Hello Everyone!
I’m a part-time repair technician and I was recently tasked with re-capping a Focusrite ISA220. As a matter of diligence I got the calibration procedure and started working my way through.
Everything went smoothly until I realized that I don’t have a good way of generating a balanced +20dBu signal (1kHz sine) with my current function generator (caps out at 20Vpp), so I figured it is time to invest in a proper audio analyzer. I recalled seeing Shahriar’s review on The Signal Path and so I figured I would pop in here and ask some questions before pushing the “Buy” button.
Please bear with me, as I am sure some of these questions are likely to be cringe-inducing. This is a level of audio repair that I haven’t stepped into, as I typically deal with Eurorack modules, 4U, and the occasional keyboard synth, so my Rigol function generator and scope are usually sufficient for testing purposes.
Here we go!
Can this unit safely supply +20dBu? I read some other posts and it seems like it’s pushing the hardware pretty hard, but again I am new to this subject so learning what gear will tolerate (and how everything is measured: dBu, dBV, etc.) has been surprising. I would hate to damage it by pushing it too hard.
What sort of adapters should I invest in so I can go from BNC to balanced XLR? I’ve seen adapters and what appear to be hand-built dual-BNC-to-XLR cables, but I would like to know what best practices are for reliable signals in and out of the analyzer.
Are there other resources that I should look into to better inform myself? I know I could just Google it, but there’s so much stuff out there that I would very much appreciate a bit of guidance.
Thank you for any help!