What audible benefits are those? The only one I know of which has an audible effect is power, or impedance (if the balanced out has a different impedance).
So please - explain (along with example of appropriate source - so I can quote actual specs) where a balanced output would benefit the F9 Pro. Thanks
I tend to agree with you that there aren't audible differences in my chain when I compare balanced to single ended. However, I also don't want to be diminutive to those who do hear audible differences in their fully balanced chains. Much like I wouldn't tell someone there is no audible difference between a minimum phase vs linear phase filter on their DAC - or that their silver plated copper USB cable doesn't help audibly - or that upsampling done in software vs oversampling done in their DAC isn't sonically better. The takeaway from my reply was that any benefits
wont show on a FR graph. But there are also objective/measurable benefits to using balanced. And knowing what little I do know about the science behind electrical currents, they seem to make sense:
"Balanced-drive delivers a noted increase in audio performance due to the doubling of the amp's voltage slew rate and voltage swing range, a reduction of THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) components and the avoidance of crosstalk due to the elimination of the common ground plane."
https://www.headphone.com/pages/balanced-headphones-guide
My theory is, and it's just my belief, not proven: If you're better isolating what gets fed to each channel, then each driver has to work slightly less (reproducing less of the information in the original source file's opposite channel). Then again, we're talking about a 15-20db attenuation (vs single ended typically) of the opposing channel's information, so it's not a huge amount. Still, in theory should make for a cleaner signal right? Less distortion perhaps?
What's not my theory and can be shown scientifically to be true, voltage swing and slew rate are directly related to controlling transients. Volts drive the transducers. The amount of voltage that can be ramped up or down is voltage swing, while the rate at which that ramping happens is the slew rate. If you've listened to a very good amp like the violetrics or lakepeople with a Senn HD600 or better, I think you'd be able to agree on the superiority of those amps. So the fact that you are able to send those volts independently to each channel at double the swing and slew will make for a tighter performance generally speaking. But will that have a benefit to the F9 as much as it would a headphone that requires much more voltage? Probably not.
In summary, you can't show the benefits of balanced on a simple FR line graph, but there are objectively proven benefits to this topography. The realized benefits of balanced drive even to the most discerning of enthusiasts, however, is a pretty small increase in SQ that requires a fully balanced chain, very discerning ears, and highly resolving headphones. The benefits of the F9 going balanced probably wont add anything
very apparent.