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jwzhan
154
Sep 9, 2016
There is very little reason to have balanced output on a portable amp because balanced design is usually used to double the optimal output voltage/current without having to redesign another circuit by having two of the same circuit so one circuit "pulls" while the other "pushes". But on a portable amp, there is no need for it, since the limiting factors are form factor, heat dissipation and battery rather than circuit's optimal output voltage. A well designed single ended circuit can blow a mediocre balanced circuit out of the water for portable amps. Balanced design on portable amps is mostly gimmicks. Actually, the same applies to pretty much all headphone amps, because the voltage/amp needed for most dynamic headphones won't exceed the Class A biasing current for most good single ended amps (planer and K1000 excluded). tl;dr "balanced" is more of a sales gimmick than anything else.
jwzhanThe other advantage of a balanced cable is inherent noise rejection picked up along its length. Because one of the signals is inverted, when it is inverted at the other end, the noise accumulated along the run is inverted as well. When those two signals are combined you get the doubling of the signal you mentioned, but you also cancel the noise. I have no idea why you would need either of those things on something like a headphone cord though.
jwzhan
154
Sep 10, 2016
TatteredmidnightThere shouldn't be any reason. The real benefit of external noise rejection shows when you have cables that run 50 ft or 150 ft, not 3 ft or 10 ft. The external noise rejection on such a short cable is negligible, unless you are in an area filled with exceptionally strong RMI or EFI sources, in which case, you probably should move. A well designed single ended amp with low noise floor coupled with correct grounding/shielding and correctly wired cable will have no audible noise at regular listening level.
jwzhanIndeed, at this price (or any other for a headphone amp), the extra money would be better spent improving the single ended amp design. There are also significant issues going from an unbalanced source to a balanced on. In all cases, you can't get out more than you put into the amp, and balancing a signal isn't a magic improvement, it's another alteration in the signal path.
Edit: I do have, and have seen, many headphone amps with balanced inputs, as this the more common output in pro audio. In this case the amp is still single ended though.
Petronas44
236
May 5, 2017
jwzhanDude thanks for throwing some real knowledge down tell them how it really is lol
SephHaley
222
May 5, 2017
jwzhanPlanars make up a sizable portion of high-end headphones right now, and will only continue to grow. Besides that, high-end dynamics can be power hungry as well, like the HD800, or the HD600/650. Balanced isn't just a gimmick, it provides more current, and can deal with impedance dips better. Anyways, balanced is not going to make a massive differenc, it will just be a little more, cleaner power.
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