Step Up to This Balanced Turntable Connection for Upgraded Vinyl Playback
Pro-Ject's Connect it Phono DS with mini XLR termination connects turntables with balanced outputs to compatible preamps and other gear. It's ideal for Pro-Ject's latest balanced-output turntables.
A balanced signal originating from a moving coil (MC) phono cartridge remains balanced through the tonearm and over to the junction box with a balanced mini XLR output. This gives you the option of sending that balanced signal to a phono stage with a mini XLR input. Connect it Phono DS mini XLR to mini XLR able features flexible oxygen-free copper conductors with silver-plated copper connectors and a low capacitance of 90pF, which is ideal for phono.
As an example, after you've upgraded to an MC cartridge, Connect it Phono DS with mini XLR termination carries the balanced signal from turntables like X1 B and X2 B to phono preamps such as Phono Box DS3 B. However, any turntable and preamp combo with mini XLR jacks can be paired with Connect it Phono DS.
We All Need Balance
In the early days of music recording and reproduction, balanced operation was necessary for reducing noise. Balanced is how it began. As demand increased for easier, more affordable at-home listening, unbalanced (RCA) connections were developed and implemented for cost-cutting and ease-of-manufacture. Balanced connection in music reproduction became a thing reserved for the high-end.’ For Pro-Ject, the question became, "Why not position our customers to hear the difference?
Balanced connections are common among professionals in recording studios and at live events where it's critical to have a stable, interference-free connection. The same applies to the connection from your turntable to your phono preamp. The main advantage in taking the balanced approach is the removal of accrued noise and interference from the phono signal.
What Do I Need to Get There?
How do you achieve balanced phono signal? You need an MC phono cartridge, a balanced turntable output, a balanced cable, and a phono stage with a corresponding balanced input. MC cartridges are inherently balanced (isolated signal from ground), while their MM counterparts are grounded internally and should only be used with single-ended (RCA) connections. Pro-Ject ships most of its turntables with Sumiko MM cartridges and RCA/ground cables for hi-fi out of the box, allowing you to upgrade to the balanced experience when the time is right.
Balanced Basics
A balanced signal accrues noise just like an unbalanced one. How it's handled by the circuit is where the magic happens. Read on for a quick dive into the basics.
A balanced signal includes positive and negative conductors as well as a grounding conductor (per channel). In terms of electrical polarity, the positive and negative signals are inverted copies of one another, that inversion rendering them electrically different as it pertains the balanced circuit. Interference hits the positive and negative conductors identically, so noise artifacts are the same in the eyes of said circuit.
"Common-Mode Rejection" is implemented by the balanced circuit's differential amplifier, cancelling (rejecting) what's identical (the noise) and leaving the gate open for what's different (the inverted positive and negative signals). Then, only the negative component is inverted to perfectly match the positive one, increasing signal amplitude without the noise!
With noise eradicated, expect a new degree of depth to the sound stage, allowing more detail to emerge along with wildly heightened dynamics. Truly, your favorite records offer more than meets the ear, and Pro-Ject's mission is to deliver the full extent of what you've been missing.
