[olddude]

Balanced from the get-go.  My Moon cable is for a Shure SE/Pono, but happily the connectors are the same for the Fidue.  When I bought it I was already thinking about the upgrade.  
 
The difference in balanced mode using the 846 from "stock" is much less than with the Fidue-  balanced made the Fidue a whole other iem, much fuller, more bass and timbre but with the same lovely smoothness.  Gave it cojones.

  The 846 gets better, but it's just a matter of better, not different.  
 
I really like the 846, it's like a much better Fidue.  Same basic musical style, more sub-bass, more bass but controlled and more discrete, more forward mids and lusher to boot, perhaps a bit less in the treble and highs using the standard sound filters.  With the "bright" filters, lots more sparkle up top without having to listen for it.  Absolutely no sibilance.  
 
Unless you like spending lots of money and want a TOTL, the Fidue is a great iem.  I'd put the 846 at maybe 20+% "better."  But it IS discernibly better, I'm hearing things on the edges I wasn't before, tonalities in certain instruments, better instrument placement, more clarity.  At three times the cost of the Fidues.  
 
Addiction, right?

 

[robster]

Thanks, can someone please recommend a good pair of headphones that can be used as portable headphones,over the ear, for portable use like when I'm out walking the dogs, that can be wired as balanced headphones? the only ones that come to mind are the Sennheiser HD-25 or HD-26, I need a pair that's light and not too clumsy. Currently I'm using the ATH M-50's but I don't think they can be wired to work as balanced. 

 

[doctorjazz]

Balanced from the get-go.  My Moon cable is for a Shure SE/Pono, but happily the connectors are the same for the Fidue.  When I bought it I was already thinking about the upgrade.  

The difference in balanced mode using the 846 from "stock" is much less than with the Fidue-  balanced made the Fidue a whole other iem, much fuller, more bass and timbre but with the same lovely smoothness.  Gave it cojones.   The 846 gets better, but it's just a matter of better, not different.  

I really like the 846, it's like a much better Fidue.  Same basic musical style, more sub-bass, more bass but controlled and more discrete, more forward mids and lusher to boot, perhaps a bit less in the treble and highs using the standard sound filters.  With the "bright" filters, lots more sparkle up top without having to listen for it.  Absolutely no sibilance.  

Unless you like spending lots of money and want a TOTL, the Fidue is a great iem.  I'd put the 846 at maybe 20+% "better."  But it IS discernibly better, I'm hearing things on the edges I wasn't before, tonalities in certain instruments, better instrument placement, more clarity.  At three times the cost of the Fidues.  

Addiction, right?

Hey, I'd say 20% is really a significant improvement, people spend a lot for less!

 

[charleski]

  Can someone please tell me if I bought a load of snake oil with this cable for my Pono. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pono-Player-Headphone-Cable-Balanced-Mode-For-Any-Headphone-/121551933197?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c4d0f4f0d

Actually, that could possibly hurt your Pono, and whoever's selling that junk needs a slap. When you put the amplifiers into bridged mode their outputs are floating with respect to ground, and this cable just ties the negative poles together. If there's a sufficiently large out-of-phase component in the stereo signal it could lead to dangerously large amounts of current running through this tied pseudo-ground, and something similar could happen if the tied ground comes into contact with a real ground (if the shell of your jack is connected).

 

[charleski]

  I saw a copy of the Pono engineer's explanation of the reasoning for the high impedance, and why it doesn't matter, here somewhere but so far I haven't been able to track it down.

You're probably thinking of this post. It's basically a result of their attempt to make a discrete output design without negative feedback. Since electrical signals travel at around a third the speed of light and a feedback loop is only a few millimeters I don't think the timing issues they cite are a good reason, but there it is. The A83's are 12 Ohms with a 25% dip between 1 and 20kHz, so this will pull down the treble a bit, but it's possible you may find that desirable. Any headphones that's over 40 Ohms won't experience any noticeable change in response.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

If anyone has iem or hp that use MMCX connectors, then you can easily try fully balanced output of Pono with Sony MUC-M20BL1 cable for your iem or hp. I will be trying Shure SRH-1540 using said cable as well as various iems like Z5 and FX1100.
 
I don't know if the cable will fit the Shure for sure though, lol, because Shure stock cable has a very recessed connector body, the cable might not be recessed enough. I guess I'll find out one way or another.

 

[olddude]

You can get a Moon Audio balanced cable with Shure SE connectors for $180-215 depending on the model you want, and it works perfectly with both my Fidue A83 and Shure 846.

 

[CarmenC]

Headphones need to be able to function in balanced mode- yours can't.  They need to be wired internally to do so.  A true balanced cable runs a stereo signal (not mono) from each jack of the Pono to your device, which must be wired to accept that signal correctly in a balanced manner.  You would have a different-looking plug on the end of the cable.  As stated above, you are getting a power boost by using both amps in the Pono, but your headphones aren't delivering a true balanced signal.  For about $30 you are getting a gain boost of some sort.  But balanced?  No.  

balanced mode provides ultra-performance for advanced users, separating left and right channel outputs across the two jacks. Great for use with high-impedance headphones, high-end home stereo systems, or professional equipment using balanced XLR input connectors.

https://ponomusic.force.com/ccrz__ProductDetails?viewState=DetailView&cartId=cb46e030-3f18-43c9-a3bf-af554ce83275&sku=NY001&store=ponomusic

That ebay cable does the same thing.

 

[olddude]

Go to Knowledge Search- Pono Community and look up Balanced Headphone requirements for wiring.  You will need to log in to get to that site.  I'd link to it but they don't want that, and cutting and pasting is an issue as the resulting pasting gives a line of words down the left border, making for a strange read- though I think I did fix it at one one point and post it here.
 
In any event, please read that and then decide whether it agrees with what you are saying.  

 

[CarmenC]

Go to Knowledge Search- Pono Community and look up Balanced Headphone requirements for wiring.  You will need to log in to get to that site.  I'd link to it but they don't want that, and cutting and pasting is an issue as the resulting pasting gives a line of words down the left border, making for a strange read- though I think I did fix it at one one point and post it here.

In any event, please read that and then decide whether it agrees with what you are saying.  

https://ponomusic.force.com/sfc/servlet.shepherd/version/download/068A0000001fmX5?asPdf=true

It does.

 

[olddude]

 top.location='https://ponomusic.force.com/ex/errorduringprocessing.jsp'

 
 
Link does not work.  

 

[CarmenC]

top.location='https://ponomusic.force.com/ex/errorduringprocessing.jsp'

Link does not work.  

 

[olddude]

Screen shot from Pono site.  Note first sentence.
 

 

[CarmenC]

Screen shot from Pono site.  Note first sentence.

What does this have to do with the cable I bought?
It meets these criteria.
Are you suggesting that the cable company that sold me my balanced Pono cable for my HD 600 (which works great, by the way),
Is selling cables on eBay that will harm my Pono?
He's sold many of these already.
Are they blowing up all customers players?
Are you suggesting he's selling these without ever testing one of them?
Did you look at the cable on EBay?
It meets the criteria.
It has stereo plugs.

 

[olddude]

At this point I'm not suggesting anything.