Hello James.

Yes. XLR, RCA/phono & ΒΌ" Stereo jack connectors are the main connectors we use.
We mainly specify balanced connections as this means the screen part of the 
cable is used correctly.
For unbalanced connections, it gets a little more complicated for radiated rf 
immunity but can be effectively attenuated with filtering.

Regards;

Ian McBurney
Lead Compliance Engineer.

Allen & Heath Ltd.


From: James Pawson (U3C) <[email protected]>
Sent: 05 September 2018 09:17
To: McBurney, Ian <[email protected]>; [email protected]
Subject: RE: [PSES] RF immunity - audio noise in headsets

Hi Ian,

That's interesting, thanks. What connector and cable technology do your 
products end up getting used with? RCA/phono or XLR?

All the best
James


From: McBurney, Ian 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Sent: 05 September 2018 08:51
To: James Pawson (U3C) 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>; 
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: RE: [PSES] RF immunity - audio noise in headsets

Hello James.

We produce digital products with multiple analogue audio inputs and outputs and 
have to include common mode filtering on every port to reduce the 
susceptibility to radiated rf but also to attenuate the digital rf emissions 
from within the product.

Ian McBurney
Lead Compliance Engineer.

Allen & Heath Ltd.


From: James Pawson (U3C) 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Sent: 05 September 2018 08:17
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [PSES] RF immunity - audio noise in headsets

Hi Amund, hope you are well.

Some general thinking aloud follows, some of which you may have already 
considered.

I would have expected that some kind of non-linear function (e.g. diode) would 
be required to demodulate the AM RF carrier. This is unlikely to be present in 
a "dumb" speaker set but there's usually a JFET amplifier inside electret 
microphone cartridges. Therefore most of the demodulation from RF carrier to 
1kHz tone is going to take place inside the equipment.

Assuming that the equipment is not outputting audio (active but silent) to 
enable detection of any AM demodulation then it would be the effect of the RF 
carrier on the audio amplifier circuitry in the equipment that causes this 1kHz 
tone to appear. The unshielded wire from the headset is the antenna or means of 
coupling of the noise into the circuit.

It's unlikely (but still possible) that it would be noise on the ground / 
screen wire of the headset that causes the issue. More likely that the signal 
conductor is the most susceptible part of the system. This means that shielding 
of the cabling and speakers would be a main method of preventing this issue.

The shielding could be examined by disassembling a product. In my experience of 
taking audio equipment apart for this purpose the cabling is almost always some 
kind of enamelled copper wire in a twisted pair. The connections at the end 
points of the cable is where the symmetry breaks.

It also raises the question of immunity as a product quality issue rather than 
a regulatory one. Earphones / headphones are a very personal choice for many 
people. Its fine to state in the product literature that a well shielded pair 
of headphones must be used for compliance but if someone wants to wear their 
potentially less immune Beats or Sennheiser headphones and has problems as a 
result then it reflects on the product rather than the accessories.

Maybe this is why Apple have started using AirPods - no cable to worry about!

Hope some of this was useful
All the best
James



From: Amund Westin <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Sent: 05 September 2018 07:01
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: [PSES] RF immunity - audio noise in headsets


Wired headsets and microphones connected to a product, often acts as receiver 
for induced RF fields. That means you quite often hear the 1kHz modulation tone 
under the RF immunity tests. This is quite annoying for the user and above a 
certain level, not acceptable.



To avoid such phenomena is quite a big task to conduct. But have anyone of you 
any experience how to determine if the headsets / microphones or the connected 
final product is the source to this problem? 3rd. party headsets / microphones 
have of course different RF immunity performance, and after a lot of testing, 
you might be able to find headsets / microphones that are does not pick up 
fields and the hearing audio noise level is acceptable.



I assume that the final product may have great level of immunity, but as long 
the headsets / microphones has poor immunity level, you will have this audio 
problem anyway.

Has anyone been into this problem before?



BR

Amund














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Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at 
http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used 
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Allen & Heath Ltd is a registered business in England and Wales, Company 
number: 4163451. Any views expressed in this email are those of the individual 
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number: 4163451. Any views expressed in this email are those of the individual 
and not necessarily those of the company.

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