[sludgeogre]

  I'm also looking for a balanced cable for my PM-3 and the Opus 1. I see Surf Cables has one for $110, are they a reputable company?
Thanks.

I've never heard of Surf Cables before, I can't comment on them. I would still go with Forza. Just email them what you want and he'll set you up.

 

[Jimster480]

  demoed pm1 with ha1 was great. pm3 impedence 26 vs 32 pm1 would ha1 over power pm3 or can i expect similar dynamics as pm1/ha1? cheers jim any detail appreciated. if i have 1250 gbp to spend is ha1 /pm3 better than schitt combos etc. its very frustrating later pm1/2 would arrive
 
also:: the specs for the ha1 say things like 3200mw into 32 ohm balanced //unblanced or similar. howcome then the pm1/3 with 26/32 impedence are not blown to pieces by ha1? how did oppo make this possible for their headphones to work so well with such a powerful amp. other amps with less power out would blow such low impedence cans. cheers  what is the magic that oppo have done to make their low impedence headphones sound great with a beast like ha1.

Its all about max power, don't turn the amp to max lol.
 
The rated power is just the max.
 
Honestly I think you should do a Schiit Stack instead as the Modi Multibit + Magni 2 or Magni 2 Uber can easily drive these headphones to their max potential.

You can also do a SMSL Stack around the same price.
 
SMSL M8 + VA2 + P1 Linear PSU, its said to be exceptional for the price and rival setups that cost many times its price (this is especially true for the M8, which is carefully crafted with a great implementation of the ESS 9018K2m driven by the 8Core XMOS DSP.

 

[ropie]

  I'm also looking for a balanced cable for my PM-3 and the Opus 1. I see Surf Cables has one for $110, are they a reputable company?
Thanks.

 
I would like to try a balanced cable as well, to hook up to the Ibasso DX200
Oppo makes balanced cables themselves:
 
http://www.oppodigital.jp/products/headphone/optional-cable-for-pm-3/
 
Anobody experience with these?

 

[HuoYuanJia]

*Edit* Sorry, didn't see the post before mine that found the same cable.
 
Quote:

Sorry, haven't read through the entire thread. Will be purchasing a FiiO X5III shortly. Any recommendations for balanced cables for my PM-3s and the FiiO? I would prefer the cable be less than US$200, preferably much less.

Why not buy the official balanced cable?
 
https://www.oppodigital.com.au/products/oppo-pm-3-balanced-cable

 

[guido]

ridiculous price

 

[HuoYuanJia]

The thing about balanced cables is that you will have a hard time to notice anything than double the volume. If the amp is really good, you can squeeze a few more dB dynamic range (which results in better THD+N, for example). That is if you couple a double headphone output (which also doubles the output impedance). However, that effect is absolutely minimal. Especially if your amp is powerful anyway, there is no way for you to hear an improvement. Considering the PM-3 is so easy to drive, I don't think there is anybody who can actually hear a sonic improvement.
 
As for the Opus #1, I reviewed it and I tried the balanced output with CIEMs. The balanced output circuitry is not the same as doubling the 3.5mm output, so effectively you lose the marginal benefits I just explained earlier. It's not a dynamic sounding amp and the balanced output will not fix that. There is only one reason to use the balanced out with the Opus #1 and that is for hyper-sensitive IEMs. Because the balanced output has a lower output impedance.
 
For the Oppo, I would not even bother.
 

 

[good sound]

Sorry, haven't read through the entire thread. Will be purchasing a FiiO X5III shortly. Any recommendations for balanced cables for my PM-3s and the FiiO? I would prefer the cable be less than US$200, preferably much less.

Why not buy the official balanced cable?

https://www.oppodigital.com.au/products/oppo-pm-3-balanced-cable

Does it come with the proper connector for the FiiO, a 2.5 TRRS I believe? It is the same connector A&K use with their players.

 

[HuoYuanJia]

Does it come with the proper connector for the FiiO, a 2.5 TRRS I believe? It is the same connector A&K use with their players.

 
They have several terminations. 3.5mm, 4-pin XLR and 2.5mm. You have to make sure it's the OPP-25BHC-1 cable. That's the one you want for Astell&Kern, Opus, etc.
 
Edit for clarification:
OPP-**BHC stands for Oppo *** balanced headphone cable. They have 25 (2.5mm), 35 (3.5mm), 45 (4.5mm) and XL (4-pin XLR).

 

[good sound]

They have several terminations. 3.5mm, 4-pin XLR and 2.5mm. You have to make sure it's the OPP-25BHC-1 cable. That's the one you want for Astell&Kern, Opus, etc.

Edit for clarification:
OPP-**BHC stands for Oppo *** balanced headphone cable. They have 25 (2.5mm), 35 (3.5mm), 45 (4.5mm) and XL (4-pin XLR).

Thanks, that is probably the route I will go.

 

[good sound]

Upon further investigation I see the link you provided is for Oppo Australia. That cable is not available in the North American market as far as I can tell. Can't be found on Oppo's US site. Even if I wanted to order the cable from the Australian site it is currently listed as being out of stock. There are several other options available here in N.A. including the Surf ones mentioned by someone else earlier in this thread. I think I will pick one of those.

 

[JamesAnthony]

Just received a ForzaAudioworks balanced cable (2.5mm Astell & Kern) for the Oppo PM3. 
 
This is how these headphones were meant to sound. Pure joy. 

 

[sabloke]

Upon further investigation I see the link you provided is for Oppo Australia. That cable is not available in the North American market as far as I can tell. Can't be found on Oppo's US site. Even if I wanted to order the cable from the Australian site it is currently listed as being out of stock. There are several other options available here in N.A. including the Surf ones mentioned by someone else earlier in this thread. I think I will pick one of those.

Jaben, an online detailed from Melbourne, has the cable on ebay. Just search for PM-3 balanced, they might ship to Us.

 

[Satir]

n/a

 

[Bambule]

Although I wish a little more bass from my QP1R PM3 combo from time to time, I always get the impression, that I loose something when starting to EQ. So I decided to let the EQ off. Still interested for suggestions on this topic

 

[ropie]

  The thing about balanced cables is that you will have a hard time to notice anything than double the volume. If the amp is really good, you can squeeze a few more dB dynamic range (which results in better THD+N, for example). That is if you couple a double headphone output (which also doubles the output impedance). However, that effect is absolutely minimal. Especially if your amp is powerful anyway, there is no way for you to hear an improvement. Considering the PM-3 is so easy to drive, I don't think there is anybody who can actually hear a sonic improvement.
 
As for the Opus #1, I reviewed it and I tried the balanced output with CIEMs. The balanced output circuitry is not the same as doubling the 3.5mm output, so effectively you lose the marginal benefits I just explained earlier. It's not a dynamic sounding amp and the balanced output will not fix that. There is only one reason to use the balanced out with the Opus #1 and that is for hyper-sensitive IEMs. Because the balanced output has a lower output impedance.
 
For the Oppo, I would not even bother.
 

You are probably right.
 
Somehow I would still like to find out myself.
Curoius of I can spot a difference going balanced
 
But more than 100 euro's for a cable seems heavily overpriced.....