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Balanced or Unbalanced?

Hi-end should be about as few compromises as one's budget will allow.

It's a shame (or a conspiracy) that hi-end mags do not educate us on the basics, such as unbalanced circuit designs vs differentially balanced designs and XLR connectors/connections vs XLR connectors/connections and their relative impact on music playback. Why do I mention "conspiracy"? Magazines seem reluctant to bite the hand that feeds them- the majority of manufacturers are still in the dark ages selling unbalanced gear. Why? It seems you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Hi-end roots are based in unbalanced designs. When the few differentially balanced designs (XLR) first appeared on the market, they were too expensive for most of us. Today, several manufacturers offer XLR designs that are competitively priced with unbalanced designs.

Think about it, sharing the L/R signal on circuit boards and through parts cannot be a good thing. Adding insult to injury is the RCA connector. A system is only as good as it's weakest link and this is the RCA connection. In response, several manufacturers have improved the RCA connector, but to what ultimate result? You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.

Reviewers (and I blame this on editors) typically allow balanced components to be reviewed within the confines of an unbalanced system. See The Absolute Sound August issue review of the Raysonic 168. Consequently, we are not informed on the components' ultimate sonic value.

If you are on a quest for best sound, begin to replace your RCA based components with differentially balanced. Most will accommodate RCAs or just buy RCA/XLR adapters until you fully transition.
tweak1
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
For an unrelated reason I bought a used set(4) of AQ Sorbogel Big Feet and put them under the Calypso just to hear what would happen. The "fuzz" at the peak of the notes disappeared, the notes were clean/clear!!

I keep saying this on many threads. Tubes are microphonic! They really ought to be kept in a separate room/area and away from the noise in the listening room. This is what Pink Floyd does and surely we can respect them for knowing what should be done soundwise to get the most from the great sound of tubes.

It is entirely possible (in your previous observations) that the different XLR cables changed the way the components resonated with the sound in the air in your room or transmitted from your speakers to the floor and up your component stand.

A much heavier flexible XLR cable (compared to RCA) might logically have a dampening effect in much the same way as if you place your hand on something. However, now that you have resolved most vibration issues then the difference from RCA to XLR has become far more subtle - as it should when everytyhing is working properly.
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kijanki
4,426 posts
 
Musicnoise - I use balanced ICs because my power amp has only balanced inputs. Balanced cables have shield grounded on both ends (not very good thing) and are used by professionals (other than noise reduction) because of male/female system and connector locking. It is not possible to touch input pin on the amp or the cable because it's female (pins hidden). It is also not possible to unplug by pulling. Immagine few kW PA system with dangling connector that can be touched.
mgrabow
20 posts
 
I agree with your statement about "biting the hand" although I think it is more like slr camers. Once you have 4 or 5 canon lenses, you cant switch to nikon...

I disagree that a system is only as good as the weakest link. A system is the sum of all its components. True a crapy pre amp or bad set of cheap speakers will ruin the sound of other great components. But a stock power cord on $200k worth of gear will not make it sound like you paid $5 for the entire system.

I think there are two schools. weakest link and sum of the components. That being said, one set of un-balanced cables will not kill the entire system. if you are a graduate of the "weakest link" school of thought then replace everything you own and go will all balanced connectors. If you are a graduate of the "sum of all the components" school of thought, then make the switch to ballanced when you buy a new piece of gear.
lupinthe3rd
47 posts
 
Eliminating common mode interference is the only advantage to balanced connections. If you have no common mode interference, there is no advantage to balanced interconnects, period. I agree that balanced is better than unbalanced on general principle, and given the choice, I will always use balanced. But the reality is that balanced increases cost significantly, it nearly doubles the component cost of a DAC, with dubious benefit in a residential environment.

Pro audio equipment is always balanced because it uses long cable runs (on a performance stage, for example) that can act as an antenna and introduce RFI. And lots of high current electronics and power cords everywhere that can introduce EMI. Also very very high db volume levels where even the tiniest noise will be amplified to audible levels.

For small room hi-fi listening, short cable runs, and moderate residential volume levels, it just doesn't make a big difference in sound quality whether you use balanced or unbalanced.
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