MiniDSP Flex Balanced vs Unbalanced for use with Neumann KH 120 II + two subs

[propaganda1]

Hello,

Apologies for the noob question.

My setup will be a pair of Neumann KH 120 II's with a pair of subwoofers (Monoprice Monolith 10" THX or SVS PB1000's).

I am stuck between a MiniDSP Flex Balanced or Eight. Would I benefit from the increased voltage of a balanced input? Is there an audible difference in quality between the two?

I would preferably want to use my MiniDSP Flex as a DAC for my headphone amp, and I could only do that if I get the Eight as all four outputs will be used on the Balanced model. But I do not want to sacrifice any sort of quality from my speaker setup, so I am happy to go Balanced and get another DAC for my headphones if there is a benefit to going balanced.

Thank you for any help!

 

[Multicore]

I think I would choose something else for the cans. It's going to be fussy.

I don't really think of Flex as very well suited to headphones at all.

 

[kyuu]

I am stuck between a MiniDSP Flex Balanced or Eight. Would I benefit from the increased voltage of a balanced input?

Unless you are lacking in gain to where you need the extra voltage to get to your desired volume level, which is rather unlikely, then not really.

Is there an audible difference in quality between the two?

Nope, not unless you have issues with noise when using unbalanced connections. For the cable lengths in 99.99% of home/office setups, there's no need to worry about it.

I think I would choose something else for the cans. It's going to be fussy.

I don't really think of Flex as very well suited to headphones at all.

What? Fussy? How? In what way is a Flex not well suited to acting as the DAC for a headphone amp?

 

[propaganda1]

I think I would choose something else for the cans. It's going to be fussy.

I don't really think of Flex as very well suited to headphones at all.

I see, could you give me some details on what problems I might bump into?

 

[propaganda1]

Unless you are lacking in gain to where you need the extra voltage to get to your desired volume level, which is rather unlikely, then not really.

Nope, not unless you have issues with noise when using unbalanced connections. For the cable lengths in 99.99% of home/office setups, there's no need to worry about it.

What? Fussy? How? In what way is a Flex not well suited to acting as the DAC for a headphone amp?

Thank you for the response It's greatly appreciated.

Lets say I were to use Neumann KH80's instead, how much louder would they be able to get running them balanced? (Also, would running them with this increased voltage risk disortion?) The only reason I am going with the 120 II's is the increased SPL, as I've heard that the KH80's do not get loud enough for some people.

 

[kyuu]

Lets say I were to use Neumann KH80's instead, how much louder would they be able to get running them balanced? (Also, would running them with this increased voltage risk disortion?) The only reason I am going with the 120 II's is the increased SPL, as I've heard that the KH80's do not get loud enough for some people.

I'll point you to a post from someone much more knowledgeable than I (whole thread is a good read if you want to learn more about balanced versus unbalanced):

Post in thread 'Differential, Single-Ended, Balanced, Unbalanced, and all that jazz...'

Apr 18, 2020

One other point: For given Vpp available, going balanced means you get twice the signal voltage since you have a (+) and (-) side swinging the same voltage. That is a 6 dB increase in voltage (doubling in voltage; note that is also 4x the power). Noise is not correlated, meaning it is not related/the same in each output, so it only increases in a root-sum-squared (RSS) fashion. What that means is noise increases by 3 dB instead of 6 dB, so you get a net gain in SNR of 3 dB going from single-ended to differential. You may or may not take advantage of that in your system but nice to know.

• DonH56

• 

Ultimately, it's a 3dB increase in SNR (which doesn't necessarily translate to being any louder, I think devices utilizing balanced inputs often have less gain). Outside of some weird edge case, it's not likely to make a practical difference in your setup.

 

[Kyle_PL]

My setup will be a pair of Neumann KH 120 II's with a pair of subwoofers (Monoprice Monolith 10" THX or SVS PB1000's).

Sell this "Monoprice Monolith 10" THX or SVS PB1000's", and buy Neumann KH 750 DSP + Neumann MA1.

 

[propaganda1]

Sell this "Monoprice Monolith 10" THX or SVS PB1000's", and buy Neumann KH 750 DSP + Neumann MA1.

I'll be using a MiniDSP to EQ, and I will get much better bass (I listen to a lot of EDM so extension down to 20Hz is important) from a pair of Monoprice Monoliths than a KH750.