ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Voice - Data - Video Discussion "Line level" audio on Cat 5?

That's the key to what makes it work. Audio source and destination equipment MUST be balanced. Stuff that's unbalanced must be made so with transformers or balanced-to-unbalanced amplifiers.

I helped wire a four-station cluster in 2006. Audio interconnects between studios and the rack room were made with overall-shielded 25-pair CAT5 cables. AES/EBU digital audio was sent over the same cables, since the impedance of AES audio gear (110-ohm for the balanced version) is essentially the same as CAT5 cable.