[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm sorry that you think so poorly of the mods that some of us have done, ericj, but I guess ya can't please everybody.

It's not that i think poorly of them, it's that "balanced" strikes me as a nonsense word that doesn't accurately describe differential signalling, and I find the fan-boy aspect of the 'balanced' phenominon pretty repellant - there isn't a week that goes by that some n00b doesn't come by here and tell us how they're new to this whole headphone thing but they've been reading for a few days and they're certain they need to "go balanced" with their first headphone purchase, for which it turns out they have budgeted half a month's wages.

In spite of this, I am mulling over developing a differential-drive pocket amp with high (for a pocket amp) voltage swing. If i do build it, the word "balanced" will never appear without quotes in any description of it.

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nope. Well, a balanced amp has twice the voltage swing and twice the current of an unbalanced variant. I haven't confirmed this yet, but acording to swt61/Fitz and using some sort of 'new math', this works out to be four times the power somehow.

Close, but not completely accurate. A bridged amp will give you quadruple the WPC. A balanced amp that is designed as a balanced amp from the ground up won't necessarily be two bridged amps in tandem. The formula comes to me from looser101...2 x voltage + 2 x current = 4 x wattage. As I've said before, I'm sure he's correct, because my old NAD 2200's were rated at 100 WPC stereo mode and 400 WPC bridged mono mode.

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's not that i think poorly of them, it's that "balanced" strikes me as a nonsense word that doesn't accurately describe differential signalling, and I find the fan-boy aspect of the 'balanced' phenominon pretty repellant - there isn't a week that goes by that some n00b doesn't come by here and tell us how they're new to this whole headphone thing but they've been reading for a few days and they're certain they need to "go balanced" with their first headphone purchase, for which it turns out they have budgeted half a month's wages. In spite of this, I am mulling over developing a differential-drive pocket amp with high (for a pocket amp) voltage swing. If i do build it, the word "balanced" will never appear without quotes in any description of it.

I agree with what I think you're saying. The word itself has very little meaning, and I certainly don't believe that a balanced system will be better than any SE system. But I do hear very noticable improvement over my SE K340/Darkvoice system.

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just don't like that much red visible, so I may stick with my idea to have some done up custom in a much darker red.

Hmmm I'm confused. Why do you always wear that bright Red thong with your pants slung really low then?

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmmm I'm confused. Why do you always wear that bright Red thong with your pants slung really low then?

That's exactly why I don't like the red visible on other things! It steals the attention away from me.

p.s. Have you seen my new one? It's even smaller than the one I had before, so I had to use more tape to get things to fit.

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitz /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's exactly why I don't like the red visible on other things! It steals the attention away from me. p.s. Have you seen my new one? It's even smaller than the one I had before, so I had to use more tape to get things to fit.

I just spit out my chili! You crazy man!

 

[wualta]

~Oh, you two! Behave, will you.. ..oh!~

What I wanted to ask was, what advantages are claimed for "balanced" headphone hookups in terms of frequency response? I can imagine the bass being said to improve (tighter, better dynamics) with more capable voltage drive, but has anyone made a reasonable claim for the mids and highs changing not just in quality but relative amplitude? In other words, can a reasonable claim be made that swt61's HP-1's greatly increased top end is in any way attributable to "balanced" drive?

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just spit out my chili! You crazy man!

I'm serious, I made it fit! I'll PM you the pics later.

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif ~Oh, you two! Behave, will you.. oh..~

Sorry, I just realized that it's Friday and I don't have to work over the weekend, so I'm a little off right now.

 

[warrior05]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm serious, I made it fit! I'll PM you the pics later.

Yes. PLEASE keep that between yourselves!!!!

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif ~Oh, you two! Behave, will you.. oh..~ What I wanted to ask was, what advantages are claimed for "balanced" headphone hookups in terms of frequency response? I can imagine the bass being said to improve (tighter, better dynamics) with more capable voltage drive, but has anyone made a reasonable claim for the mids and highs changing not just in quality but relative amplitude? In other words, can a reasonable claim be made that swt61's HP-1's greatly increased top end is in any way attributable to "balanced" drive?

I don't have any hard data, but I doubt that the much improved top end is due to the balancing. I've read many cases of improved bass, better clarity and dynamics overall, even better soundstage, but I've not heard of any real evidence of greatly improved treble responce. My treble improvement seems to go hand in hand with what I read from you on the damping mod, and I'm pretty sure that's what's responsible for the increased top end. The improvements I noticed on my K340's after balancing were noticably deeper bass, and a general improvement all around, no drastic change to the upper end though.

Fitz I guess we'll have to take our sidelines to the member's lounge in the "What to do in SF after Headfest?" thread.

 

[Parisis]

Enjoyed reading this thread though I do not post much. I qualify with a pair of YHD 1's . I remember the day I bought them . It had to be 1985 or so. I went into our Local Hi-fi house to check out CD's. I was tired of cleaning records and wanted to see what the fuss was about. Well They had a Sony player with a pair of the yhd 1's connected and the guy says take a listin to this new Paul Simon CD (Graceland). Well $500 or so later I had the Sony and the Yamaha's. A trip to the "record" Store got me the Graceland Cd and the Springsteen 3 CD live set. I have been away from phones until getting an Iriver player last year. This site has cost me a little money buying phones for the Iriver but I will soon make the jump to a larger set although the Yamahas still sound pretty good. Have any of you recabled them and if so where can I buy the cable. Thanks.

 

[wualta]

I haven't recabled a YHD, but keep in mind that the cable is hardwired right onto the driver, and you'll want to save the strain reliefs for each earcup. Just about any supple small-gauge cord will do the job, but it would be even easier to repair what you have, slip a length of shrink tubing over the booboo, and carry on with the love affair for another 18 years.

I felt inspired to reacquaint myself with the YHD-1 so I plugged mine into the Panasonic XR25's digital amp to listen to my Rachael Yamagata test CD and the sound was pleasant and smooth, but tilted down at the treble end. If you move the YHD around on your ears, you can get some highs to pop out but they're still well below the level of midrange and bass.

As always, there's an amazing amount of performance built into the Yamahas; the trick is to unpack it.

.

 

[ericj]

I wonder if the folks who have already bid a pair of HP-50a's at least $5 above their value in only 18 hours of bidding realize that the 50a is wired monaural, and will need the cable re-terminated for stereo use?

Just sayin. You know who you are.

They're not bad 'phones, basically a 'cigarette cream' color scheme on a HP-3, wired monaural because they originally came free with a yamaha keyboard.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wonder if the folks who have already bid a pair of HP-50a's at least $5 above their value in only 18 hours of bidding realize that the 50a is wired monaural, and will need the cable re-terminated for stereo use? ...

Well, it's not such a big deal to stick on a new plug-- $2 part and a couple of minutes soldering. $20 is still a good price for them IMO, but any higher and you'd be better off with a KSC-75 and no mods needed. The HP-50a also don't sound so hot direct from a portable player, though they do make for some seriously retro-stylish streetwear. They have great gobs of bass, but this also tends to muddy the upper end a bit, though some judicious felt might correct that.