rlw6534
Headphoneus Supremus
Yes normal 3.5mm single ended is just that, normal single ended.
S-Balanced is designed to reduce the cross-talk that "may" occur in the headphone/IEM cable itself by keeping the ground connection in the wire separate, L/R channels still share a common ground at the amp so we still have Gnd/Left/Right signals it's simply that the grounds for the left/right channels are on separate conductors with S-Balanced connections.
This if different from true balanced which has R+ R- L+ and L- signals for true differential operation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_signalling
So S-balanced is still single-ended, just grounded at the amp rather than the plug (and only if you use 3.5 mm TRRS)? And the 4.4 mm is true-balanced/differential. Thank you for your patience trying to explain.