need to solder and provide a bipolar 15 volt supply.

The bottom line is that if you go looking for the price of the Art Cleanbox, you will probably get Art specifications in any device at that price point. One idea would be to look on eBay in the pro gear area and see if there is a used piece of gear that has unbalanced inputs and balanced outputs. As long as you put the unit in bypass, you should still get the desired boost from -10 to +4 but with good fidelity. An older pro equalizer is a good example of something that might come with balanced and unbalanced ins and outs that might serve your purpose.




Or you could come over to my house one weekend and we will put one together for ya' in a couple of hours.

Chuck

Thanks for the very good info Chuck, don't worry, I'll build a magical black box soon!

I was thinking of rca to xlr for my main speakers because I think instead of spending a few grand on a single multichannel amp, I will end up buying an amplified reciever then ep2500's and slowly building up to 4 of them to power the speakers and sell the AV reciever and get a good pre/pro. I got plenty of space in the eqpt room to do so.

The theater is coming along, al the pre-inspection drywall is up finally!
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post #22 of 23
7/20/07 at 10:12pm
Quote:
The theater is coming along, al the pre-inspection drywall is up finally!

Pictures!!!

Oh, and I'm sure you'll be fine with the RCA to XLR cables. The ones I built (belden 1694a) sound really great, and I don't need a signal boost at all.
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post #23 of 23
7/21/07 at 8:25am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gir_1337 View Post

Pictures!!!

Oh, and I'm sure you'll be fine with the RCA to XLR cables. The ones I built (belden 1694a) sound really great, and I don't need a signal boost at all.

They are up, check the link in the sig.
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