since I went fully balanced I noticed a big improvement in the sound quality.I would like to hear what other people on wbf think.is balanced better than the old standard rca single ended.
Unbalanced vs balanced interconnects
- Thread starter Addicted to hifi
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I used single ended all my life with mcintosh pre and power but at last I listened to my dealer and mcintosh and went fully balanced.the difference was not small.I believe balanced is a much better way to connect.
This is usually dependent on the equipment and the design of the balanced circuits.
Several threads discussing this on WBF. Single ended designs use fewer parts and usually can be quieter.
Several threads discussing this on WBF. Single ended designs use fewer parts and usually can be quieter.
Most of my equipment is truly balanced but I can’t hear a difference if the interconnect length is under 10 feet.
I've connected my Hafler HA15 headphone amp via Cardas Neutral Reference RCA and via Yorkville Studio One XLR. They sounded a bit different, but I had no preference and can live happily with either solution. The main difference is that the Cardas interconnects cost about five times as much. I tried a pair of Cardas Golden Reference XLR and preferred the Yorkville's neutrality.
"In a hi-fi system though, where perhaps the longest interconnect is 1 metre and the signal is up to 4 volts, then the need for XLR connections is more questionable.
The most important thing though is sound quality, and this is harder to be certain about. Our experience is that there are systems where the XLR connection sounds better than the RCA connection, and there are systems where the opposite is true.
So with any system that has both XLR and RCA connections, we would recommend that you try both connections and decide for yourself which is the better sounding connection for you."
chord.co.uk
"In a hi-fi system though, where perhaps the longest interconnect is 1 metre and the signal is up to 4 volts, then the need for XLR connections is more questionable.
The most important thing though is sound quality, and this is harder to be certain about. Our experience is that there are systems where the XLR connection sounds better than the RCA connection, and there are systems where the opposite is true.
So with any system that has both XLR and RCA connections, we would recommend that you try both connections and decide for yourself which is the better sounding connection for you."
XLR vs RCA - The Chord Company
XLR vs RCA – which is best? It’s very easy to assume that if your equipment has both XLR and RCA connections, that XLR connections are going to be the better sounding connection. It’s not always the case. The XLR connection carries a balanced signal. The hot pin carries the signal, the cold...
chord.co.uk
There are a range of circuits used in the audio world that are called "balanced". A fully-differential design, the "most balanced", offers 3 dB greater SNR (lower noise), cancellation of even-order distortion terms (lower THD), and rejection of common-mode noise (better noise immunity) compared to single-ended connections. That said, for consumer audio, the biggest benefit is usually the ability to break a ground loop without changing the signal path. Components these days generally provide noise and distortion well below what is audible so the choice is often just one of convenience and cost, usually based upon other features than the I/O topology.
Many if not most RF systems have greater dynamic range than audio systems and are single-ended.
IME/IMO - Don
Many if not most RF systems have greater dynamic range than audio systems and are single-ended.
IME/IMO - Don
simple answer, it depends ............
if the runs are short and no worries of RFI, etc. , then no, a well designed RCA is just as good
My Pass gear sounded better with balanced connections. My Lamm gear sounds better with single ended connections.
my mcintosh pre and power are fully balanced,so this would explain why balanced sounds better?
My mcintosh pre and power is fully balanced differential Design,so this explains why balanced sounds better.right?
I suspect it is a combination of many things, but balanced could be a contributor.
If preamp and power amp are far away from each other, using single end between pre and power bounds to have ground loop problems. Well, you can remove the ground pin of power cord of power amp. In this case, the ground protection of power amp is provided by interconnect. The interconnect is not the thickest of cable and it may melt under heavy surge of current. If this happens, your power amp is not ground protected. You may expose to electric shock of faulty power amp.
Done a lot of reading on the web about this subject and it seems fully balanced interconnects are the way to go with most people.xlr plugs does not mean a cable is fully balanced.
This statement is problematic. Quite often you can have fewer stages of gain when running balanced differential. Since differential circuits can reject power supply and common mode noise on the input signal, they can be quieter too.
The Lamm has convenience connections- its not a real balanced input. So if you were trying to drive the Lamm with a balanced source the results could well be problematic. In a proper balanced connection, the ground is not part of the signal; the non-inverting output is generated with respect to the inverting output and vice versa. If you connect such a source to a Lamm power amp, you could well wind up with a buzz problem because pin 3 of the XLR in the Lamm isn't connected to anything, so you wind up with an open circuit.
I have a highly regarded amp that does this, leaves pin3 floating.... IDK why, it seems easy enough to connect pin3 to ground via a resistor of the same value as the amp's input impedance.
As to the OP... it's best to use XLR with balanced gear and RCA with single ended gear. If in doubt ask the manufacturer!
If you have an XLR cable the 2 signal legs should be symmetrical. If it's designed otherwise it's simply wrong.
When going balanced I noticed the hiss on my horn speakers was a lot less compared to unbalanced.you can now hardly hear it with my ear up against the tweeter.
I used an all mcintosh system for 21 years now.20 years were in unbalanced mode.this was a big mistake because when I Went fully balanced the difference was easily noticeable.
I find Atma-Sphere electronics definitely sound better with all blanced wiring - from cartridge to preamp to amps. 21st C. Audio Research sounds better with balanced connections from CD to linestage to amps.
Of course Ralph is correct wrt driving Lamm from a true balanced differential source. In 2015 he helped diagnose the 'buzz' I ran into using an Atma-Sphere MP-1 preamp driving Lamm M1.2 Ref monoblocks. With the Lamm gear currently in house for review I run all single-ended.
Not always knowing what's around the corner, I keep a full set of both XLR and RCA terminated cables on hand. As far as sonic generalizations, I have none, and agree with @dan31 - it depends on the specific gears in play and their circuit designs.
Of course Ralph is correct wrt driving Lamm from a true balanced differential source. In 2015 he helped diagnose the 'buzz' I ran into using an Atma-Sphere MP-1 preamp driving Lamm M1.2 Ref monoblocks. With the Lamm gear currently in house for review I run all single-ended.
Not always knowing what's around the corner, I keep a full set of both XLR and RCA terminated cables on hand. As far as sonic generalizations, I have none, and agree with @dan31 - it depends on the specific gears in play and their circuit designs.
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