When to choice XLR over RCA ICs.

@williewonka I'd be curious to see if there is a difference in the sound of the cables when the supporting equipment also supports the balanced standard.

Just like single-ended, if the balanced line standard isn't supported you hear big differences between balanced cables.

But the goal of the standard is to eliminate that problem- because it is a problem! Plug and play is the goal, regardless of the cable and over the last 70 years or so, its worked really well (all hifi recordings from the 50s and 60s used balanced lines).

So it would be really interesting to see if OCC wire actually made a difference.

@atmasphere I have Pass Labs XP22 preamplifier and X260.8 mono amps and I can hear the difference between XLR interconnects. I’ve tried a few at various price points. The difference was enough to choose one set over another

@atmasphere , a very good and affordable cable is Audio Envy

• OCC copper
• Very good insulation with low dielectric constant value
• Gold plated copper xlr connector
• You can purchase by the foot

You should hear a significant improvement in dynamics and imaging.

Venue acoustics should make a performance more lifelike

Percussive instruments should sound "crisper". E.G.

• Glockenspiel, the strike of the hammer can be heard
• String instruments, you should hear the nails on the string as it is plucked
• Drums are more crisp, like a gun shot

They have quite the following on audiogon.

They also make very good power and speaker cables

If you stream from a service then try listening to

• Nelly Furtado, great vocal recordings
• Roxette - very dynamic guitar and drums
• The Police, great bass and drums
• Pink, very good vocal recording on slower tracks
• Ed sheeran uses some unique Percussive instruments

On vinyl, I have recordings on the Tacet lable that excel in live classical performances, especially in the area of venue acoustics.

Hope that helps

Regards Steve

@atmasphere - just thought I would let you in on my own single ended journey...

• I’ve always been a DIYer with all things pertaining to cables and originally built my own using Van den Hul wire
• about 11-12 years ago a friend convinced me to start a web site where I could post my reviews of various things tried
  • and so My Audio Alchemy (image99.net) was aired
• I first submitted a review on the Eichman Silver Bullet RCA;s that I had installed on my turntable
• Keith Louie Eichman of KLE Innovations read the review and asked me to review his latest RCA connectors
• After those reviews, he then asked me to review his RCA cables, which are very good cables
• after learning some things about cables from him and the role they play in a system, I went on to design a build my first HELIX DIY cables using wire from old LAN Cables with the KLE Innovations RCA plugs. The results were so good I then started to think about better wire
• During this time, several people from europe tried the HELIX DIY cables and suggested changes to the wire used, which I tried for myself and if warranted, I published the changes on the web site
• One Audiogon member read about the Helix cables and decided to try them - his findings can be found here
  • Duelund conversion to DIY Helix Geometry Cabling
• fast torward to around 2020 - I was introduced to OCC Copper and adapted all f my cables to OCC Copper
• I then introduce the AIR concept to the cables, which takes the dielectric constant to very low values, because the teflon tube insulation is not molded to the actual wire, so there is an air gap between the most of the wire and a the teflon tube. This improved clarity and details significantly
• lastly, I decided to use two wires for the signal conductor, where each wire is in its own teflon tube AND I started using OCC silver
  • the results were very detailed, with oustanding clairty and dynamics.

The Helix DIY AIR cables are amazingly articulate and neutral, with clear and detailed performance across the entire frequency range, with an extremely dynamic performance. They propvide a truly immersive image in three dimensions

Happy reading - Steve

@williewonka If single-ended all bets are off. There is no way you can prevent single-ended cables from having an artifact unless you introduced a standard and had all the cables made to meet that standard, which would probably include a low impedance termination. That in turn would likely prevent most single-ended preamps made today from supporting the standard. So yes, I can imagine all the things you listed making a difference.

My point here is simply that's a bad thing- not a good thing because no matter how good your cable is now, next year, sooner or later, there will be a better example of that cable and so the cable you have now will be so much junk.

In my example of ARC, it’s listed in the specs, it can be measured and - most important - it can be heard. It is very, very real.

@cleeds To accomplish that theoretical 6dB lower noise per gain stage, the constant current source has to be excellent performance so it can force the actual differential amplifier to be as differential as possible. And as you say, it is not only measurable but also audible; we're on the same page- its very, very real.