FourOpposums
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- Mar 3, 2018
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Hi Audio Science Review, first post, nice to meet you.
There are a few questions that I've wondered for a while and this seems like a good place to ask. With regards to the balanced headphone craze, people have made claims that I've been wondering if are technically valid. Having never heard balanced headphones or possessing an engineering degree I can't begin to evaluate. First is that there is a noticeable improvement in sound quality, soundstage, etc with a balanced headphone amplifier/connection vs a standard TRS connection with a shared ground. Second is that a balanced dac is a better/more suitable source for a balanced headphone amplifier.
Does having dedicated grounds in the dac and/or the amp reduce crosstalk or have any other measurable effect other than doubling the current? Is the increased current the only reason for these reported sound improvements? Would eliminating crosstalk even be desirable because that could make headphones sound even less like speakers, where there is always sound from both sources at both ears?
If I understand correctly the way that 3 pin interfaces between a balanced dac and amp work is by transmitting both a positive and negative of the same signal. Here people also claim that using a source component with a dual-differential dac (dual mono) is better than using phase inverters. Is that true as well?
In either case, are antiphase outputs intrinsically better because they clean up the signal by subtracting away distortion from the output devices? Would that even be audible? Would feeding an ordinary dac to a balanced headphone amp then increase noise/reduce the sound quality?
As you see, many claims have been made about the benefits of balanced dacs, amps and headphones but I really have no idea if any of them are true. Thank you for any clarification.
There are a few questions that I've wondered for a while and this seems like a good place to ask. With regards to the balanced headphone craze, people have made claims that I've been wondering if are technically valid. Having never heard balanced headphones or possessing an engineering degree I can't begin to evaluate. First is that there is a noticeable improvement in sound quality, soundstage, etc with a balanced headphone amplifier/connection vs a standard TRS connection with a shared ground. Second is that a balanced dac is a better/more suitable source for a balanced headphone amplifier.
Does having dedicated grounds in the dac and/or the amp reduce crosstalk or have any other measurable effect other than doubling the current? Is the increased current the only reason for these reported sound improvements? Would eliminating crosstalk even be desirable because that could make headphones sound even less like speakers, where there is always sound from both sources at both ears?
If I understand correctly the way that 3 pin interfaces between a balanced dac and amp work is by transmitting both a positive and negative of the same signal. Here people also claim that using a source component with a dual-differential dac (dual mono) is better than using phase inverters. Is that true as well?
In either case, are antiphase outputs intrinsically better because they clean up the signal by subtracting away distortion from the output devices? Would that even be audible? Would feeding an ordinary dac to a balanced headphone amp then increase noise/reduce the sound quality?
As you see, many claims have been made about the benefits of balanced dacs, amps and headphones but I really have no idea if any of them are true. Thank you for any clarification.