George
Look at the specs on the X7ii mate.
Single ended - same dac, same amp section
Balanced - its just two of everything
Then go back to what I wrote about the real specs - eg SNR, crosstalk, etc. X7ii's balanced output is at least almost doubling voltage and power output - so its useful. I have an adaptor coming for my HD800S so I can see how well it performs. But for an IEM which does not need the extra power, and is not affected by the slight impedance change (multi-BA's may well be though), what could possibly cause it to sound different?
The problem is that people tell you they volume match - but really they don't. They try and match by ear, and we know how inaccurate that is. Get an SPL meter (proper one), use test tones, and do everything properly. Watch those differences melt away. Then get yourself a measuring kit, and start really seeing what changes there are. Stop using your brain's other filters, and all that is left is truth.
The problem is that there are a lot of reviewers who have the ability to set a level playing field - but its too hard to do it - easier to write prose than tell it the way it is. My sig is very apt. None of us like to hear it - but I think its pretty accurate. We all like to think we are golden eared audiophiles. Of course we can tell a difference - right? The problem with that stance is that as long as we carry on believing it, and don't take the time to actually learn what your own limits are - then all we are doing is writing a fictional account of what we really hear. And the same myths get trotted out, and a new generation of misinformed go forth.
Cynical I know.
I don't think it is cynical. You make very valid and fair points.
I do some volume equalizing when I do compare things seriously. This time, I did not compare X7mkii balanced vs X7mkii SE, I compared DX200 + AMP1 + F9 vs DX200 + AMP3 + F9, which did yield improvements that were audible.
I am not necessarily a believer of the balanced ideology as much as I am a believer of the AMP design technology, when the design is different, so is the sound. I understand your concerns about the SPL not being matched, but even after matching, some things are different.
I did this for you right now, tested X7mkii Bal vs X7mkii SE>...
My impressions:
A very bit better imaging and instrument separation
A bit more bass and better bass control
A bit smoother top end
Now, I cannot physically test without there being some time in between tests, because I have only one pair of balanced cables, so it takes me about 3 minutes to change those, so there might be some user error, but those are my honest thoughts and impressions, after volume testing. The auditory memory is short though...
Honestly, since people already have that X7mkii and F9, why not let them enjoy their Balanced sound and even if it measures the same, if it feels better, why not let them enjoy it?
I will never write in a review that the Balanced of something can sound better than the SE of that same thing, unless there is a difference in the AMP architecture. With DX200, you change the module entirely, you have a whole another OP-AMP setup with larger capacitors and a different configuration for AMP3, it does change the sound. When you say that we should measure, please keep in mind that me, you and most people don't measure the decay of a signal, the impuse response and such. Only Golden Ears do, and their graphs, if judget correctly, will explain why some things sound different. They show the difference in timings between mid and bass decays and such, we don't. We barely measure the FR and now all of the inherent characteristics that could bear an impact. I am a bit caustic when I am saying this, but instead of trying to measure it, I try to describe it. The tech to measure those will show what I generally thought about an object, but the machine didn't do better than human judgement.
What I'm saying is that relying on the FR is not enough to asses all the properties about something's sound. I wholeheartedly respect and support your indication that we should try to always have a reliable support for our judgement, but I honestly think that we cannot measure all the aspects of sound, there is more to it than is measured without more equipment. I don't have access to measuring equipments, I cannot provide more help with that, but if we take a look at golden ears measurements, they usually help understand why something has the sonic character it does, including HD800S's snapiness and HD600's bass relative to HD800's despite their somewhat similar FR in that area. Even they, Golden Ears, will subject headphones to human testing to asses the properties of sound because after having all that equipment, it still is better to test by letting human beings taste something.
This doesn't make your opinion any less valid or wrong, but please trust more in humans and their souls. Machines don't buy those things, humans do, so let's judge them by human ears and try to make the human component the most important in all of this...
You will notice that I am always extremely neutral and honest, I eliminate bias and user error by large-amount testing. I test something many times over a period of time, with hundreds of repeated tests for the same song in different conditions of my own mind and soul. Of course, whatever was a very small difference disappears. I don't know how much I would wold to mention differences between X7mkii's SE and Bal after more tests, I never mentioned differences for devices in this aspect because, either they were very small for me to assess anymore, situation in which my mind and mood made more of a difference, or because my equipment didn't permit proper testing and the time between testing BAL and SE created some bias and testing error, so I don't want to mislead. Still, it is hard on humans to tell them that a machine can assess something better...
So why need reviewers? Why review the equipment? You just need to measure them at that's it. All the answers are there.
Right?
I'm sorry but "measurements" don't say a thing to me. If you want to measure everything you can do it all day long. I don't care.
And I find it disrespectful and arrogant to say "you need to change that review because I measured everything and I'm the only truth".
If I was interested in hyping the product than I wouldn't have highlighted its cons. I also find that claim disrespectful, because I put so much effort to my reviews to reflect the honest truth about the product, not praising it for no reason for pleasing everyone.
It's always easy to talk from the outside. Go and write reviews all year long and put this much effort and listen to the people who say "your review is hyped and not based on reality"
Sorry, if you can't hear the difference, it's your problem.
You also make some interesting points about that, measurements do not tell the whole story, you can measure the Frequency Response, but there are things you cannot or you do not measure normally, that will have an impact on the final sound. Like the impulse response or the decay time...
There are IEMs that have a very similar FR but different sound, as long as those exist, well, reviews help one understand how something actually is.