Balancing HD600

Yes its possible, but the stock HD600 cable is't 'sound' good. It is't a good idea to replace the connector on it. Make the new one.
IMHO, balanced cable is't really needed for home audio. Balanced connection was created for pro usage, where the cables can be 10 meters long and more.

Uhm... balanced for studio use because of cable length!? May be I be first to say that's completely wrong. Any headphone amp can drive a very long cable. Balanced is used for double voltage swing, double slew rate, double current output and effectively about 4x the total power.

As for converting stock cable to balanced, yes, it's very easy, do it.

Maybe i'm not correctly say. I mean that signal in the long cable collects more distortion from the environment then from the short cable. The balanced connection help to reduce this effect.

Ant1Xr1st is correct. One of the major advantages of balanced is the long cable runs are much less prone to interference. However, FallenAngel is also correct in saying that the power and V swing multiplier is also a large plus.

-Nkk

PS Go balanced. I want to so badly, but do not have the time to build my own M3 (this summer), and on a college student budget, building my own is the only way I can afford it.

Little Dot VII

I have the Little Dot MKVII driving a pair of Beyer DT880 headphones which I have modded to balanced connections using Mogami cable, the 600's are must easier to mod to balanced due to the cables coming from each ear piece, you can now buy the ear piece connectors which you can solder cardas or mogami four core cables (this cable be warned is stiffer than the standard and the cardas cables) or alternative cables and therefore keep the original setup always useful if you want to resell. The Little Dot is a very good headphone amp and unlike many balanced amps can be used both single ended and balanced which can be useful if you have more than one set of headphones, also the inputs are single ended or balanced, although I believe if you use single ended input you can't use the balanced output, although you can use either input for single ended output, by the way the amp has four seperate amps inside the case and doesn't use a seperate phase splitter which some amps use to get the balanced outputs, so both the negative and positive cables are driven by seperate amps. Going balanced improves the headphone sound quality by quite a large margin with much better and deeper bass, larger soundstage and it just sounds more musical, this must be due also inpart to the cable change, which is particularly bad in the Beyer case (sound wise) which was almost unlistenable with some recordings. I can thoroughly recommend the Little Dot and for a bargain price when compared to other balanced amps on the market which are typically four or five times the price, quality of construction is also excellent.

That's the result of bridging two amplifier channels, and has nothing inherently to do with "balanced" just as "balanced" has nothing inherently to do with doubling voltage swing, current, or slew rate.

Slap an output transformer on an unbalanced amp and you have a balanced output, but without any doubling of voltage swing, current or slew rate.

Bridging is used for doubling of voltage swing, current and slew rate. Balanced is used for rejecting common-mode noise.

se

Using an output transformer to achieve a balanced output is only part of the equation if the main amplifier circuit is only single ended design, as this only produces a balanced inter connection, you can only get the full benefits of a system when the whole amplifier and connected eqipment are also properly designed as a balanced system, the use of a output tarnsformer is really a half way house.

The reason I brought up an output transformer was in response to FallenAngel's statement that "Balanced is used for double voltage swing, double slew rate, double current output and effectively about 4x the total power."

I was simply pointing out that "balanced" has absolutely nothing inherently to do with doubling voltage swing, current or slew rate.

To put it another way:

Balanced is used for common mode rejection.

Bridging is used for double voltage swing, double slew rate, double current output.

se