Canare 4S11

My number one nemesis in high-end audio has always been "brightness", so I understand.

IMHO, the Canare will be  a little more "polite" than the Mogami, but you'll need to try them for sure.

Balanced connections are usually cleaner, with less noise.  That's the purpose for a true balanced connection, is to keep the noise out, especially on longer runs of cable.

Most audio systems use shorter cables lengths, so the difference is subtle, but can be impactful...

@lowrider57 

I’ve always preferred using balanced in my system but to me the difference between balanced and single ended has more to do with the implementation of the circuit within the device in addition to the difference in gain.

on a side note- how’s your Mutec working for you?

I really like the XLR connectors!  🤗

Thanks @mofimadness . The length is only 1.5m but I enjoyed what seemed to be a blacker background and higher S/N. I should mention I did a shootout between Audio Envy and Zavfino balanced. The Audio Envy was too warm and their Pro series (a custom order) was excellent but brought the soundstage too far forward, like I was sitting in row one of the concert hall. Zavfino OCC copper and silver was good but after hours of break-in, the highs dominated at the expense of the midrange. I was missing the sweet mids of the woodwinds and French horns, and I'm using all Amperex in my dac and pre.

@designsfx , That's a good point about the circuit. The amp is Atma-sphere fully-balanced differential and an Audio Note preamp using transformers.

Regarding the Mutec, I sent you a PM. I'm loving how it improved my digital in so many ways; jitter control and basically a fuller sound. I'll add comments to the Mutec thread.