Onkyo DP-S1 and balance headphones

[jeemuzu]

Hi all,

Long time lurker...

I'm a longtime enjoyer of the Onkyo DP-S1. I've listened to is via bluetooth and the usual 3.5mm jack.
However, this player also has a 2.5mm balanced jack.

I've never used this output and am very curious as to how it would sound.
But I'm totally confued when it comes to finding a suitable pair of headphones.

The headphones that I currently have access to are the Sony WH-1000XM3 and the Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear.

I would be interested in buying a new pair of wired headphones and was wondering what is the simplest and most affordable way to experience the balanced output of the DAC.
Can anyone offer me some advice here?

Cheers!

 

[silent-circuit]

Pretty much any IEM with a swappable cable -- 2 pin and MMXC are the most common connectors on the IEM side -- can easily be switched to balanced with an aftermarket cable starting around $20... and sky is the limit if you believe in cables making sound differences.

Most headphones are similarly simple; $20-50 gets you a balanced cable. Some headphones use odd cables or permanently attached cables, so a little more research may be needed.

So how will it sound different? Well, ideally it won't. Balanced output gets you two things, the most important being more power! So long as your device was driving your headphones loud enough before, though, you don't need more power, and all that will change is you can make them louder.

If you don't need more power, the other potential benefit mostly applies to very sensitive IEMs. Balanced connections tend to be quieter (lower noise floor) and have less cross-talk (signal "bleeding over" between channels). Normally this doesn't make a noticable difference, but for very sensitive IEMs this can get rid of annoying background hiss / noise.

 

[jeemuzu]

Pretty much any IEM with a swappable cable -- 2 pin and MMXC are the most common connectors on the IEM side -- can easily be switched to balanced with an aftermarket cable starting around $20... and sky is the limit if you believe in cables making sound differences.

Most headphones are similarly simple; $20-50 gets you a balanced cable. Some headphones use odd cables or permanently attached cables, so a little more research may be needed.

So how will it sound different? Well, ideally it won't. Balanced output gets you two things, the most important being more power! So long as your device was driving your headphones loud enough before, though, you don't need more power, and all that will change is you can make them louder.

If you don't need more power, the other potential benefit mostly applies to very sensitive IEMs. Balanced connections tend to be quieter (lower noise floor) and have less cross-talk (signal "bleeding over" between channels). Normally this doesn't make a noticable difference, but for very sensitive IEMs this can get rid of annoying background hiss / noise.

Thank you so much for your reply.

I will research the connectors that you have specified.

I thought that the headphones needed to be 'internally' wired to support a balanced input?
If not, for example, can I simply use an adapter for my current IEM's to fit the 2.5mm balanced output from my DAC.

Thanks also for your expected impressions of the sound.
I guess that I cannot expect any serious changes in sounds from the DAC.