Unbalanced to Balanced ?

[Chris]

My guitar pre-amp has no balanced output .
The main amp I want to use only has a balanced input .
Input instructions of the main amp say :
Tip - hot .
Ring - Return .
Sleeve - Earth .

I guess my only option is to connect the pair with a standard mono jack to
jack .
Tip - hot , Sleeve - Earth/Return .

Will this be OK ?
What am I going to lose out on ?

Thanks

Chris

 

[Ban]

My guitar pre-amp has no balanced output .
The main amp I want to use only has a balanced input .
Input instructions of the main amp say :
Tip - hot .
Ring - Return .
Sleeve - Earth .

I guess my only option is to connect the pair with a standard mono
jack to jack .
Tip - hot , Sleeve - Earth/Return .

Will this be OK ?
What am I going to lose out on ?

yep, you can try first like you said. But if there is a hum in the line
because of some ground loop, it will be better to use a DI-box. This box
contains a small transformer, so both amps are galvanically isolated.

 

[Bob Masta]

My guitar pre-amp has no balanced output .
The main amp I want to use only has a balanced input .
Input instructions of the main amp say :
Tip - hot .
Ring - Return .
Sleeve - Earth .

I guess my only option is to connect the pair with a standard mono jack to
jack .
Tip - hot , Sleeve - Earth/Return .

Will this be OK ?
What am I going to lose out on ?

Chris, are you sure the amp input instructions
are really talking about a true balanced input,
or maybe just a normal single-ended input
with a separate shield? The shield would
then be connected to ground at only one
end to prevent ground loops.

Best regards,


Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

D A Q A R T A
Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
www.daqarta.com
Home of DaqGen, the FREEWARE signal generator

 

[Kitchen Man]

My guitar pre-amp has no balanced output .
The main amp I want to use only has a balanced input .
Input instructions of the main amp say :
Tip - hot .
Ring - Return .
Sleeve - Earth .

I guess my only option is to connect the pair with a standard mono jack to
jack .
Tip - hot , Sleeve - Earth/Return .

I wouldn't do it that way. Connect tip-to-tip unbalanced-to-balanced,
connect the sleeve of the preamp to the ring of the main, and leave
the sleeve of the main floating at the preamp. Use shielded
twisted-pair for the connection. As another poster mentioned, the
best way is to use transformer isolation, but I think you don't have
that option. If you tie "earth" and "return" together in the
connecting wire, you will probably have a ground current loop, and
hence, hum.

 

[Kitchen Man]

Use shielded
twisted-pair for the connection.

A clarification - you can use triax, if that's what you already have.
The point is that you use a three-conductor transmission line. I
don't think cable characteristic impedance will be a problem with your
planned low frequencies and short runs.