[Nalor]

I use mine in Single Ended Configuration, and it works great. (Connected to a Lyr 2 and Valhalla 2) So do not fret too much

 

[atomicbob]

  I use mine in Single Ended Configuration, and it works great. (Connected to a Lyr 2 and Valhalla 2) So do not fret too much

Also use mine in SE config with a Liquid Crimson. Sounds excellent. I agree with @Nalor ,  don't worry, be happy.

 

[tonykaz]

Dear AB,
 
While we're at it,  where did folks get the idea that Balanced was better than SE?
 
Pro Audio folks use it for Loooooooong runs and it's considered better for it's noise canceling but we never used it in Consumer installations ( did we? ), nor do we have noisy environments to contend with.  
 
Back in 1980 Meridian gave us the choice of using either Balanced or SE with the M2, M3 and M10s  we were Importing. We chose SE which allowed Cable choices of Monster Reference Interconnects and a wide range of other Outfits Interconnects including MIT Interface interconnects. If we'd limited ourselves to Balanced we'd only had Pro Audio Wire which was considered less musical.  All the Meridian Active loudspeakers could be configured either way because they were designed for Pro applications as well as Consumer.     
 
In the headphone world : Balanced is some sort of Sacred Cow.  
 
Maybe I'm just not a Hindu! or Jewish for that matter ( didn't the Jews make a Gold Cow while Moses was up in the Mountains? )
 
Tony in Michigan

 

[Dalgas]

  Hello everyone. Do Gungnirs come with XLR cables? Thank you.

No - it don´t!
 
Tip: Check out Grimm Audio TPR. The best XLR i have EVER heard!

 

[Dalgas]

 
Dear AB,
 
While we're at it,  where did folks get the idea that Balanced was better than SE?
 
Pro Audio folks use it for Loooooooong runs and it's considered better for it's noise canceling but we never used it in Consumer installations ( did we? ), nor do we have noisy environments to contend with.
 
Back in 1980 Meridian gave us the choice of using either Balanced or SE with the M2, M3 and M10s  we were Importing. We chose SE which allowed Cable choices of Monster Reference Interconnects and a wide range of other Outfits Interconnects including MIT Interface interconnects. If we'd limited ourselves to Balanced we'd only had Pro Audio Wire which was considered less musical.  All the Meridian Active loudspeakers could be configured either way because they were designed for Pro applications as well as Consumer.    
 
In the headphone world : Balanced is some sort of Sacred Cow.
 
Maybe I'm just not a Hindu! or Jewish for that matter ( didn't the Jews make a Gold Cow while Moses was up in the Mountains? )
 
Tony in Michigan

Come on! Why use twice the number of components making a balanced DAC, if it is not better than SE??
 
Besides I have come across a reply from Jason saying exactly that.

 

[sheldaze]

  While we're at it,  where did folks get the idea that Balanced was better than SE?

This post:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/763905/finding-a-dac-for-the-cavalli-liquid-carbon-only-four-months-to-go/1005#post_11872598
 
Not sure about all the other philosophy stuff you wrote 

 
But it has been generally said because it was once said in the above post that Gungnir sounds better through balanced. I had to unsubscribe from the DAC19 thread because there was a large quantity of merciless Schiit-bashing going on there. If you got it and you like it, keep it! No need to accuse the other guys of doing something wrongly. Single-ended from Yggdrasil and Gungnir sound just fine to my ears.

 

[ToTo Man]

To re-iterate a post I made several pages ago in this thread, I was lucky enough to have the Gumby + Mjol2 + Ether on home demo, during which time I had wired both single-ended and balanced so that I could flip back and forth between the two circuits.  To my ears, and after adjusting for the obvious difference in SPLs, balanced sounded superior to SE.  There were subtle improvements in clarity, presence, separation, spaciousness and dynamics, particularly in the mids.  Overall the sound became more holographic with more space between the layers.  Switching from SE to balanced between DAC and amp, and SE to balanced between amp and headphones, each made a contribution to this small improvement.  So IME of Gumby + Mjolnir2 + Ether, all-balanced > part-balanced > all-SE.  However I would not go as far as Stillhart's opinion that it's not worth buying Gumby if you are limited to SE.  The differences are not as stark as that IMO.

 

[sheldaze]

  To re-iterate a post I made several pages ago in this thread, I was lucky enough to have the Gumby + Mjol2 + Ether on home demo, during which time I had wired both single-ended and balanced so that I could flip back and forth between the two circuits.  To my ears, and after adjusting for the obvious difference in SPLs, balanced sounded superior to SE.  There were subtle improvements in clarity, presence, separation, spaciousness and dynamics, particularly in the mids.  Overall the sound became more holographic with more space between the layers.  Switching from SE to balanced between DAC and amp, and SE to balanced between amp and headphones, each made a contribution to this small improvement.  So IME of Gumby + Mjolnir2 + Ether, all-balanced > part-balanced > all-SE.  However I would not go as far as Stillhart's opinion that it's not worth buying Gumby if you are limited to SE.  The differences are not as stark as that IMO.

Sorry, I missed this - thanks for the repost!
My current setup is Gumby > Liquid Carbon > HE-1000. I guess I'll have to A/B to compare the outputs from Gumby too 

 

 

[shabta]

  To re-iterate a post I made several pages ago in this thread, I was lucky enough to have the Gumby + Mjol2 + Ether on home demo, during which time I had wired both single-ended and balanced so that I could flip back and forth between the two circuits.  To my ears, and after adjusting for the obvious difference in SPLs, balanced sounded superior to SE.  There were subtle improvements in clarity, presence, separation, spaciousness and dynamics, particularly in the mids.  Overall the sound became more holographic with more space between the layers.  Switching from SE to balanced between DAC and amp, and SE to balanced between amp and headphones, each made a contribution to this small improvement.  So IME of Gumby + Mjolnir2 + Ether, all-balanced > part-balanced > all-SE.  However I would not go as far as Stillhart's opinion that it's not worth buying Gumby if you are limited to SE.  The differences are not as stark as that IMO.

It is really hard to determine from either test, the one above or stillhart's, whether the issue was SE vs. Balanced is DAC or amp. It seems more likely the issues was the amp. Most amps that run balanced, sound better balanced no matter what the input is...  

 

[crazychile]

 
Dear AB,
 
While we're at it,  where did folks get the idea that Balanced was better than SE?
 
Pro Audio folks use it for Loooooooong runs and it's considered better for it's noise canceling but we never used it in Consumer installations ( did we? ), nor do we have noisy environments to contend with.  
 
Back in 1980 Meridian gave us the choice of using either Balanced or SE with the M2, M3 and M10s  we were Importing. We chose SE which allowed Cable choices of Monster Reference Interconnects and a wide range of other Outfits Interconnects including MIT Interface interconnects. If we'd limited ourselves to Balanced we'd only had Pro Audio Wire which was considered less musical.  All the Meridian Active loudspeakers could be configured either way because they were designed for Pro applications as well as Consumer.     
 
In the headphone world : Balanced is some sort of Sacred Cow.  
 
Maybe I'm just not a Hindu! or Jewish for that matter ( didn't the Jews make a Gold Cow while Moses was up in the Mountains? )
 
Tony in Michigan

Tony,
Back in the day, I think it was more of an economic consideration to go with single ended over balanced, rather than the lack of cable choices. To do balanced (correctly) significantly increases the cost of the product, which would have put a lot of gear out of budget for many people. For consumer stuff the standard RCA cable was the defacto connection since what?...the 50's? So there was little incentive to buck the trend. Mark Levinson and Naim were a few that decided to use non-standard connections, but not many others.
 
The first balanced gear I ever owned was some Bryston stuff from the very early 90's. I worked for a dealer at the time and remember getting the story from one of the owners of Bryston, that they sort of fell into the home market. During the 80's, Pro was their core business but people kept wanting to use it in their home systems because it sounded good and (at that time) was reasonably priced. Then in the 90's Stereophile started giving them great reviews and the brand took off. I can't help but think we have to give Bryston some credit for being one of a few that  woke up other high end companies to the possibilities of going balanced.

 

[ahnafakeef]

Thanks for the responses, everyone.
 
As it turns out, my amp is limited to SE only. So unfortunately, I won't be able to avail the bells and whistles of balanced.
 
OT question: do cables really make a huge difference in SQ? I got a cheap monoprice RCA cable, but would like to upgrade if it makes a major difference.
 
Thanks again.

 

[sheldaze]

  Thanks for the responses, everyone.
 
As it turns out, my amp is limited to SE only. So unfortunately, I won't be able to avail the bells and whistles of balanced.
 
OT question: do cables really make a huge difference in SQ? I got a cheap monoprice RCA cable, but would like to upgrade if it makes a major difference.
 
Thanks again.

Really cheap cables - yes.
Monoprice is plenty of goodness 

 

 

[ahnafakeef]

  Really cheap cables - yes.
Monoprice is plenty of goodness 

 

 
Alright. I'll stick to these cables for now then. Thank you.

 

[tonykaz]

Mr. CrazyChile and Mr. AtomicBob,
 
I might be getting-it about balanced and SE. 
 
I've always had problems with little RCA connectors, even high quality RCAs.  The Pro level connectors are far more robust and allow cable options.  
 
I suppose RCAs have their place in a Consumer products that never ( or rarely ) get un-plugged and are price driven low-end devices. 
 
Any "active" hobbyist would value the reliable nature of connectors that "work" every time, as Pro level Balanced devices are designed to do.
 
I'd also 'assume' ( a dangerous thing ) that a product featuring Balanced Connectivity would feature higher levels of circuit 'qualities' since it's end purchaser would be thought to be a more demanding user.
 
As to Schiit Bashing that Someone referred to,   I don't understand it!  Schiit is my "Company of the Year" ,  Sennheiser is my "Transducer Company of the last Decade"  and the Multibit DACs are my "Product of the Year" 
 
Other Outfits have worthy products :  JDS, Garage1217, Cavalli, Bottlehead,  MSB,  Genelec, Apple, Shure, Etymotic, Astel & Kern. plus a few more.  
 
Tony in Michigan 

 

[ETanner]

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