[Sonic Guild]

Hello,
 
 
I am totally restless! And need an expert to fully explain the following for me:
 
Is there a difference in terms of sound between the following:
 
A- DAC that is fully balanced but the out put is regular audio RCA to my integrated amp.
B- DAC that is fully balanced the out put is balanced XLR to my integrated amp.
 
 
What makes me ask this question is that I have the Moon Neo 430HA which is fully balanced Amp+DAC but the out put is RCA (thank you Simaudio for this odd decision!!). Will be there a difference if I use other DAC that has balanced XLR out put???
 
 
Many say that balanced XLR output is good if the cable will run more than 10m BUT if the distance is short, then NO NEED for the balanced XLR at all. 

 

[theveterans]

Some DACs and amps have upgraded analog stage compared to their SE output, and that's one of the reasons to go full balanced. IMO, if you need to get the best out of your equipment, go balanced and forget 2nd thoughts. My setup is only SE so I don't have any second thoughts of going balanced..

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I am totally restless! And an expert to fully explain the following for me:
Is there a difference in terms of sound between the following:
A- DAC that is fully balanced but the output is regular audio RCA to my integrated amp.
B- DAC that is fully balanced the output is balanced XLR to my integrated amp.
What makes me ask this question is that I have the Moon Neo 430HA which is fully balanced Amp+DAC but the output is RCA (thank you Simaudio for this odd decision!!). Will be there a difference if I use other DAC that has balanced XLR output???
Many say that balanced XLR output is good if the cable will run more than 10m BUT if the distance is short, then NO NEED for the balanced XLR at all. 

 
I'm not the expert (just like to act like one).
 
You may not need to use the Moon Neo 430HA's XLR balanced output connection, for a short distance.
But you can always just use it for the fun of it, peace of mind.
It might even make a small improvement.

 

[Sonic Guild]

   
I'm not the expert (just like to act like one).
 
You may not need to use the Moon Neo 430HA's XLR balanced output connection, for a short distance.
But you can always just use it for the fun of it, peace of mind.
It might even make a small improvement.

It has no balanced output!
 
This why I am asking!
 
I am I missing something?

 

[theveterans]

If it's a balanced DAC, it MUST have a balanced output. I've never seen a balanced DAC without a balanced output. Usually, DACs have both balanced and SE output or only SE output or only balanced output.

 

[Sonic Guild]

 
If it's a balanced DAC, it MUST have a balanced output. I've never seen a balanced DAC without a balanced output. Usually, DACs have both balanced and SE output or only SE output or only balanced output.

It has only RCA output, is this balanced?
My understanding that XLR is the only balanced out, right???

 

[PurpleAngel]

  It has no balanced output!
This why I am asking!
I am I missing something?

 
The 430HA has balanced outputs on the front panel.
There is a sliding panel just to the right of the LED read out.

 

[Sonic Guild]

   
The 430HA has balanced outputs on the front panel.
There is a sliding panel just to the right of the LED read out.

Sorry I must be more clear!
 
I meant to say the rear out put to use it as DAC for a integrated amp for my stereo system. At the back side ONLY RCA output.

 

[PurpleAngel]

 
Sorry I must be more clear!
 
I meant to say the rear out put to use it as DAC for a integrated amp for my stereo system. At the back side ONLY RCA output.

 
So your saying you only want to use the back panel outputs, to connect to the stereo?
So i guess you will need to use the RCA (unbalanced) outputs, to connect to the stereo.

 

[Sonic Guild]

   
So your saying you only want to use the back panel outputs, to connect to the stereo?
So i guess you will need to use the RCA (unbalanced) outputs, to connect to the stereo.

Yes!
 
But I am asking is there a dif between the RCA and balanced in terms of sound?

 

[PurpleAngel]

  Yes!
But I am asking is there a dif between the RCA and balanced in terms of sound?

 
Does it really matter as you do not want to use the balanced outputs on the 430HA anyway
 
I guess in general the analog output signal with the balanced and un-balanced DAC outputs on the 430HA would be equal.
but the balanced DAC sends a matching pair of analog audio signal, for each jack,
Guess that helps send a well timed signal over a longer distance
Where as the un-balanced outputs send a single analog audio signal, per jack.
 
Now a balanced connection maybe is consider the more professional audio connection.
DAC with a balanced output would sell for a higher price
So the parts used for the balanced jack might have a (slightly?) better quality to them (guessing).

 

[1800yolk]

it is very silly that you wouldn't want to use the front of the dac, but I also share interest in your question. since you have the gear at your disposal, I think it would definitely be worth your while to compare sounds yourself. there are a lot of balanced purists on this forum, that will double the price of their setup just to get balanced everything, when maybe only the amp being balanced is what makes up 90% of the difference. good luck!

 

[Sonic Guild]

it is very silly that you wouldn't want to use the front of the dac, but I also share interest in your question. since you have the gear at your disposal, I think it would definitely be worth your while to compare sounds yourself. there are a lot of balanced purists on this forum, that will double the price of their setup just to get balanced everything, when maybe only the amp being balanced is what makes up 90% of the difference. good luck!

I am not quite sure what you mean by "wouldn't want to use the front of the doc".
 
Again the Amp/DAC, has NO balanced preamp out to feed a power amp. It ONLY has RCA.

 

[1800yolk]

 
I am not quite sure what you mean by "wouldn't want to use the front of the doc".
 
Again the Amp/DAC, has NO balanced preamp out to feed a power amp. It ONLY has RCA.

ok i see what is going on here. you don't want to use the balanced output on the front, since it is already amplified. That should have been easier for me to understand than it was!
 
I wonder though, if using the balanced out to feed to your integrated stereo amp would work if you set the DAC's volume to its reference level, wherever that may be. I would wait for someone else to chime in on that idea before trying it though, I'm not sure whether that is ok to do with these things or not. I personally don't see what could go wrong though. So long as it's ok, you could then proceed to compare the sound of each yourself, which I think will tell you more than any of us can.