The Rane BB 44X Balance Buddy is a handy professional-grade tool used to convert and provide isolation for unbalanced -10 dBV consumer level RCA outputs up to balanced +4 dBu professional XLR inputs -- and vice-versa. Two channels each way, or a stereo pair each way (however you prefer to think about it). The BB 44X converts one pair from -10 dBV to +4 dBu and another pair from +4 dBu to -10 dBV simultaneously. There are two female and two male XLR connectors, and four RCA jacks.

Unbalanced lines should always be kept to 10 feet or less to prevent undesireable effects such as hum and noise. The BB 44X allows conversion to balanced lines that can be run across a studio or a house without loss of signal quality. For instance, a stereo tape recorder with RCA connectors attaches easily--inputs and outputs--to one BB 44X, allowing record source and playback amplifiers to be in another room.

Signal-to-noise performance is perfectly preserved using the BB 44X, since it uses only passive transformers to convert signal levels. It adds no additional noise whatsoever. Use of professional quality nickel core ("80" Ni) transformers guarantee low distortion, wide bandwidth and high signal level handling capability.

The BB 44X's isolation transformers provide a quick and affordable answer to most jobs requiring signal level conversion and output balancing.