[MacMan31]

Okay so I have an Aune X7S powering my Sennheiser HD6XX and 58X headphones. That is being fed by the Massdrop Grace SDAC running off my Macbook Pro. Currently I am listening to my HD6XX via "single ended" out of the X7S. But the amp also has a balance headphone out. I just recently received the 4 pin XLR cable I ordered from Periapt for my HD6XX. It works great however the "microphonic" noise I hear when the left and right cables rub either each other or against my clothes has cause me not to use the cable and switch back to SE output. I contacted Periapt and they said that they could make me a tweaked version of the cable in hopes of resolving the "microphonic" noise issue. Nonetheless I'm really having second thoughts about going balanced as it seems more hassle than need be. I've now found three different companies who do these cables and they're all special order (Periapt, Ursine, and Custom Cans). The last of those three seems the most expensive at 89 Euro which is about $135 Canadian. That's a lot for a cable. Plus Ursine now has the longest wait time of up to 4 months. Yes I know it's just one guy at Ursine but if his cables are so popular than he needs to hire help so they can be make more quickly. In any event is all this worth the hassle? Is the sound quality that much greater using balance vs single ended? If not than perhaps I should just sell my X7S and purchase a headphone amp which only has Single Ended output.

 

[Jam Boy]

I thought balanced was more about getting rid of any electrical interference or noise picked up by the cable. Unless you are running hundreds of feet of cable probably not worth it.

 

[Bern2]

Okay so I have an Aune X7S powering my Sennheiser HD6XX and 58X headphones. That is being fed by the Massdrop Grace SDAC running off my Macbook Pro. Currently I am listening to my HD6XX via "single ended" out of the X7S. But the amp also has a balance headphone out. I just recently received the 4 pin XLR cable I ordered from Periapt for my HD6XX. It works great however the "microphonic" noise I hear when the left and right cables rub either each other or against my clothes has cause me not to use the cable and switch back to SE output. I contacted Periapt and they said that they could make me a tweaked version of the cable in hopes of resolving the "microphonic" noise issue. Nonetheless I'm really having second thoughts about going balanced as it seems more hassle than need be. I've now found three different companies who do these cables and they're all special order (Periapt, Ursine, and Custom Cans). The last of those three seems the most expensive at 89 Euro which is about $135 Canadian. That's a lot for a cable. Plus Ursine now has the longest wait time of up to 4 months. Yes I know it's just one guy at Ursine but if his cables are so popular than he needs to hire help so they can be make more quickly. In any event is all this worth the hassle? Is the sound quality that much greater using balance vs single ended? If not than perhaps I should just sell my X7S and purchase a headphone amp which only has Single Ended output.

If you are happy with the X7S SE...why not keep it? You can always look for a discounted balanced cable either here or on ebay.

 

[Whazzzup]

It’s philosiphy can be supported by your present and future needs. If you want a true end to end balanced topography seperating the left and right channel based on those components to power and bloom harder to drive headphones, go for it. It may lead to a preference but se is same sq as balanced in principle

 

[Kopfkraut]

Excuse my confusion but I'm trying to make sense of your setup to begin with. The SDAC has 3-pin XLR outs and a 3.5mm TRS out, but the Aune X7S only has RCA inputs, so either you must be running XLR to RCA cables or a 3.5mm to RCA split cable. But then the Aune has a 4-pin XLR headphone out. Why exactly does the amp offer the XLR out in the first place if it only has RCA ins, and would a balanced headphone cable even make a difference to sound separation if the amp is fed an unbalanced signal? Unless I've gotten this terribly wrong somehow (and there is a chance I have because I'm relatively new at this) all you'd be gaining from the 4-pin XLR is a little extra ... well, gain. Can anyone shine a little light on this?

 

[BLacklWf]

My personal opinion.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/vio...-durch-balanced.705318/page-249#post-14377579

 

[JamesCanada]

my experiences:
Plugged USB from My laptop running Tidal HiFi
I run a RMI ADI-2 DAC and a Monoprice Liquid Platinum
I Tried both single ended and balanced on my HD 800S

I did not hear a difference.

I might not be good at this, but the difference for me was soooooo minimal, I didn't even notice any.

Hope this helps

 

[MacMan31]

If you are happy with the X7S SE...why not keep it? You can always look for a discounted balanced cable either here or on ebay.

I could do that. But I feel like if I’m not using the balance output than it’s kind of a waste of the Amp capabilities. I talked with Periapt and they said the could make me a tweaked version of their 4 pin XLR cable for the HD6XX in hopes of removing the possibility of microphonic noise heard via the left and right strands rubbing together or on my clothes. I’m still waiting for their next reply.

Excuse my confusion but I'm trying to make sense of your setup to begin with. The SDAC has 3-pin XLR outs and a 3.5mm TRS out, but the Aune X7S only has RCA inputs, so either you must be running XLR to RCA cables or a 3.5mm to RCA split cable. But then the Aune has a 4-pin XLR headphone out. Why exactly does the amp offer the XLR out in the first place if it only has RCA ins, and would a balanced headphone cable even make a difference to sound separation if the amp is fed an unbalanced signal? Unless I've gotten this terribly wrong somehow (and there is a chance I have because I'm relatively new at this) all you'd be gaining from the 4-pin XLR is a little extra ... well, gain. Can anyone shine a little light on this?

I do not have the balanced version of the SDAC. So it’s USB from my Mac to the SDAC and rca from there into the Aune X7S. To my understanding the X7S takes the unbalanced signal and attempts to convert it to balanced for use with the balanced headphone output.

 

[bagwell359]

Most amps that have SE and balanced have 'better' balanced output than SE. I went all Balanced in 2002 - first because of the lower noise, then because cable differences seemed much less pronounced with Balanced vs SE (I.E. all sounded good vs fooling with high buck SE wires from Cardas, etc.)

More recently as I went all headphone, my amp puts out a good deal more power into Balanced, with seemingly more detail.

I have DAP's and tuners that are SE - nothing can be done about them. Otherwise, all balanced.

I'd say go as far as you can, or don't go at all.

 

[MacMan31]

Most amps that have SE and balanced have 'better' balanced output than SE. I went all Balanced in 2002 - first because of the lower noise, then because cable differences seemed much less pronounced with Balanced vs SE (I.E. all sounded good vs fooling with high buck SE wires from Cardas, etc.)

More recently as I went all headphone, my amp puts out a good deal more power into Balanced, with seemingly more detail.

I have DAP's and tuners that are SE - nothing can be done about them. Otherwise, all balanced.

I'd say go as far as you can, or don't go at all.

I'd like to do balance if I can. I did notice a bit more separation and a bit wider soundstage using balance on my Aune X7S. Even so that could become pretty pricy if I were to have balance cables for each of my headphones. However Ursine Audio has a good option which would allow me to have one balance cable with a detachable Y-split which would make it much easier to swap between my HD6XX and 58X. But the wait time currently is about 4 months and I'm not sure I want to wait that long. Periapt has a much shorter wait time but they don't have the option I mentioned. I'm very interested in the Massdrop THX 789 but for about $500 Canadian it would be very pricy and potentially not worth it if I only use the SE headphone output.

 

[kalibur]

My amp does balanced inputs but SE outputs only, and even so I have experienced better detail and separation, with more bass. I don't quite understand why that is so, but if it was designed this way, there has to be some merit to this.

 

[MacMan31]

My amp does balanced inputs but SE outputs only, and even so I have experienced better detail and separation, with more bass. I don't quite understand why that is so, but if it was designed this way, there has to be some merit to this.

Which amp do you have?

 

[kalibur]

Which amp do you have?

Its a Lake People G109P

 

[Whazzzup]

Well if it’s not end to end balanced topography why bother

 

[MacMan31]

Its a Lake People G109P

Interesting that it has balance input but not output. My Aune X7S is the reverse. I'm swapping between SE and balance now and it's not a huge difference although there is some. My thought was that if I didn't think balance was truly worth it I'd just buy this amp and pair it with my Grace SDAC and be done. https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-o2-amplifier