Listening to IEMs balanced?

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[dstarr3]

After doing more research I've found that as long as your headphones aren't hitting over the max output impedance they're rated for, they're probably fine. The issue being that balanced outputs on portable players are usually better designed than unbalanced ones, and with IEMs it's easier to hit a wall in volume much sooner. The power given to IEMs in my experience in balanced mode is a lot more linear, in unbalanced mode it seems to kick in after a while. I have a KANN Alpha by the way!

Yeah, I think this is where the misconception that balanced is inherently better than single-ended comes from. When amp manufacturers make an amp that has both a (truly) balanced output and a single-ended output, it's really better to think of it more like two different amps in one chassis rather than one amp that somehow does both single-ended and balanced at the same time. And when this is the case, almost always it's the balanced output that is connected to the better amplification circuit and the single-ended amp circuit is kind of an afterthought. So people with amps like these do A/B testing on the two outputs, observe that the balanced output is the better one, and then attribute that to balanced topology inherently being better, when really it's just that the balanced circuit is designed and built better than the single-ended circuit in the same chassis where most of the cost-cutting was done.

 

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[Roseval]

t's really better to think of it more like two different amps in one chassis

Wonder if it works that way.
In SE one opamp is driving the output.
For balanced add just another identical opamp but with the phase inverted and you have the push-pull configuration.
At least this explains to me when comparing se with balanced, most of the time the power doubles (2 x the same opamp), the distortions doubles (2x the same amp) and a doubling of the output impedance as well.

in unbalanced mode it seems to kick in after a while.

Don't think an amp, be it used single or in push-pull works that way. It remains linear.
What can happen is due to the doubling of the output impedance in combination with a low impedance IEM, the bass becomes blooming due to the lower damping rate.

BTW: not everybody thinks "balanced" an advantage: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better

 

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