[bartzky]

Guys, what you all need to know about balanced outputs is that if it's not implemented as a true dual differential balanced output, then it will be more dynamic and give you much more micro and macro detail. This is because it will LOWER the noise floor.

How will balanced lower the noise floor - don't you mean it will increase the signal to noise ratio?

 

[ctsooner22]

I'm not an expert or engineer. That may be what it's doing, but I run balanced on my 2 channel rig and have a lot of other gear that I audition and it's a lower noise floor. It's more than S/N ratio though. As you may know, that's all they run in a studio as you can run much longer cords (that would be S/N ratio, right?).

 

[Deezel177]

I'm not an expert or engineer. That may be what it's doing, but I run balanced on my 2 channel rig and have a lot of other gear that I audition and it's a lower noise floor. It's more than S/N ratio though. As you may know, that's all they run in a studio as you can run much longer cords (that would be S/N ratio, right?).

If I'm not mistaken, an audio system's S/N ratio is how much of its audibly-discernible range is a clean audio signal as opposed to distortion or noise. The greater your S/N ratio is, the more available headroom - and therefore, dynamic range - you have in your system. That translates to a greater contrast between the softest possible signal you can hear above the noise floor and the loudest signal before clipping. I'm sure I've made an error somewhere, but that's the gist of what I learned online and in college.

 

[crabdog]

I fully agree. As someone who’s had a 2.5mm plug bend and fully de-socket an Onkyo DP-X1 in daily use with near zero force, I was incredibly eager to adopt the 4.4mm standard due to rigidity alone.

I'm all for it too. Join the march to standardize the format!

 

[ctsooner22]

If I'm not mistaken, an audio system's S/N ratio is how much of its audibly-discernible range is a clean audio signal as opposed to distortion or noise. The greater your S/N ratio is, the more available headroom - and therefore, dynamic range - you have in your system. That translates to a greater contrast between the softest possible signal you can hear above the noise floor and the loudest signal before clipping. I'm sure I've made an error somewhere, but that's the gist of what I learned online and in college.

You are correct Daniel. There are many ways to lower the noise floor. Clean power is one of the. At home, I have two dedicated 30amp circuits using cryogenic 10ga copper wire. My new outlets will be the brand new Furetech carbon fiber based outlets with the Rhodium contacts and the milled aluminum faceplate spacer with CF faceplates. To me, it sounds the best out of all the ones I've auditioned and I've auditioned TOOOOO many, lol. both dedicated circuits are individually grounded to a 15' copper bar that is hammered into the ground outside the basement. I have a separate box for these audio only and also a video only circuit. This way there is no interference. I will be getting teh brand new Audioquest Hurricane high current power cords for my Audioquest Niagara power outlet deal as well as for my components. It lowers the noise floor even more and delivers absolute power on demand, so there is no clipping when the amps need all they can get for fast transient response. It's all kind of cool and it takes, say the Ayre QX5 to levels that are maxing it out. It makes a huge difference to also get the digital OFF the same mains that analog is on as it's filthy. the emotion in recorded music (as you know) is in the micro and macro details. You pay a lot of money for great power supplies etc..., but there is a reason for that.

 

[Ike1985]

You are correct Daniel. There are many ways to lower the noise floor. Clean power is one of the. At home, I have two dedicated 30amp circuits using cryogenic 10ga copper wire. My new outlets will be the brand new Furetech carbon fiber based outlets with the Rhodium contacts and the milled aluminum faceplate spacer with CF faceplates. To me, it sounds the best out of all the ones I've auditioned and I've auditioned TOOOOO many, lol. both dedicated circuits are individually grounded to a 15' copper bar that is hammered into the ground outside the basement. I have a separate box for these audio only and also a video only circuit. This way there is no interference. I will be getting teh brand new Audioquest Hurricane high current power cords for my Audioquest Niagara power outlet deal as well as for my components. It lowers the noise floor even more and delivers absolute power on demand, so there is no clipping when the amps need all they can get for fast transient response. It's all kind of cool and it takes, say the Ayre QX5 to levels that are maxing it out. It makes a huge difference to also get the digital OFF the same mains that analog is on as it's filthy. the emotion in recorded music (as you know) is in the micro and macro details. You pay a lot of money for great power supplies etc..., but there is a reason for that.

This is why I like my Hugo2, I'm only into portable audio RN and I don't have to plug it in at all it runs off battery so I avoid the dirty power for the most part. Sounds like an awesome setup you have, I'd love to hear something like that someday.

 

[ctsooner22]

Yes, I personally love the set up ...LOL..Teh Hugo is a great DAC. My personal choice in this range is the Codex, but that's not portable. I do think it would be a 50/50 split if you did a blind test between the two. Lot's of great DAC/amps around though.

 

[Tanjiro]

Got my ciem Phantom finally. Thanks for all your help @Ethan Groover .

 

[proedros]

This is why I like my Hugo2, I'm only into portable audio RN and I don't have to plug it in at all it runs off battery so I avoid the dirty power for the most part. Sounds like an awesome setup you have, I'd love to hear something like that someday.

hey @Ike1985 i see you are seling your Zeus XR , does this mean a)you like A18 better and b)planning on any new buys ?

cheers

 

[natemact]

Sorry OT @ctsooner22 You're gonna love the Hurricanes!! I was able to snag some Thunder, Tornado and Hurricane prototypes to try at home and was floored by the Hurricanes. While they aren't cheap they are the best bang-for-buck power cord I've heard in my system and that includes all Nordost (except Odin 2), Synergistic Research (except Galileo), Cardas, Kimber, AQ and Classic Ann Siltechs. The perk of working at an audio shop, you get to try stuff lol. Now I found the Hurricanes to be the best value for money for a relatively high-end cable ONLY because it's available in 1M length. If you, like most, need longer, I'd suggest auditioning Synergistic Research Atmosphere Level 2 at the same price. My three co-workers and I preferred the full loom of L2's over the Hurricanes and this outcome was reproduced on Niagara 1000, 5000, 7000 and Torus AVR 20 (all 20 amp save for N1000) with a wide variety of solid-state, tube, analog and digital gear in and around $5-20K/piece. Depth and height, layering, separation, precise imaging and ultimately resolution are a step-up but a case could be made that the Hurricanes are arguably more organic and natural sounding with truer timbre. Worth a shot if you can audition tho!

 

[bartzky]

I'm not an expert or engineer. That may be what it's doing, but I run balanced on my 2 channel rig and have a lot of other gear that I audition and it's a lower noise floor. It's more than S/N ratio though. As you may know, that's all they run in a studio as you can run much longer cords (that would be S/N ratio, right?).

Actually the residual, absolute noise level will be higher when going balanced. That's because doubling the components doubles the noise. The signal will be doubled too, but doubling noise means +3 dB and doubling sinal means +6 dB. So the maximum signal to noise ration becomes 3 dB better - that's good. But usually, with IEMs, the listening volume is quite low relative to the residual noise level. So the maximum SNR isn't relevant - it's the absolute noise level that matters with IEM.
Even more the output impedance will be doubled when going balanced. That's not good either.
Balanced cables do make sense in studios with lots of EMI and where many (hundreds) of meters of cabling are required.
Priorities in loudspeaker audio or with full size headphones are sometimes a bit different, but for IEMs there's no sense in going balanced. A decent single ended output has the advantage when powering sensitive IEMs.

 

[Ike1985]

hey @Ike1985 i see you are seling your Zeus XR , does this mean a)you like A18 better and b)planning on any new buys ?

cheers

A.)
Yes I do prefer A18t but that has nothing to do with the technical performance of either, Zeus in either configuration is too bass light for my personal preference. A18t has the visceral bass that I'm looking for, especially with M20 module. IMO both are likely top 3 in the world and Zeus XR certainly is not going to be knocked off it's position anytime soon or likely ever. I'm sure I would have been someone who loved the phantom but when I got XR there was no phantom available. Reproducing what EE has done with the vocal presentation is no small feat, it's not as simple as just bringing the midrange forward, I'd say that aspect of the XR is safe from being outdone forever. There's some EE magic going on with regard to the eerily realistic and visual 3d vocals the XIV produces, same with the stage properties.

B.)
I hit a deer(actually a deer hit me) and am using the funds to get a new $1700 bumper for my FJ cruiser.

 

[proedros]

@Ike1985 the problem with this hobby , too many great ciems too little money

Α18, SE5 , Phantom , Legend X , too many to write tht i would love to try (and possibly buy)

i am just glad i managed to get Zeus XR , back in 2017 i remember thinking that getting such a totl ciem was more like a sci-fi scenario to me so i am fine and grateful now

 

[Ike1985]

@Ike1985 the problem with this hobby , too many great ciems too little money

Α18, SE5 , Phantom , Legend X , too many to write tht i would love to try (and possibly buy)

i am just glad i managed to get Zeus XR , back in 2017 i remember thinking that getting such a totl ciem was more like a sci-fi scenario to me so i am fine and grateful now

Yes, EE listened to their customers and so we get Phantom now and Legend X returns. Happy you have one of the best CIEMs on the planet. Congrats brother.

 

[goodvibes]

You are correct Daniel. There are many ways to lower the noise floor. Clean power is one of the. At home, I have two dedicated 30amp circuits using cryogenic 10ga copper wire. My new outlets will be the brand new Furetech carbon fiber based outlets with the Rhodium contacts and the milled aluminum faceplate spacer with CF faceplates. To me, it sounds the best out of all the ones I've auditioned and I've auditioned TOOOOO many, lol. both dedicated circuits are individually grounded to a 15' copper bar that is hammered into the ground outside the basement. I have a separate box for these audio only and also a video only circuit. This way there is no interference. I will be getting teh brand new Audioquest Hurricane high current power cords for my Audioquest Niagara power outlet deal as well as for my components. It lowers the noise floor even more and delivers absolute power on demand, so there is no clipping when the amps need all they can get for fast transient response. It's all kind of cool and it takes, say the Ayre QX5 to levels that are maxing it out. It makes a huge difference to also get the digital OFF the same mains that analog is on as it's filthy. the emotion in recorded music (as you know) is in the micro and macro details. You pay a lot of money for great power supplies etc..., but there is a reason for that.

I've found that solid core is better for AC. I suspect your 10ga is stranded. I personally would do 12 solid as I've tried both. Ymmv

Rhodium is a great for high pressure audio contacts but if you don't mind wiping your contacts every so often nonplated can have less glare but obviously, if you don' want to mess with it, rhodium is your best option for the durable plating.