Please clear up my confusion re: meaning of "balanced" !

Well, things won't work right if you connect a phono RCA jack to a line-level RCA jack, or a consumer-level RCA jack to a pro-level RCA jack, or an analog audio XLR jack to an AES/EBU XLR jack, or a component video BNC jack to an audio S/PDIF BNC jack. So sometimes the same jack doesn't mean you can connect the two things—but I'm being pedantic only to avoid the potential for misunderstanding. But no, doing so shouldn't cause a fire and shouldn't make anything break, just things won't work.

Likewise, you should use the correct cable type (specifications), independent of the connection type. Sometimes it won't matter, or won't matter much, but sometimes it can negatively impact the signal if you use the incorrect cable type.

I guess connecting a line-level XLR output to an XLR microphone 12V phantom power input might cause damage to the output gear.

you should be able to connect it just fine the only hiccup would be a polarity issue because the standard for balanced connections is not the same from brand to brand you may have to reverse the polarity to maintain proper polarity because they may be wired with different balanced polarities.

the only hiccup would be a polarity issue because the standard for balanced connections is not the same from brand to brand you may have to reverse the polarity to maintain proper polarity because they may be wired with different balanced polarities.

In this case, no hiccup.


XLR pin assignments for the Aqua HiFi DAC and Schiit Audio amp are the same:
Pin 1: Signal ground
Pin 2: Signal + (non-inverting)
Pin 3: Signal - (inverting)

https://www.aquahifi.com/file/manuals/La_Voce_S3_manual_EN.pdf

@tvad:

Looks like you've put this issue to rest, once and for all. My technical knowledge is obviously lacking. Very kind of you to take the time to look into this!   

@speakermaster:

If that's a possibility, the La Voce does have a polarity switch. 

@nekoaudio:

Thanks for listing the potential hazards!