[Johnny Woody]

   
I know its just speculation but, I have Angie (II) and FiiO X7, waiting for the balanced amplifier AM3 to become available, a friend told me (using technical arguments) that I should not expect differences in sound quality but all I read here about balanced output to IEMs tells me the opposite . any thougths on this?
 
Regards

A friend of mine actually prefer 3.5mm output on his DX80 over my 2.5mm output on my Onkyo DP-X1 using my Angie.
 
He loves thick vocal more than me and I think balanced out actually makes the vocal thinner but with more clarity.
 
Other than thinner mid, the soundstage and separation is significantly improved with balanced out. 

 

[Paulo Abreu]

  A friend of mine actually prefer 3.5mm output on his DX80 over my 2.5mm output on my Onkyo DP-X1 using my Angie.
 
He loves thick vocal more than me and I think balanced out actually makes the vocal thinner but with more clarity.
 
Other than thinner mid, the soundstage and separation is significantly improved with balanced out. 

Thanks!
 
I am using X7 standard amp module AM1 and love the sound; AM2 is known to be warmer (still single ended 3.5mm) and AM5 which is the most powerfull amp for full cans maintains the sound signature of AM2 only with more power, AFAIK..
 
If AM3 mantains the sound signature of these more powerfull amps, it may sound more like AM1, eventually warmer with more separation, soundstage and power, due to balanced output ? that would be awesome...
 
Regards

 

[Johnny Woody]

  Thanks!
 
I am using X7 standard amp module AM1 and love the sound; AM2 is known to be warmer (still single ended 3.5mm) and AM5 which is the most powerfull amp for full cans maintains the sound signature of AM2 only with more power, AFAIK..
 
If AM3 mantains the sound signature of these more powerfull amps, it may sound more like AM1, eventually warmer with more separation, soundstage and power, due to balanced output ? that would be awesome...
 
Regards

You have to try it yourself.
 
If you do find the mid turns thinner, you can always dial up the bass to compensate.
 
That's the beauty of Angie.

 

[volvoflip]

Good to hear someone going the exact same path as me.

High Five!

Same feeling regarding the ACG mode as you. Mind if I ask your DP-X1 a EU/HK version or a JAP version?

I got the Japan version. Would it be any difference?

 

[Johnny Woody]

I got the Japan version. Would it be any difference?

Just asking, cos many EU/HK user dunno how to unlock the maximum output level.

 

[PinkyPowers]

A friend of mine actually prefer 3.5mm output on his DX80 over my 2.5mm output on my Onkyo DP-X1 using my Angie.

He loves thick vocal more than me and I think balanced out actually makes the vocal thinner but with more clarity.

Other than thinner mid, the soundstage and separation is significantly improved with balanced out. 

When I first heard Angie through the AK120ii Balanced, it sounded so clear and transparent it almost did seem thin. But it's not. Angie is every bit as thick and meaty in balanced. Properly done balanced output is startling at first. I remember thinking no system should be this pure seeming. I fell in love with it immediately. Once you spend a few hours with it, you realize Balanced lacks nothing, it only adds.

 

[Johnny Woody]

When I first heard Angie through the AK120ii Balanced, it sounded so clear and transparent it almost did seem thin. But it's not. Angie is every bit as thick and meaty in balanced. Properly done balanced output is startling at first. I remember thinking no system should be this pure seeming. I fell in love with it immediately. Once you spend a few hours with it, you realize Balanced lacks nothing, it only adds.

I was using the acg mode all the time.
Today I switched to basic balanced mode and I got those thick mids back!

 

[mwhals]

You guys are convincing me to get the Onkyo DP-X1 now so I can use balanced with my Angie II. It sounds good with the QP1R though.

 

[Johnny Woody]

You guys are convincing me to get the Onkyo DP-X1 now so I can use balanced with my Angie II. It sounds good with the QP1R though.

If you go that way, make sure you also get an upgrade balanced cable.
 
I can say it's about 20% better if you go balanced.
 
And with a decent upgrade cable, you can get another 10%.

 

[ezekiel77]

You guys are convincing me to get the Onkyo DP-X1 now so I can use balanced with my Angie II. It sounds good with the QP1R though.

 
Read what you will, but I sold the DP-X1 and bought the QP1R because of SQ preference, and bcos I didn't use the Android features much.

QP1R basically gave me endgame SQ and even that while using single-ended.

 

[Johnny Woody]

How is the SQ compare with DP-X1 balanced out?
 
 

   
Read what you will, but I sold the DP-X1 and bought the QP1R because of SQ preference, and bcos I didn't use the Android features much.

QP1R basically gave me endgame SQ and even that while using single-ended.

How is the SQ of QP1R compare with DP-X1 balanced out?

 

[ezekiel77]

  How is the SQ compare with DP-X1 balanced out?
 
 
How is the SQ of QP1R compare with DP-X1 balanced out?

 
Didn't get the chance to a/b, sorry about that. The gap between selling the Onkyo and getting the QP1R was about a month.
 
Generally, Onkyo's tuning is more AK-like (lean, fast, wide and deep stage), whereas QP1R focuses a lot on dynamics and details. Might be a preference thing.

 

[Johnny Woody]

   
Didn't get the chance to a/b, sorry about that. The gap between selling the Onkyo and getting the QP1R was about a month.
 
Generally, Onkyo's tuning is more AK-like (lean, fast, wide and deep stage), whereas QP1R focuses a lot on dynamics and details. Might be a preference thing.

Looks like it's similar to the comparison of my friend's DX80 to DP-X1

 

[mwhals]

Read what you will, but I sold the DP-X1 and bought the QP1R because of SQ preference, and bcos I didn't use the Android features much.


QP1R basically gave me endgame SQ and even that while using single-ended.

Actually I was not serious as I am getting the LCD3 to use with the QP1R.

 

[x RELIC x]

Reading the last few posts I feel that some tempering of the magic of balanced is in order. A balanced output is quite often a better output on a device that also includes a single ended connection because the implementation is designed that way. A lot of this is down to the way the topology is designed to be balanced vs the SE topology. That does not mean that a device that is balanced will by default outperform a device that is SE.

The QP1R, Cayin N6, Chord Mojo, ALO Rx are all good examples of exceptional sound from a portable device that is single ended only. Indeed I much prefer the sound of the SE Mojo to the Angie over a balanced AK240 to the Angie. At that level, when the topology is done well it's more about preference than SE vs balanced between devices. I will agree that typically, ON THE SAME DEVICE, the balanced output will sound better than the SE output.