How to set up my monitors?

[AndrewB]

This may be a dumb question, but I've been mixing on headphones so far, and I've never used studio monitors before. I just got my first pair of studio monitors (Equator D5's), and I don't know how to set them up. They have XLR and TRS inputs, and neither my computer nor my interface (Tascam US-144) have those outputs. Which of these outputs would be more favorable, and is there any way I can set them up without using some kind of adapter (which would decrease sound quality, right)? Do I just have to get a new interface or mixer?

 

[006]

Get an interface that has one or the other for monitor outputs. Neither is really better than the other, they are the same thing except how they are connected. I use XLR for my monitors, but have used TRS in the past with no issues.

 

[Terminus]

The adapter in question would only be a RCA to 1/4" TRS jack (or RCA to XLR), so the sound quality probably won't be much worse than it already has to be using unbalanced outs/ins (which is what your interface has, unbalanced RCA outs). But like 006 said, you've got the monitoring, now go for the new interface with balanced outs. But those adapters are so cheap it wouldnt hurt to have them in the meantime.

 

[AndrewB]

So ideally a new interface would be better, but using adapters wouldn't hurt the sound quality too much because RCA and XLR/TRS are both unbalanced?

 

[mva801]

No... XLR and TRS ARE balanced. You'll be using an adapter to go from unbalanced to balanced, but you'll get by that way ok. They even sell a cable on the equator website you could use to go from the headphone out of your interface to the D5's, or you can get RCA > TRS cables/ adapters.

But yes you'll probably want a bit better of an interface before too long which has balanced outs.

 

[arv_foh]

My duet has unbalanced outs and I've honestly never had a single issue with it. You could either get RCA to 1/4" cables or get a stereo trs to to dual TS cable that you could use with the headphone jack. There will probably not be a distinguishable difference in audio quality when choosing one or the other.

 

[vespiz]

Some even argue that unbalanced lines are better since there are no extra components in the signal path.

Be that as it may, just keep your cables as short as possible and avoid (ie. cable not touching) large transformers or anything else that might cause hum and/or interference to the signal.