[Partlys4int]

Yes, I was looking for a airplane solution. I suspect that the neighbors would get upset when I took out my speakers and started blasting away.

Splitting doesn't affect audio quality on devices I have used thus far. It depends on the earphones but I am using powered earphones so the load on the audio output of the ZX300 would be essentially zero. If we were using a pair of difficult to drive passive phones it could be a problem as you suggest.

Ah, yes then you are pretty limited in options, sadly. Btw, I don't know what kind of splitter you have but I did a quick Google search and apparently Audioquest has got a 3,5 mm splitter in their range for a low price (I found it at 19 euros). ANything Audioquest is a sure way to quality in my book, so just dropping that information (I don't work at AQ lol)

 

[blazinblazin]

Are you going to go for 4.4mm balanced?

 

[AudioBear]

Thanks but I have the splitter already. Not sure who made it.

The solution is obvious. Buy the wife her own ZX300 and WH1000XMkII and let her listen to what she wants as loud or quiet as she prefers. That's really cutting the cord!

After years of listening to Bose in airplanes only because they have the best noise reduction I have been more than pleasantly surprised by how good the noise reduction and audio quality is on the 1000XMkII phones. The noise reduction equals or surpasses Bose and the audio is a lot better -- or at least subjectively more to my liking. I give Sony the nod in a tight race with the Bose QC-35. The most interesting side benefit is listening to music with closed back noise reducing phones is a very enjoyable experience,

 

[AudioBear]

Are you going to go for 4.4mm balanced?

I will now that I am cutting the cord! There was no simple way to split the balanced output. Truth be told, I don't think 1 in a 1000 could tell the difference blinded unless they were using phones that needed and used the extra power available over balanced. The point is moot for me because I am going to go wireless using LDAC. That is if I can ever buy a ZX300. Stores in the US don't have them yet.

 

[abitdeef]

I will now that I am cutting the cord! There was no simple way to split the balanced output. Truth be told, I don't think 1 in a 1000 could tell the difference blinded unless they were using phones that needed and used the extra power available over balanced. The point is moot for me because I am going to go wireless using LDAC. That is if I can ever buy a ZX300. Stores in the US don't have them yet.

Everybody here says the balanced is night and day from the SE output and one of the main selling points of the zx300. Better stereo separation, better layering within the sound stage and better defined treble and detail is what most say. I have yet to try it myself but I will soon The SE output sounds great to me, so if there's a big difference that would be aces.

Balanced on the ak70 wasn't that noticeable.

Chime up you balanced users

If you don't plan on using balanced go with nw a35 or zx100. And save some dosh. You can use LDAC on both and not pay for balanced output and PC dac functionality. Just a thought.

 

[AudioBear]

The big difference between SE and balanced is power available. That can make a big difference in sound, depending on what phones are connected to it. With a very efficient set of cans, there should be no difference in the sound.

You might also enjoy: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better

 

[abitdeef]

The big difference between SE and balanced is power available. That can make a big difference in sound, depending on what phones are connected to it. With a very efficient set of cans, there should be no difference in the sound.

You might also enjoy: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better

That may be true with most, but not Sony which uses bigger caps and allows native DSD only from the balanced out. So not just power output.

 

[AudioBear]

Yes the native DSD output only through balanced is true. It may be some sort of advertising gimmick though. There is no good reason for it. When I get my ZX300 I will see if I can put both outputs on a scope and compare them. That's the only way to know if there is a difference. Look at it this way, if you were Sony would you make an expensive DAP with an SE output so weak that users would need to go balanced to listen to it? I don't think so when the great majority of buyers are listening single-ended.

 

[blazinblazin]

Yes the native DSD output only through balanced is true. It may be some sort of advertising gimmick though. There is no good reason for it. When I get my ZX300 I will see if I can put both outputs on a scope and compare them. That's the only way to know if there is a difference. Look at it this way, if you were Sony would you make an expensive DAP with an SE output so weak that users would need to go balanced to listen to it? I don't think so when the great majority of buyers are listening single-ended.

Yes, only SONY is doing that cause SONY is promoting 4.4mm balanced standard. From the PCB board design, seems that all the expensive capacitors are fixed on the balanced side.

For the higher end WM1A is also built focused more on balanced.

Audio wise, most important is to hear it not measure it.

 

[Partlys4int]

I'm not even thinking about balanced output for the moment. I'm having way too much fun with the SE. Balanced technically should be better though, but I realize like Blu-ray, Minidisc and other formats/ technicalities this is also a move by Sony to get more and better entrenched in the Hi-res world.

 

[abitdeef]

Yes the native DSD output only through balanced is true. It may be some sort of advertising gimmick though. There is no good reason for it. When I get my ZX300 I will see if I can put both outputs on a scope and compare them. That's the only way to know if there is a difference. Look at it this way, if you were Sony would you make an expensive DAP with an SE output so weak that users would need to go balanced to listen to it? I don't think so when the great majority of buyers are listening single-ended.

Lol I didn't say the SE was weak, I'm just saying the consensus is the balanced sounds noticeably better than the SE. My point is why buy an expensive dap to use with Bluetooth??? Especially when Sony supposedly put a lot into the balanced output section that you're not even going to use.

Lol yes you put the oscilloscope on it and look at the waveforms, of course there will be a difference. But you really need an audio analyser to get any semi meaningful data.

 

[purk]

The big difference between SE and balanced is power available. That can make a big difference in sound, depending on what phones are connected to it. With a very efficient set of cans, there should be no difference in the sound.

You might also enjoy: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better

I would not trust the headphone output article written by Benchmark. Their headphones output on DAC-1 is hardly state of the art and easily surpassed by many setup. Their DAC must not be selling that well any more either.
Plus a properly done balanced circuit can provide much better sense of soundstage for headphones listening.

 

[AudioBear]

Lol I didn't say the SE was weak, I'm just saying the consensus is the balanced sounds noticeably better than the SE. My point is why buy an expensive dap to use with Bluetooth??? Especially when Sony supposedly put a lot into the balanced output section that you're not even going to use.

And my point was that with some phones the balanced should sound better because it can supply more power. I didn't mean to doubt that. I would buy theZX300 for other features even if it didn't have a balanced output. Actually Apt-X HD and LDAC are pretty important to me. Both are as good as or better than a CD and I don't ask for more out of a portable system. Remember this is for noise reducing headphones in an airplane, train or car. If I were traveling with better headphones you would be right that I will be wasting what appears to be one of the strengths of the ZX300--eg, the balanced out. At the end of the day the balanced output is wasted on my specific use. You are right about that. But the unit has other good features I want. As often happens, to get some features you want, you end up buying others you don't want. They could have saved some money and omitted the MQA which I will never use and which I believe is a technically flawed means to create yet another kind of DRM. But hey, MQA is a big advertising plus right now so everything new will have it.

Lol yes you put the oscilloscope on it and look at the waveforms, of course there will be a difference. But you really need an audio analyser to get any semi meaningful data.

Sorry I meant scope generically for test equipment. If I have a scope anymore it is gathering dust in my attic. Actually one of the best tests that could be done is putting both outputs at the same gain into a very high quality ADC and looking at the difference between the two files. If the difference between the files is bit perfect zero, they should sound the same. Unfortunately, I don't have a high resolution ADC.

 

[AudioBear]

I would not trust the headphone output article written by Benchmark. Their headphones output on DAC-1 is hardly state of the art and easily surpassed by many setup. Their DAC must not be selling that well any more either.
Plus a properly done balanced circuit can provide much better sense of soundstage for headphones listening.

There is a lot of opinion in high end audio and listener's opinion's are the worst of it from an engineering or science perspective. That said, the hobby is all about what it sounds like to us. If you found something that sounds better to you than the Benchmark, buy it and love it. I don't own a Benchmark anything either.

But I would counter that the article was written by an electronic design engineer and was vetted by a company that sells equipment primarily to professional applications like recording studios. I would think twice about blowing them off so quickly. Even if they made bad gear, which they don't, that is not a rebuttal to the engineering argument made in the white paper. What exactly can you find wrong with the content of the paper? Oh, and while we're at it what is the proof --beyond hearsay and audiophile opinion -- that balanced circuits have a better soundstage?

 

[JayKay47]

Does the balanced out and SE output at the same time with 2 separate headphone connected?