Topping L30 vs A50s

[raif71]

@Kujo I have both stacks. My usage scenarios are iems will be using e30/l30 and headphones will be with the d50s/a50s. Of course either stack can be used for both iems and headphones but my Senns hd598c/hd600/6xx/660s and Sundara are wired with 4.4mm pentaconn so they will use the d50s/a50s. Most of my iems are SE so they can go with the e30/l30 and l30 has the -9db gain. If you're deciding to get one stack just weigh whether you'll be getting balanced wires or not. If not, the e30/l30 should be enough.

 

[Kujo]

You can find the direct comparison on this page. Post #14

Isn't that like telling me I should base all my purchases of numbers alone?

 

[Slee_Stack]

I have both stacks. My usage scenarios are iems will be using e30/l30 and headphones will be with the d50s/a50s. Of course either stack can be used for both iems and headphones but my Senns hd598c/hd600/6xx/660s and Sundara are wired with 4.4mm pentaconn so they will use the d50s/a50s. Most of my iems are SE so they can go with the e30/l30. If you're deciding to get one stack just weigh whether you'll be getting balanced wires or not. If not, the e30/l30 should be enough.

I agree with this but would also add that even if you have balanced wires, you should also look at how much power your headphones need. The 50 stack will likely still be overkill. You could always use a proper 3.5 unbal to 2.5 bal adapter for the wires.

If the price difference doesn't affect you much and/or you prefer the 50 aesthetic, then you may as well splurge.

I'll also wager you won't be able to hear any difference between these stacks. All these test results are very high results as it is and you'd have to have some fairly extreme headphones/IEMs to run into an issue with 'choosing wrong'.

 

[Kujo]

@Kujo I have both stacks. My usage scenarios are iems will be using e30/l30 and headphones will be with the d50s/a50s. Of course either stack can be used for both iems and headphones but my Senns hd598c/hd600/6xx/660s and Sundara are wired with 4.4mm pentaconn so they will use the d50s/a50s. Most of my iems are SE so they can go with the e30/l30 and l30 has the -9db gain. If you're deciding to get one stack just weigh whether you'll be getting balanced wires or not. If not, the e30/l30 should be enough.

Thanks that does help. I'm only looking at HP and not IEMS. I currently have one SE and one balance but I'm looking at getting a few more balanced. And i definitely want to try to future proof as pointless as that may be.

 

[Kujo]

I agree with this but would also add that even if you have balanced wires, you should also look at how much power your headphones need. The 50 stack will likely still be overkill. You could always use a proper 3.5 unbal to 2.5 bal adapter for the wires.

If the price difference doesn't affect you much and/or you prefer the 50 aesthetic, then you may as well splurge.

I'll also wager you won't be able to hear any difference between these stacks. All these test results are very high results as it is and you'd have to have some fairly extreme headphones/IEMs to run into an issue with 'choosing wrong'.

Noob questions: If you are using the 3.5 unbal to a 2.5 bal adapter and it is outputing lets say 2W how does that impact the power. Maybe this isn't the right place to ask that question.

 

[Sukie]

Isn't that like telling me I should base all my purchases of numbers alone?

Not quite. Numbers (as in measurements) indicate what you'll get out of your stack in terms of cleanly driving your headphones. You also need to factor in additional specs. Do you want bluetooth? Will you be using balanced headphones?

The rest of it is down to aesthetics and price.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Noob questions: If you are using the 3.5 unbal to a 2.5 bal adapter and it is outputing lets say 2W how does that impact the power. Maybe this isn't the right place to ask that question.

Don't worry about power. If you need balanced output choose A50s stack, if you need SE output choose L30 stack. Simple.

 

[solderdude]

when using the 3.5 unbal to 2.5mm balanced connector you just have the power rating for SE.
That will always be lower than that of the balanced out.
I see no reason to buy a balanced out amp and then use the SE output with a converter on the balanced out.

 

[Slee_Stack]

Don't worry about power. If you need balanced output choose A50s stack, if you need SE output choose L30 stack. Simple.

I agree mostly.

Its still a $180 price delta. If a person never will exceed the unbal output, what's the point of paying more?

That's rhetorical

1. If you don't want to use an adapter
2. If you might buy truly power hungry headphones one day
3. If you prefer the aesthetics
4. If the price difference doesn't matter

I suspect Kujo probably should get the 50 stack so there are no worries.

 

[JohnYang1997]

I agree mostly.

Its still a $180 price delta. If a person never will exceed the unbal output, what's the point of paying more?

That's rhetorical

1. If you don't want to use an adapter
2. If you might buy truly power hungry headphones one day
3. If you prefer the aesthetics
4. If the price difference doesn't matter

I suspect Kujo probably should get the 50 stack so there are no worries.

No. That's very simple. If you don't need balanced go L30 stack.

 

[Kujo]

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate the experience you all have. I do have the money for either purchase and I do want the room to move up in the future.

 

[solderdude]

Its still a $180 price delta. If a person never will exceed the unbal output, what's the point of paying more?

It is not ONLY about more power when opting for balanced.
There can be some benefits for low impedance headphones that are balanced over SE headphones that have a 3 wire cable.
In that case a very short SE to balanced connector also can be beneficial.
Not all SE cables are 3-wire though, there are some that are 4 wire and connect in the TRS plug.

 

[Berwhale]

It is not ONLY about more power when opting for balanced.
There can be some benefits for low impedance headphones that are balanced over SE headphones that have a 3 wire cable.
In that case a very short SE to balanced connector also can be beneficial.
Not all SE cables are 3-wire though, there are some that are 4 wire and connect in the TRS plug.

Is this because of the common ground and the potential for crosstalk with a 3 wire cable?

 

[JohnYang1997]

Is this because of the common ground and the potential for crosstalk with a 3 wire cable?

Yeah. You can call it crosstalk which is actually is but just behaves a bit different than you expect.

 

[solderdude]

Is this because of the common ground and the potential for crosstalk with a 3 wire cable?

^ what John said.

 

[zenki]

@solderdude define low impedance? =<10 ohms?

 

[solderdude]

That actually depends on the headphone impedance / common return wire ratio.
AQ for instance purposely ? provided 2 different resistance cables so their expensive 'silver' on wins over the other supplied cable and that headphone is 25 Ohm.
Do not that with a 4 wire construction cable that is of no consequence.

 

[stefanom62]

The "B" in my Superlux HD681B headphones is for "Balanced", but I'm a noob and don't know if this has the same meaning as when talking about power/output options. I would say no on sensation, also because there is no special cable nor connector, but maybe someone more expert can help me on this.
Thank you in advance.
Stefano

 

[Thalis]

The "B" in my Superlux HD681B headphones is for "Balanced", but I'm a noob and don't know if this has the same meaning as when talking about power/output options. I would say no on sensation, also because there is no special cable nor connector, but maybe someone more expert can help me on this.
Thank you in advance.
Stefano

The "B" has nothing to do with how the 681B is cabled. It is a SE connection.

 

[stefanom62]

The "B" has nothing to do with how the 681B is cabled. It is a SE connection.

Thank you so much. Then the L30 is more than good for me.
Stefano