What Don said. The issue addressed by using balanced cables is noise control, not distortion reduction.
This is my opinion from experience. All types of noise mentioned in the tech paper on grounding has the largest effect on sound quality by far. If you accomplish noise removal everything else is a preference.But doesn't Don's answer, for which I am grateful, beg the question:
Do we lose more in sound quality by forfeiting all even-order harmonics than we gain in sound quality by reducing some noise?
(Let me make a prediction: devotees of SET amplifiers are more likely to vote "yes"; devotees of solid-state amplifiers are more likely to vote "no.")
But that fact raises this second order question about second harmonics.
But doesn't Don's answer, for which I am grateful, beg the question:
Do we lose more in sound quality by forfeiting all even-order harmonics than we gain in sound quality by reducing some noise?
(Let me make a prediction: devotees of SET amplifiers are more likely to vote "yes"; devotees of solid-state amplifiers are more likely to vote "no.")
I prefer SE, but I use something special that reduces the noise of them to below most XLR in audiophile setups. The qualities I like remain, but in a cleaner form.
How much you like 2nd harmonics is up to you, Ron. But I personally think XLR sounds weird, and not because of 2nd harmonics. It sounds... flat, to me. You have to accept that even though you lower noise, you double any faults of the circuit, and that's where I speculate the dullness comes in that I tend to experience on XLR use.
But doesn't Don's answer, for which I am grateful, beg the question:
Do we lose more in sound quality by forfeiting all even-order harmonics than we gain in sound quality by reducing some noise?
(Let me make a prediction: devotees of SET amplifiers are more likely to vote "yes"; devotees of solid-state amplifiers are more likely to vote "no.")
You are confusing the signal and distortion. Differential circuits cancel even-order distortion terms. The signal itself is not affected, except that it has less distortion (and noise, due to both the additional 3 dB SNR provided by differential operation and the rejection of other "external" noise sources). Any even (and odd) harmonics in the signal will still be there.
. . .
The higher second harmonic distortion can make the sound "fuller"
. . .
I think this is why fans of SET amplifiers would generally not use balanced cables (assuming their equipment supported true differential signal handling) and would prefer to retain that second harmonic "distortion."
Do balanced audio cables tend to suppress second harmonics more than single-ended audio cables?
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