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Schiit Mjolnir headphone amplifier - Page 134

post #1996 of 2641
12/7/12 at 5:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Defiant00 View Post

 

Depends almost entirely on the implementation. In the case of the Mjolnir, given equivalent quality single ended or balanced sources then the amp's output should be the same. So it's much more dependent on how good your source is, not necessarily whether it's balanced or not.

 

 

blink.gif

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post #1997 of 2641
12/7/12 at 5:42am

Yeah well the output gain is not the same at all! blink.gif

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post #1998 of 2641
12/7/12 at 5:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dleblanc343 View Post

Yeah well the output gain is not the same at all! blink.gif

beerchug.gif

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post #1999 of 2641
12/7/12 at 5:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dleblanc343 View Post

Yeah well the output gain is not the same at all! blink.gif

Definitely so. Balanced interconnects are noticeably louder and as a result the 8 to 11 o'clock volume positions is about all the range you end up using. At least that's the case with my headphones. I guess that would be the most significant noticeable change.

 

I don't have a blind comparison with volume matched amps available to really tell you if the balanced sounds better. It sounded great single ended, it still sounds great fully balanced.

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post #2000 of 2641
12/7/12 at 6:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dleblanc343 View Post

Yeah well the output gain is not the same at all! blink.gif

 

Okay, poorly worded. My main point is that the Mjolnir runs in fully balanced mode regardless of which input is used, so it comes down more to the quality of the source, not the connection used. An excellent single-ended source will sound excellent and a crappy balanced source will still sound crappy; the connection method should make little/no difference on its own.

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post #2001 of 2641
12/7/12 at 6:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Defiant00 View Post

Okay, poorly worded. My main point is that the Mjolnir runs in fully balanced mode regardless of which input is used, so it comes down more to the quality of the source, not the connection used. An excellent single-ended source will sound excellent and a crappy balanced source will still sound crappy; the connection method should make little/no difference on its own.

Interesting...always thought that fully balanced will sound better in the same setup. Thx though
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post #2002 of 2641
12/7/12 at 6:17am

No just no.  All it takes to be balanced is an inverter, ala Bryston BHA-1 :P

 

Differential inputs don't care if the input is balanced or single ended, the output is balanced.

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post #2003 of 2641
12/7/12 at 6:22am

As I posted before:

 

The RCA inputs (unbalanced signals) is converted to balanced when entering the Mjolnir and hence run through the same circuits.

 

To quote Jason from Schiit (from email - hope he doesn't mind):

Quote:
Same power out with unbalanced input.

 

You  loose some quality in the conversion, but from there on, it is all the same. Output and gain etc will be the same. All outputs are balanced, as you know. Wether you loose more in the conversion than you gain from a better unbalanced DAC can only be determined by your EARS. 


Edited by ardilla - 12/7/12 at 6:26am
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post #2004 of 2641
12/7/12 at 5:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solude View Post

No just no.  All it takes to be balanced is an inverter, ala Bryston BHA-1 :P

Differential inputs don't care if the input is balanced or single ended, the output is balanced.

Whaaaaaat?

A differential input will add a good dose of Common Mode Noise Rejection to a properly balanced input signal.
You won't get much from a SE single.
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post #2005 of 2641
12/7/12 at 5:12pm

Need noise to reject to benefit from its rejection ;)  Doesn't change that a good single ended DAC will get you better results than a bad balanced one.  Now if your source has both then ya its a no brainer.

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post #2006 of 2641
12/7/12 at 6:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solude View Post

Need noise to reject to benefit from its rejection wink.gif  Doesn't change that a good single ended DAC will get you better results than a bad balanced one.  Now if your source has both then ya its a no brainer.

i guess using balance setup with gungnir is the best way to go!
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post #2007 of 2641
12/7/12 at 6:32pm

I was contemplating getting a balanced dac for some time so that the Mjolnir can be fed by a balanced dac instead of a SE which it is right now. However that SE dac is a very good dac imo and decided to scrap that idea for the time being. Things could however always change in the future but for right now I will stick with what I have. I also don't believe that balanced automatically means better than SE but rather the quality of the dac since I have heard better single ended dacs than some balanced. When Schiit releases their statement dac things may change but who knows.

 

Also for now the Mjolnir has fixed my desire to upgrade amps. I was tempted earlier by a GS-X but thankfully my HD800 is a 4 pin connector and didn't want to go through the hassle and the same goes for my HE-6 but my HE-6 rig is different than the HD800.

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post #2008 of 2641
12/8/12 at 5:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solude View Post

Need noise to reject to benefit from its rejection wink.gif  Doesn't change that a good single ended DAC will get you better results than a bad balanced one.  Now if your source has both then ya its a no brainer.

It is an unfortunate fact of everyday life that there is electrical noise everywhere.

It's radiated (or broadcast) from every electronic component, including your audio equipment and conducted down power lines from every electronic component.

But I agree that a good SE output DAC is a better choice than a bad balanced output DAC.
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post #2009 of 2641
12/8/12 at 7:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris J View Post


It is an unfortunate fact of everyday life that there is electrical noise everywhere.
It's radiated (or broadcast) from every electronic component, including your audio equipment and conducted down power lines from every electronic component.
But I agree that a good SE output DAC is a better choice than a bad balanced output DAC.

 

 

This may be obvious to some.  So how about a good SE DAC vs. a good balanced DAC?  Or if a single DAC is considered good, which is better in that DAC SE or balanced?

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post #2010 of 2641
12/8/12 at 7:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rawrster View Post

 have heard better single ended dacs than some balanced. 

 

 

For instance?

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