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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
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,753 posts
 
Ait, you don't have these issues when dealing with a balanced line system, which normally will use about 25-50% more parts to execute than single-ended; definitely not double!

Dave, The balanced line system **is** a standard. Unfortunately many high end audio manufacturers do not adhere to it. To do it right, the driving circuit should have a low impedance, as often the input has a much lower impedance too, though not always. The significance of the lower impedances is that it swamps out cable construction issues. That makes long distances possible, and reduces the possibility of noise interaction (even in short runs). The twisted pair that runs inside the cable, being differentially driven, is also more immune to noise pickup and capacitances are also more controlled.

I concede that balanced connections have become 'stylish' and there are a number of companies that have installed connectors on their equipment that really don't come close to meeting the standard- the result being very much like what you have described. My point is that if you hear what the standard actually offers- well, there's no going back.
jb0194
476 posts
 
I agre with you, Lush: Too much deliberately confusing info is being set out there by manufacturers. It's why I'll only buy from manufacturers, like Ralph, who will talk with you if needed for you to understand what you're getting.
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
Atamasphere, are you saying that my Rowland is NOT truly balanced?? That would surprise me greatly, since Rowland is reputed to be one of the first to adopt a balanced configuration in consumer electronics.

I think my Rowland is truly balanced and I can hear a difference between cable brands. Your allegation is that I shouldn't be able to hear a difference in balanced mode.

Dave
dob
577 posts
 
"... Magazines seem reluctant to bite the hand that feeds them- the majority of manufacturers are still in the dark ages selling unbalanced gear..."

Unfair for to magazines and to manufacturers. See:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/manufacture/0708/index.html

Here, at least one aspect of balanced approach is discussed - power handling.

Another, from Spectron Audio web site:

"...balanced mode of operation doubles the slew rate and bandwidth by virtue of the out of phase transmission. This also suppresses the noise and buzz originated upstream from the amplifier. The other major advantage of mono balanced mode in Spectron amplifiers is that transmission of both positive and negative signals (in each amplifier) is maintained separately from the amplifier's input to the speakers binding posts. Assuming that the signal path electronics are matched, all of the intrinsic amplifier distortions arrive at the speakers with practically identical amplitude but with opposed polarity and essentially cancel each other. The result is a largely noise and distortion free sound transmission, leading to a spectacular improvement in three-dimensionality and resolution of detail in the music"

Finally, fully balanced electronics will cost you nearly twice then unbalanced of partially balanced

All The Best
Rafael
rleff
1,065 posts
 
Ralph(atmasphere); if you pop your head back into this thread do you still like the Mogami cable for balanced use?
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