The RSA Protector balanced portable: Images and impressions 1st page, Please post your... - Page 55

As an amp n00b, out of curiosity do you have to use balanced? How does it sound through the regular 3.5mm port? Am I right in thinking I could plug my Westone 4's straight in to them? Would they still sound good despite not being balanced? See only reason I'd prefer to get balanced is for custom IEM use later down the line.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naim.F.C 

As an amp n00b, out of curiosity do you have to use balanced? How does it sound through the regular 3.5mm port? Am I right in thinking I could plug my Westone 4's straight in to them? Would they still sound good despite not being balanced? See only reason I'd prefer to get balanced is for custom IEM use later down the line.

you would be better off getting something like a p-51 or stepdance if you want to go single ended, the protector i meant to be used balanced, but it is pretty amazing balanced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoupRKnowva 

you would be better off getting something like a p-51 or stepdance if you want to go single ended, the protector i meant to be used balanced, but it is pretty amazing balanced.

Thing is, I plan to buy customs in the next few weeks/months (1964-Q, JH13, JH16, UE18 or Westone ES5) so I'd rather not have to sell it and then buy another in a month or two. The idea is to upgrade to balanced cables for the customs. But in the mean time I need to use single ended.

Well, the single ended sucks in my opinion. No improvement or maybe really slight improvement from the headphone out (YMMV). But the balance mode is awesome. One of the best I've heard until now.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naim.F.C 

Thing is, I plan to buy customs in the next few weeks/months (1964-Q, JH13, JH16, UE18 or Westone ES5) so I'd rather not have to sell it and then buy another in a month or two. The idea is to upgrade to balanced cables for the customs. But in the mean time I need to use single ended.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzyfi 

Well, the single ended sucks in my opinion. No improvement or maybe really slight improvement from the headphone out (YMMV). But the balance mode is awesome. One of the best I've heard until now.
 

 

So if I'm going to be using single ended for now, what would you guys recommend? And how would a Protector single ended sound compared to say, the SR-71A, Pico, P-51, Stepdance etc.

Many thanks

Naim

All of them are better. I had pico slim, pico, and iQube. All of them are better single ended than Protector.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naim.F.C 

So if I'm going to be using single ended for now, what would you guys recommend? And how would a Protector single ended sound compared to say, the SR-71A, Pico, P-51, Stepdance etc.

 

Many thanks

Naim

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzyfi 

Alll of them are better. I had pico slim, pico, and iQube. All of them are better single ended than Protector.

In fairness, those are three very good amps. :-)

(I haven't heard the Protector.)

Oh well that's a shame. I guess it might be better for me to just purchase a more single end orientated portable amp first then, at least till I get my in ear customs and or balanced cables for whatever headphone I decide on later (currently sporting a lower end HD555 but was thinking of going either LCD-2 or HD650 which might both be a bit too much for any portable amp to manage).

Or you can get the SR-71B. A lot of people said that the single ended also sounds awesome. Can't confirm to that but you can ask around.

I've listened to both through the sr-71B and it can handle them. While I prefer balanced, it does a good job SE also. Not too sure about the protector.

My SR-71b single ended is better than Protector single ended, and maybe even better than Protector balanced (with IEM only).  I hated to sell my Protector with serial number PR-000 but after owning the SR-71b there was no reason to keep it.  

I also thought the P-51 single ended is better than Protector single ended, and balanced the Protector was maybe only slightly better (it was a bit better than Predator though).  For me the main benefit of the balanced Protector was it had a lot more power than other portables for full-size balanced phones like HD600 and HE-5 LE.  The P-51 couldn't match the Protector with those when balanced.  It still couldn't drive the HE-6 at all, while the SR-71b does a very nice job with those.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict 

My SR-71b single ended is better than Protector single ended, and maybe even better than Protector balanced (with IEM only).  I hated to sell my Protector with serial number PR-000 but after owning the SR-71b there was no reason to keep it.  

 

I also thought the P-51 single ended is better than Protector single ended, and balanced the Protector was maybe only slightly better (it was a bit better than Predator though).  For me the main benefit of the balanced Protector was it had a lot more power than other portables for full-size balanced phones like HD600 and HE-5 LE.  The P-51 couldn't match the Protector with those when balanced.  It still couldn't drive the HE-6 at all, while the SR-71b does a very nice job with those.

I've ordered a cMoyBB for the time being. Will use that with my W4's/SE535's till I order my customs/new headphones (JH16, ES5, 1964-Q, LCD-2 etc) with balanced cables. After that I'll look in to the SR-71B, though I'm also really liking the look of the ALO RX II despite not being balanced.

Have you consider iQube? One of the best single ended amp I've heard and the battery life is crazy long. I really regret selling my iQube..
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Naim.F.C 

I've ordered a cMoyBB for the time being. Will use that with my W4's/SE535's till I order my customs/new headphones (JH16, ES5, 1964-Q, LCD-2 etc) with balanced cables. After that I'll look in to the SR-71B, though I'm also really liking the look of the ALO RX II despite not being balanced.

anyone knows where I  can get a replacement for the charger unit? Mine is broken :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by tranhieu 

anyone knows where I  can get a replacement for the charger unit? Mine is broken :(

Yeah, email Ray Samuel Audio and maybe they'll replace it or sell you one.