Tbh that's my whole hifi philosophy 'why the hell not', just in case etc etc
Etc etc doing the heavy lifting
Etc etc doing the heavy lifting
The balanced output option on most sources sounds better then the unbalanced output. It might be the circuit or it might be the manufacturer who put extra effort into the balanced port.Y'all do realize balanced doesn't inherently sound better, its only utility here is to provide extra juice to headphones that might need it? Like there's literally nothing mechanically in a balanced connection that would make it sound better.
I mean if your cable was 30 feet long, absolutely. Otherwise no. And yes I know the SE846 is especially low impedance (which could theoretically be a factor) but I heavily, heavily doubt it. Balanced is something that has an incredibly narrow use case but has been marketed to audiophiles with the same honesty as all those ridiculous dragon cables and whatnot leading to people insisting they can hear something that literally does not show up in measurements.
The only reason I have a balanced cable myself was because I needed a new one and they were the same price so I thought hey why the hell not.
I mean if your cable was 30 feet long, absolutely. Otherwise no. And yes I know the SE846 is especially low impedance (which could theoretically be a factor) but I heavily, heavily doubt it. Balanced is something that has an incredibly narrow use case but has been marketed to audiophiles with the same honesty as all those ridiculous dragon cables and whatnot leading to people insisting they can hear something that literally does not show up in measurements.
The only reason I have a balanced cable myself was because I needed a new one and they were the same price so I thought hey why the hell not.
Modern measuring devices are orders of magnitude better than the 'human hearing nerve'.Believe it or not, a balanced connection and an unbalanced one sounds different, whether it can be better or worse that's another story but they sound different. Plus the human hearing nerve is superior to any measurement system out there. Measurements are a good approach to making a rough assessment but in no way can they replace critical listening.
It's like believing you know the flavor of a food, measuring its weight, shape, texture, density, color, etc.
This is so wrong I don't even know where to start..Plus the human hearing nerve is superior to any measurement system out there.
Because hearing is wildly affected by your feelings and opinions. No one has "objective hearing".The eternal problem - measurements or hearing - I wonder why people with the so-called absolute hearing are still alive and their opinions are binding, not the results from the laboratory. Measurements can tell us if a brick is made to the standards, but they won't tell us anything about its sound quality. This is the domain of subjective listening. And that's about it. As for the differences between unbalanced and balanced, I personally always prefer balanced connections. Even when I used to have an analog turntable as a source in the audio path a long time ago. After all, it is a clean, balanced source![]()
it does this because the app needs bluetooth to interface with the device. You can safely use the 5k via USB but the bluetooth must remain active otherwise you lose the functionality of the appIs there anyway to disable Bluetooth? I use the 5K in USB mode and it keeps automatically connecting to my phone and stealing audio output.