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I am pretty sure that Wadia meets this same standard. Some specs...

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Zero ohm singled-ended and less than 15 ohm balanced. Based on my limited knowledge these specs appear to be very much in line with dedicated headphone amps, right? Not only that, but the Wadia is designed to act as a digital line stage (replacing the traditional preamp in a 2 channel system). Many of the high-end headamps also claim to be able to act as a preamp. Sooooo I am hoping that the Wadia will do a credible job in this role. The only way to know is to listen

And if it sounds like crap, I'll be back to the drawing board (maybe K701s single-ended???)

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No, I bought a Y adaptor just to see if it works. I will be using female XLR with a custom Blue Dragon to drive balanced.

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I see, how much do one of those wadia players go for? Looks like it will be an interesting experiment for you.

You should probably ask for RA xlr connectors, it might be easier for you to position the cable from the back to the front of the player.

This unit is a few years old, and no longer made. The 830 retailed for about $3,000, plus I have upgrades for digital inputs and an upgraded remote control that is machined aluminum (the one used in their high-end players). So my config retailed somewhere close to $4,000, and I bought it for about $3,250 new. Used players can be had in the mid-teens.

I have not stayed real close to Wadia's latest products, but last I checked they started about $4,000 and went to $10,000.

Given the high price of audiophile CDPs and high-end balanced amps, if this does sound good it could be a good value.

Again I have not heard the 830 with good phones or balanced, so as of tonight I am simply dreaming out loud.

What are "RA xlr" connectors???

RnB180,

Can you describe the differences between a balanced and single-ended HD-650? I'm really curious to know. Thanks!

.

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even i can sorta answer this i think. you have a cable coming from the left driver, and a cable coming from the right. let's say they're dangling separately. Now terminate each one into its own mono plug - could be 1/4, xlr, whatever. Now you can plug each channel into a balanced amp - the left cable goes into the left channel which gets driven in a balanced rig by its own amp, and the same goes for the right channel. That's why most balanced rigs have two volume knobs - to attenuate each channel separately.

a single ended can smushes those two cables from your left and right drivers into one termination - let's say, the L/R of one stereo 1/4 plug. Then you plug that one plug into one single-ended amp, that drives both channels.

don't ask me what happens IN a balanced amp vs. a single ended amp tho, i have no idea!

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From Headroom's webs site...

"Technical

A typical headphone plug has three connections: left, right, and ground. The driver in each earpiece gets either the left or right drive signal on one of its terminals and the ground on the other terminal. This is called a single-ended drive scheme when one terminal is drive and the other is grounded. But there is another way to drive headphones and that is to drive both terminals of the headphone, one side with the normal drive signal and the other side with an inverted drive signal. This is called a balanced drive scheme. Headphones of this type need a special balanced headphone amplifier and special cabling and connectors. The advantage of this type of drive signal is that it has twice the effective slew rate and output power for a given signal amplitude, and the two earpieces are not sharing a common ground that can cause crosstalk.

Sound

The benefit to you of balanced cans is a much quicker and clearer sound from a particular model of headphone. Not for the feint of heart though as the associated equipment can be quite pricy."

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I dont feel Ive done enough listening with balanced 650s to make any definitive comparisons. I will however give you a short impression of what I did hear from balanced 650s.

The 650s are normally a bass monger IMO, depending on the amplifier ended amplifier signature bass response can be different IMHO.

A balanced 650s will have a dryer cleaner sound. The bass is definately neutralized. sound seems quicker to stop and go. there is a very tight control over what is allowed to play through the headphones. You hear the small things start instantly and end instantly. While single ended 650s kind o mush the two sounds together at the end of their presence.

because of such tight control of the sound, the sound stage is coherent enough to form a very convincing soundstage etched into the holographic presentation. IMO no side filters are necessary to help with the sound stage. The clarity and precision of the presentation is accurate enough to create a very clear presentation and sound stage.

Single ended 650s are a softer slower sound. Not as accurate, but still musically pleasing. It has a wider slightly more smeared soundstage. Outside filters would benefit the headphones in this regard. This would not be classified as a dryer clean sound like the balanced version, this is decribed more as a velvet chocolate type sound.

Both still enjoyable for your music, but I have never listened to a a balaned m3 so I can not comment.

cheers.

I know it's been said many times before, but there is really not a huge amount of point to a balanced M3. The active ground circuitry is fundamental to the M3 design, and does bring it closer to a balanced amplifier, though it's not perfect.

If you are considering an M3, just get a single ended version maxed out with the best caps/opamps/resistors/STEPS etc. and bias the MOSFETS and opamps to their maximum quiescent current/heat dissipation. I believe standard current for the MOSFETs is about 80mA, but at 24V you can take them up to about 160mA I believe. I'm not sure what the absolute maximum the opamps can handle is, but I don't think you could go far above 2mA. With those settings, it's an absolute killer amp for the money.

To answer the original question, my favourite balanced cable is the Equinox, by a long way. The difference between the sound of single ended and balanced will vary so much with amplifier to amplifier that it's impossible to answer, however I would caution overall that it is probably smaller than you think. I consider the differences between single ended and balanced drive on an already very good amplifier to be in the last few %. To be honest, I could live with my Balanced Home in single ended mode quite happily if I had to.

Also, you should note that a lot of people's impressions of the advantages of a balanced amplifier are not particularly accurate, because they are often comparing a stock cable single ended 650 with the necessary upgraded cable in balanced mode, and much of what they hear is the cable, not the new drive scheme.

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I would go for a balanced XLR termination if you have very long cable runs, mainly. These are of more interest to people runnig cables in home theaters and so forth to the rear channels. However, seeing as though most of us sit within feet of our headphone rigs and the fact that many componenets aren't balanced all the way through--it's not worth the extra time and trouble and $$$ to get XLR.

If you want to try something different get your analog RCA terminated with Eichmann Bullets. They are an excellent upgrade and put a Vulcan death grip on your RCA connectors leaving no guesswork as to the strength of the connection between your cable and source.

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Let's not do that again. Balanced v. Single Ended is so complicated already, and has been hashed out in great detail in the amplification forum on a few occasions.

Please don't take offense to this, but comments like that are simply not helpful with regards to driving headphones in balanced mode. It's confusing enough for many people as it is, and the above quote is simply misleading.

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My bad...I forget that I'm not talking HT shop sometimes

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Equinox pricing:
6-ft Length with male XLR connector : $299.00
9-ft Length with male XLR connector : $349.00\

What's the best at $200?

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Hah, well this time it was my bad then. That being said, if there is a used one for $200 it's my recommendation.

After that around the $200 mark, it's got to be the Blue Dragon which does fit in the price range

Off topic, but I just saw on the website Stefan now has an upgrade cable for the DT-880... yum!