[RonP]

Hey Guys!

I need a "thing"! A piece of gear that is super transparent. A gizmo really.

I'm currently doing PhonoStage --> Digital Recorder --> Pre-Amp all via fully balanced XLR connectors. But when I do that, it ends up doing A/D/D/A.

Since I can't easily add a tape output on my preamp,  I'm thinking I just need to split the signal as it comes out of the phono stage. One leg will go to the preamp and the other to the digital recorder. But I don't want to use a Y-splitter cable.

I know there are boxes like this: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/471984-REG/RDL_RU_MLD4_RU_MLD4_1x4_Mic_Line.html

But the quality is unknown. I'm looking for a similar device. Is there a piece of gear that can do this and do it WELL. Like something on the level that Danny + crew at GR Research would find it transparent??

It's worth it to me to pay a few hundred bucks if need be.

I'm thinking Danny Jaytor or Tyson might have some ideas 

[tomchr]

If you're OK with a little DIY work, this could be an option: https://neurochrome.com/products/universal-buffer

Connect the two inputs in parallel. That gives you a single balanced input and two balanced outputs. You also get two unbalanced outputs as the Buffer has both balanced and unbalanced output. You can use both the balanced and the unbalanced outputs at the same time if desired.

You'd need one Buffer per channel, so two are needed for stereo.

Tom

[EdwardT]

Another diy option would be to contact Jensen Transformers and get a pair of one to two balancing transformers. You’d also need a box and 6 xlrs, but you knew that.

[mlundy57]

This is what I use. It is a splitter, and it works just fine. Since it's DIY you can use whatever connectors and wire you want. This one uses Furutech wire and XLR connectors. 2 in on one side and 4 out on the other.

[RonP]

Thanks guys!

Mike, where can I get this case??

[Jaytor]

Why don't you want to use a Y-splitter cable? Assuming that the digital recorder and preamp both have reasonably high input impedance and you don't need long cables, a Y-splitter is going to have fewer connectors in the path and should be more transparent than building a box with input and output connectors, adding an extra two connectors and two solder joints to the mix.

If you are willing to DIY a solution (such as the mentioned box), building your own Y-splitter cable is not hard and you can use nice quality connectors and cable.

[RonP]

Why don't you want to use a Y-splitter cable? Assuming that the digital recorder and preamp both have reasonably high input impedance and you don't need long cables, a Y-splitter is going to have fewer connectors in the path and should be more transparent than building a box with input and output connectors, adding an extra two connectors and two solder joints to the mix.

If you are willing to DIY a solution (such as the mentioned box), building your own Y-splitter cable is not hard and you can use nice quality connectors and cable.

Mainly based on my assumptions about signal degradation and ohm load change. But I'm far from an expert in these things. I also have not settled on a cable vendor as of yet as I upgrade beyond Blue Jeans Cables.

I'm all ears to change my ways if I'm doing something dumb. 

[Jaytor]

As long as the parallel impedance of the digital recorder and preamp are on the order of 20x or more than the output impedance of the photo preamp, you should be fine driving both in parallel without additional buffering.

For example, if your digital recorder has an input impedance of 40K ohms and your preamp has as an input impedance of 100K ohms, the parallel impedance will be 1/(1/40K+1/100K) = 28.6K. If the output impedance of your phono preamp is less than ~1500 ohms, you should be fine with modest length cables (less than 2M). These numbers are just an example.

I've been pretty impressed with the DH Labs Pro Studio cable. I've made a bunch of longish (7-8M) DIY balanced interconnects to use between my preamp and monoblock amps, and this was my favorite. Some of the others I tried were Blue Jeans Belden, Connex "The Natural", Neotech NEI-3001 Mk III. The only cable that I tried that bettered the Pro Studio was the Iconoclast 4x4 UP-OCC which is much more expensive (and is incredibly stiff).

[RonP]

As long as the parallel impedance of the digital recorder and preamp are on the order of 20x or more than the output impedance of the photo preamp, you should be fine driving both in parallel without additional buffering.

For example, if your digital recorder has an input impedance of 40K ohms and your preamp has as an input impedance of 100K ohms, the parallel impedance will be 1/(1/40K+1/100K) = 28.6K. If the output impedance of your phono preamp is less than ~1500 ohms, you should be fine with modest length cables (less than 2M). These numbers are just an example.

I've been pretty impressed with the DH Labs Pro Studio cable. I've made a bunch of longish (7-8M) DIY balanced interconnects to use between my preamp and monoblock amps, and this was my favorite. Some of the others I tried were Blue Jeans Belden, Connex "The Natural", Neotech NEI-3001 Mk III. The only cable that I tried that bettered the Pro Studio was the Iconoclast 4x4 UP-OCC which is much more expensive (and is incredibly stiff).

That's a lot of really good info! Thanks Jaytor. Those lengths are actually longer than I would have expected.

I'm looking at 2m to the digital recorder and about 2.5m to the preamp. Not much I can do about these lengths either.

and yeah.. the Iconclast stuff is real expensive!

[la80vette]

Option perhaps,
Radial Engineering LX-2 or LX-3 Transformer Balanced Line Splitter.
About $250

[RonP]

Option perhaps,
Radial Engineering LX-2 or LX-3 Transformer Balanced Line Splitter.
About $250

oh! This looks very good. Thank you kind sir!

[corndog71]

FWIW, Iconoclast makes a budget friendly version called BAV which uses the same patented design but with more flexible and cheaper dielectrics.  I replaced all of my Kimber and Blue Jeans interconnects with them.