elmoe
Formerly known as JashuganHeadphoneus Supremus
Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time.
I don’t hear a difference, and I have not seen any blind studies that indicate a difference, nor have I seen any signal differencing comparisons, in which samples from a single ended and a balanced version from the same source are time aligned, subtracted, and the residual signal either listened to or analyzed (power, etc.).
isn't there also the argument that certain brands deliberately make their "balanced" output on portable players sound better than their single ended ones.
It's interesting you say that because I have noticed similar for balaced output of a particular full-sized headphone amp, mids did sound dipped in comparison to SE. It also sounds like L and R are much more separated. The mids sounding dipped I wasn't fond of, but the more separation of channels increase the perception of sound stage width. Could be that the mids recession could have contributed to the perception of increased sound stage width.With it, I can try switching between SE and balanced headphone cables. I think there might be a very slight difference in FR in which SE has slightly more mids and balanced having slightly recessed. But it's slight and maybe intentional with the amp.
My main point is that you shouldn't discredit an amp if it's "merely" SE: a well designed SE amp will perform better than a poorly designed "balanced" amp.
Those two brands were the ones I'm referring to that I don't notice balanced sounding any better, but just louder and maybe slightly worse.isn't there also the argument that certain brands deliberately make their "balanced" output on portable players sound better than their single ended ones. This tricks the consumer into thinking that it's better because it's balanced, and not because the circuitry is slightly different (A&K and Sony have been accused of this I believe).
I'm a skeptic when it comes to balanced vs single ended, especially with headphone amps, in terms of sound quality increasing anyway. A well designed amp should sound the same out of the balanced and single ended connections, only the balanced tends to output more wattage usually. But again it depends massively on the brand.
It's interesting you say that because I have noticed similar for balaced output of a particular full-sized headphone amp, mids did sound dipped in comparison to SE. It also sounds like L and R are much more separated. The mids sounding dipped I wasn't fond of, but the more separation of channels increase the perception of sound stage width. Could be that the mids recession could have contributed to the perception of increased sound stage width.
I wish more companies put their foot down on making technical instead of pure market-chasing choices (and use/spin those to sell to a more ‘educated’ consumer, of course).Chord Electronics, for one, eschews the inclusion of balanced outputs, stating that single ended is better for its high end equipment.
Depends on which is being talked about.. there are definitely good sounding and reasonably built low-cost products and extreme ‘price value ratios’. Then there is literal junk.. same “impressively technical” pictures.The junk sounds just as good
Not Greg, but the wikipedia article has a good summary and the references at the bottom can be a good starting point.Gregorio, are there any good books on the history of Bell Labs and the other sound research groups in the 1920s? I have some books on early recording, but they focus primarily on the acoustic era and playback machines. I'd be interested in reading about the research that led to them.
Gregorio, are there any good books on the history of Bell Labs and the other sound research groups in the 1920s?
[1] I believe the main advantage of true balanced architecture ie 4 amplifiers is the positive drive of both sides of the transducer .
[2] A very different situation to common noise rejection in cable transmission which is largely irrelevant to headphones .