Unbalanced

In electronics, a condition where the two legs of the circuit are unbalanced with respect to ground, usually because one leg is kept at ground potential. In other words: An audio signal requires two wires or conductors to function. In an unbalanced situation, one of those conductors is used to carry both signal and ground (shield). Unbalanced circuits tend to be less expensive to construct, but they are much more susceptible to induced noise problems than their balanced counterparts. This is because any induced noise in one conductor is not canceled by similar noise in the other conductor (as in a balanced line) and may be carried with signal into connected equipment. In general, unbalanced lines should be kept as short as possible (certainly under 25-30′ maximum) to minimize potential noise problems.