Worth upgrading from Fiio K5 Pro (RCA) to a balanced DAC for more than 1 reason.

[Rockfella]

Current combo : Kali Audio LP6 + FiiO K5 Pro connected with RCA. I am happy with the combo, was wondering if upgrading to a balanced DAC/xlr will be worth it?
Reasons: Want to try XLR cables (hoping for better audio) + K5 Pro has a weird problem: It does not mute the monitors if I connect headphone, have to power off the monitors while using headphones.
Any make and model would be helpful. Not looking for something expensive but good value.
Regards,
Vivek.

 

[Peterinvan]

I cannot speak to using a DAC with RCA to powered speakers, however...

In my experience, balanced headphone amplifiers serve two primary purposes.
(a) to reduce crosstalk. I cannot recall ever noticing crosstalk interference on any of my headphone amps.
(b) to provide more power to your headphones. This especially true for small dongle DACs.

I have two dongle DACs with 4.4mm balanced output (Cayin RU6 and FiiO KA3). All my earphones and headphone cables are now terminated with 4.4mm plugs.
These DACs will run down my iPhone and iPad Pro batteries about 30% faster
It's worth it for quality playback during a pleasant outdoor walk by the shore.

Sound quality:
Cayin RU6 = 5*
FiiO KA3 = 3.5*

YMMV.

 

[Berwhale]

My own reason to move to a balanced connection between my DAC and monitors was ground loop noise. I upgraded my monitors from a pair without a safety ground (i.e. 2 pin power) to a pair with a ground connection (i.e. 3 pin power) and immediately experienced a ground loop issue with my Topping x50 stack (A50s/D50s/P50) and new monitors.

I solved the issues in several ways (USB isolation, optical connection), but ended up replacing the x50 stack with a Topping EX5 DAC/HP Amp. Note that the A50s HP amp was balanced and measures better than the one in the EX5, however, in practice there is no audible difference between the two and the EX5 has sufficient single ended power to drive all my headphones (Sennheiser HD660s, AKG K371, Hifiman/Drop HE-4XX).

I don't miss the A50s on my desktop where I do most of my listening and I prefer the single box solution of the EX5 (but I do retain the x50 stack elsewhere for occasional use).