BoosedElephant
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- Feb 5, 2020
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I asked on Reddit and received somewhat of an answer but I want to cover all of my bases so that I can learn more by asking the question here as well.
From what the user on Reddit posted digital signals cannot be balanced, so we'll start with the DAC. Let's assume the following setup. Computer > Optical connection > Balanced DAC > Balanced connection > Balanced AMP > Balanced connection to cans. At what point in this chain does the balanced signal need to originate? At the DAC? Is the optical signal coming from the computer sufficient enough for the DAC to create a balanced signal all the way to your headphones, assuming the Amp is also balanced.
I'm looking to purchase the THX AAA 789 and combine it with the OL DAC from JDS Labs. I understand the OL DAC is not balanced, but it's a cheap starting point from which I can upgrade from. I also want to purchase western made products and that is why I am not getting something like a Topping or SMSL. My next question regards the THX AAA 789. I've seen mention of it not being fully balanced, what exactly does that mean and does it negatively affect the performance of that Amp?
One more thing, the JDS Labs OL DAC says it uses TOSLINK. I understand TOSLINK is the physical connector, similar to say an RJ45 connector for Ethernet. What isn't stated on their website is what digital audio interconnect the OL DAC uses. Is it S/PDIF? If it doesn't use that particular method of communication what does it use and is it inferior?
Edit: Almost forgot. Does the signal coming from the DAC have to be balanced for me to use the balanced headphone connection on the front of the THX 789 Amp. For example: Computer > Optical Signal > OL DAC > SE Connection > THX AAA 789 > Balanced Connection > Cans. Is this possible? The reason I would want to do this is I understand balanced headphone connection has a much higher power ceiling compared to the SE connections on the front of the Amp.
Thanks in advance!
From what the user on Reddit posted digital signals cannot be balanced, so we'll start with the DAC. Let's assume the following setup. Computer > Optical connection > Balanced DAC > Balanced connection > Balanced AMP > Balanced connection to cans. At what point in this chain does the balanced signal need to originate? At the DAC? Is the optical signal coming from the computer sufficient enough for the DAC to create a balanced signal all the way to your headphones, assuming the Amp is also balanced.
I'm looking to purchase the THX AAA 789 and combine it with the OL DAC from JDS Labs. I understand the OL DAC is not balanced, but it's a cheap starting point from which I can upgrade from. I also want to purchase western made products and that is why I am not getting something like a Topping or SMSL. My next question regards the THX AAA 789. I've seen mention of it not being fully balanced, what exactly does that mean and does it negatively affect the performance of that Amp?
One more thing, the JDS Labs OL DAC says it uses TOSLINK. I understand TOSLINK is the physical connector, similar to say an RJ45 connector for Ethernet. What isn't stated on their website is what digital audio interconnect the OL DAC uses. Is it S/PDIF? If it doesn't use that particular method of communication what does it use and is it inferior?
Edit: Almost forgot. Does the signal coming from the DAC have to be balanced for me to use the balanced headphone connection on the front of the THX 789 Amp. For example: Computer > Optical Signal > OL DAC > SE Connection > THX AAA 789 > Balanced Connection > Cans. Is this possible? The reason I would want to do this is I understand balanced headphone connection has a much higher power ceiling compared to the SE connections on the front of the Amp.
Thanks in advance!
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