Unbalanced inputs are sometimes seen as offering lower quality than balanced (XLR) inputs; but how true is that? Let's try a handful of recorders which have both types of input, to see how they compare.

Balanced vs. Unbalanced


The test rig, with the F6 recording the NT5s, the DR-701 (below frame) recording the 3.5mm Clippys, and the DR-100 recording from the XLR Clippys.

Testing balanced vs. unbalanced mics is tricky. The mics may be different; even if they have the same capsules, the internal electronics may be different. And a given recorder will have different input electronics for its unbalanced and balanced inputs. So it's hard to know what you're getting from a comparison.

Still, it may be useful to get an idea of what the tradeoffs are, so here's an attempt, using two different recorders. The mics are all Micbooster Clippy EM172 mics; one pair having balanced XLR connections, and the other pair unbalanced 3.5mm. They mics were in near-identical AB setups, as you can see in the picture. They were tested against each other recording into both the DR-100 and the DR-701.

Once again, each recording was boosted in post to -24LUFS. The recorders, mics, and the amount of boost applied are shown here:

Recorder Mic Boost
DR-100 Micbooster 3.5mm Clippy EM172 +13.83 dB
DR-100 Micbooster XLR Clippy EM172 +8.79 dB
DR-701 Micbooster 3.5mm Clippy EM172 +29.54 dB
DR-701 Micbooster XLR Clippy EM172 +12.72 dB

Here are 1-minute excerpts from the recordings.

Tascam DR-100 MKIII Unbalanced
The Tascam DR-100 MKIII, recording two Micbooster 3.5mm Clippy EM172s in an AB pair.

Tascam DR-100 MKIII Balanced
The Tascam DR-100 MKIII, recording two Micbooster XLR Clippy EM172s in an AB pair.

Tascam DR-701 Unbalanced
The Tascam DR-701, recording two Micbooster 3.5mm Clippy EM172s in an AB pair.

Tascam DR-701 Balanced
The Tascam DR-701, recording two Micbooster XLR Clippy EM172s in an AB pair.