[MrWalkman]

I see you are using 3.5mm jack due to external amp being single ended. I guess sound quality does not suffer much in this usage case over using 4.4mm balanced jack, which is supposedly superior? Alternative is to use 4.4mm to single ended adapter, which I suppose is not recommended.

4.4 to single ended will work fine, but you won't get the higher output power. The output power will be similar to the single-ended port. In a bridge tied load amplifier (like the one used in our players), the output power is multiplied by 4, so 250mW / 4 = 62.5mW, which is almost the same as the 60mW from the single-ended port.

Of course, in this kind of adapter you'd use only L+ and R+ of the balanced port, and then the ground.

As I can't test the 4.4 port, I can't say if the 3.5 one sound worse when using it through an amplifier.

 

[jaker782]

4.4 to single ended will work fine, but you won't get the higher output power. The output power will be similar to the single-ended port. In a bridge tied load amplifier (like the one used in our players), the output power is multiplied by 4, so 250mW / 4 = 62.5mW, which is almost the same as the 60mW from the single-ended port.

Of course, in this kind of adapter you'd use only L+ and R+ of the balanced port, and then the ground.

As I can't test the 4.4 port, I can't say if the 3.5 one sound worse when using it through an amplifier.

Wow, you know your stuff! I have one such adapter and have tried it without issue. I honestly never detected a power difference with my ears and was hard pressed to hear a difference in sound quality. One reason for using the 4.4mm to single ended adapter is to take advantage of DSD output, but since you have enabled DSD output using the 3.5mm jack via CFW, this is now a moot point.

 

[nc8000]

4.4 to single ended will work fine, but you won't get the higher output power. The output power will be similar to the single-ended port. In a bridge tied load amplifier (like the one used in our players), the output power is multiplied by 4, so 250mW / 4 = 62.5mW, which is almost the same as the 60mW from the single-ended port.

Of course, in this kind of adapter you'd use only L+ and R+ of the balanced port, and then the ground.

As I can't test the 4.4 port, I can't say if the 3.5 one sound worse when using it through an amplifier.

But the ground is not connected to the 5th link of the 4.4 out on the Walkman so you can’t use the 4.4 out to single ended amps just like you can’t use the 4.4 out to single ended headphones

 

[aceedburn]

But the ground is not connected to the 5th link of the 4.4 out on the Walkman so you can’t use the 4.4 out to single ended amps just like you can’t use the 4.4 out to single ended headphones

How about 4.4mm to stereo RCA? Would that be possible?

 

[MrWalkman]

But the ground is not connected to the 5th link of the 4.4 out on the Walkman so you can’t use the 4.4 out to single ended amps just like you can’t use the 4.4 out to single ended headphones

Yeah, you can either connect the ground to the 4.4 port, or you can use the single-ended ground, which is the same as the unconnected 4.4 ground.

 

[MrWalkman]

How about 4.4mm to stereo RCA? Would that be possible?

Theoretically yes, unless the receiver has both minus terminals connected together internally or something, I guess.

 

[nc8000]

Theoretically yes, unless the receiver has both minus terminals connected together internally or something, I guess.

Which they almost always will be since they are ground and not really minus so 3.5 out to rca or 4.4 out to balanced or (as MrWalkman mention) a special adaptor with both a 3.5 and a 4.4 that takes ground from 3.5 and the plus signals from 4.4 and then goes to rca

 

[Lookout57]

Which they almost always will be since they are ground and not really minus so 3.5 out to rca or 4.4 out to balanced or (as MrWalkman mention) a special adaptor with both a 3.5 and a 4.4 that takes ground from 3.5 and the plus signals from 4.4 and then goes to rca

I remember seeing somewhere a balanced adapter that used the 3.5 ground. It was a two headed cable that plugged into the balanced and single-ended jacks.

 

[nc8000]

I remember seeing somewhere a balanced adapter that used the 3.5 ground. It was a two headed cable that plugged into the balanced and single-ended jacks.

Yes I’ve seen several different versions as well

 

[MrWalkman]

You know how you can hear a background noise when no music is playing with the WM1A (in my case), and it's more audible if you have high gain enabled, and gradually more audible if you turn up the volume.

When connected to this amp there is a background noise, but purely from the amp itself. This noise gradually increases if I turn up the amp's volume. However, there is no additional noise if I connect the WM1A, nor with high gain enabled, and nor with gradually increasing the player's volume.

 

[ttt123]

How about 4.4mm to stereo RCA? Would that be possible?

3.5mm out to RCA is OK. 4.4mm to RCA is not recommended, as the RCA socket GRD is tied to common GRD in the amplifier chassis, so this will short the separated balanced output Grds together, on the 4.4mm output. This is not recommended, as the balanced amp section has a discrete amp for the - signal, and another discret amp for the + signal. By design, they are kep separate, and the design never intended for people to short them togehter. Manufacturers give very specific warnings to NOT short the balanced GRDs together.

Most manufacturers have safeguards built in to protect against people doing this, so people find that it works, even if you short the balanced GRDs together. Do so at your own risk. Personally, I would not, as it feels very wrong to me, but some people do.

 

[MrWalkman]

3.5mm out to RCA is OK. 4.4mm to RCA is not recommended, as the RCA socket GRD is tied to common GRD in the amplifier chassis, so this will short the separated balanced output Grds together, on the 4.4mm output. This is not recommended, as the balanced amp section has a discrete amp for the - signal, and another discret amp for the + signal. By design, they are kep separate, and the design never intended for people to short them togehter. Manufacturers give very specific warnings to NOT short the balanced GRDs together.

Most manufacturers have safeguards built in to protect against people doing this, so people find that it works, even if you short the balanced GRDs together. Do so at your own risk. Personally, I would not, as it feels very wrong to me, but some people do.

There was someone shorting those grounda together unknowingly, and at a higher volume the receiver was turning off.

 

[jaker782]

There was someone shorting those grounda together unknowingly, and at a higher volume the receiver was turning off.

So not recommended, but people (myself included) would be tempted to try it IF better sound quality is achieved by using such adapter from 4.4mm out into an external amp vs. just using the 3.5mm hpo as intended into RCA inputs of the amp.

I have tried it, and did not hear an obvious improvement, so stick with the 3.5mm hpo. Anyone else compare the two outputs as a source into an external amp?

 

[aceedburn]

So not recommended, but people (myself included) would be tempted to try it IF better sound quality is achieved by using such adapter from 4.4mm out into an external amp vs. just using the 3.5mm hpo as intended into RCA inputs of the amp.

I have tried it, and did not hear an obvious improvement, so stick with the 3.5mm hpo. Anyone else compare the two outputs as a source into an external amp?

I’ve been using the 3.5mm out to rca with my k5 pro amp for the past 2 years with no issues. It sounds great. Never tried the 4.4mm out to RCA. I prefer just listening to the 4.4mm output direct via my balanced 1AM2 and Z5.

 

[jaker782]

Another negative with trying to use the 4.4mm out into single ended amp is the fact that you turn the volume level up to obtain adequate line level input into your amp, then the next day you plug in your iems and not realize volume via 4.4mm jack is set to 100 and you push play! If using 3.5mm out for your external amp, you don't have to worry about volume being jacked up when you switch to balanced iems.