Are BALANCED Headphones better?

[@bitterandjaded_]

If you have a truly balanced amp, it just seems like a shame to only use half its circuitry by running from its SE tap.

[@admiralnorman]

Aligned.

[@ryanhostudio]

yeah there’s a lot of balanced connectors in front of amplifiers but not internally designed balanced

[@a_tad_rad]

Hey I've watched a few of your videos recently. Your MM-100 videos were particularly informative and useful. Nice to see you out here in the wild. Keep up the good work

[@LeDechaine]

All "budget" amps (under 250$USD ?) I saw with XLR/4.4 outputs were basically "fake balanced" (except maybe one Loxjie tube amp a few years ago). i.e. You look at the specs and the output power and voltage is the same for the 3.5mm/6.3mm output and the "balanced" output... it's only there for convenience, zero audible difference. Anyway, whatever the price: If you want "true balanced", don't search for balanced outputs, search for amps with "dual mono" internals, or tube amps with one "left" and one "right" tube, for example (fun fact: there's a LOT of 1000$+ "endgame" amps with no balanced outs -- as if it's just a "mid-fi gimmick").

[@one-rv2bx]

​@@LeDechaineTube amps are impractical to set-up in a fully balanced design, and even if you do, it defeats the purpose of what people want out of a tube amp, the imperfect sound

[@mikeabcable]

I enjoy balanced , unbiased discussion

[@jamesschneider3828]

I very recently purchased the Zen stack signature hd6xx amp and Zen one DAC combo and while critically listening using Senheiser hd660s first using the 1/4 inch Jack then changing to the balanced cable, the balanced gave a wider soundstage and cleaner (clearer) sound than the single ended cable did. I am running the 4.4 mm ballanced jumper between the DAC and amp.

[@FilipinaVegana]

Coincidentally, I just received a balanced cable for the two Sennheiser earphones I ordered at the same time (but yet to arrive).

[@052RC]

Its not a balanced cable. The right and left channels only use 2 of the 3 pins in the xlr connector. They're speaker cables. Its exactly the same as connecting your home speakers.

[@HiFiInsider]

sadly, many amplifiers are fake balanced - just a balanced connector not the circuit. lol...

[@one-rv2bx]

They call it balanced still, just not 'fully' balanced.

[@admiralnorman]

To anyone watching I'm wondering if anyone has had a balanced amp, that also has a singled ended output, in which the single ended sounds better. I've had it sound the same, or sometimes worse, than the balanced, but never better. It wouldnt make sense if there was one, but you never know what an amp engineer can come up with.

[@052RC]

You need to read my post. It answers your question, but is too long to keep typing it out for individual responses.

[@052RC]

Here's what they are not telling you. It's being made complicated for no reason. A balanced headphone amp is nothing more than a bridged amp. So, a "balanced" stereo headphone amp has 4 channels that when bridged, combine into the 2 channels that you plug your headphones into. When you bridge an amp you need to balance the input signal because you need a separate + & - for each pair of bridged channels. The actual amp itself doesn't need to be fully balanced/fully differential, just the input signal so you can get 2 separate grounds or -. On the output of the headphone amp, they usually give you 2 xlr jacks for your "balanced" headphone cables. Headphones are a pair of speakers, just much smaller. Only 2 of the 3 pins on each xlr connector is used. They're your speaker cables. This entire process is identical to bridging 2 stereo amps in your home system. They just call it balanced instead of bridged. I believe they do this for 2 reasons. First, audiophiles in general, like things that are balanced. Balanced = good. Second, bridging power amps is a mixed bag. There are some negatives involved. 2 50 watt amps bridged, will combine to give you a single channel at 100 watts. This is not the same as a 100 watt mono amp. When you bridge a stereo amp, the amp sees half the resistance it normally does. For example, if you have an 8 ohm speaker, bridging an amp will turn it into a 4 ohm speaker. So, while you get more power from bridging an amp, it makes the speaker harder to drive. In the world of high end audio, bridging an amp is typically considered an inferior solution to using a mono amp. You only do it if you have to. If you have an amp that's having a difficult time driving your speakers, bridging may sound better. Otherwise, it probably won't. Unless there is something I'm missing, or not aware of, Balanced headphones and headphone amps is a marketing term. They just don't want to say its a bridged amp. And they get away with saying its balanced, because if the input. You need separate grounds when bridging.

[@caminglis53]

It’s a noise saving activity tho if you have a pro audio long headphone cable from pro headphones, the difference between the bal version might be perceivable as more headroom because of audible less noise depending on how your mind plays tricks on you. But in reality that would be most noticeable in a studio coming off a long single ended cable while tracking… bal would be ideal

[@leonardofernandez6488]

In fact, BAL on headphones will reduce SINAD, not increase it. "In many cases, voltage-balanced headphone amplifiers will produce more noise and more distortion than single-ended amplifiers of an identical design. The reason for this is that two separate output amplifiers are required in a voltage-balanced amplifier, and each must drive one half of the transducer's load impedance. The output noise will double because there are two amplifiers instead of one. The damping factor will degrade by a factor of 2 because both amplifiers contribute to the source impedance of the balanced amplifier (output impedance is doubled). Distortion will usually increase because each amplifier is required to drive half of the impedance that would be seen by an unbalanced amplifier. Power consumption will increase by a factor of 4 for a given output level (assuming the power supply voltage rails remain unchanged)."

[@052RC]

This doesn't apply to headphones. The xlr balanced cables for your headphones are not balanced. They're just speaker cables. Only 2 of the 3 pins are being used on each connector. As for the other reply, I don't think he understands the reference he posted. His quote is describing bridging 2 channels of amplification, not balancing. Before you bridge an amp, you have to balanced the signal because you can't have a common ground.

[@MCgranat999]

Best discussion for understanding the differences in what makes the headphone balanced. I'll probably modify the cable for my headphones to use the balanced output now.

[@052RC]

There is no such thing as balanced headphones. Headphones are speakers, no different than the ones in your living room. Balanced headphone cables are speaker cables. Only 2 of the 3 pins are used on the xlr jacks.

[@AndyPandy2467]

I'm surprised that the topic of "power" balanced vs unbalanced did not came-up and was explained? Usually in forums balanced is preferred, since those combo amp/dac devices have 1.5-2x the power "balanced" 4.4mm jack vs unbalanced 3.5mm. So a "hard to drive" headphone can actually work via "balanced", compared to unbalanced on the same dac/amp. Example would be Fiio K3 = 220mW/16 vs 344mW/16 This is especially a issue, if you get into planar's and have no clue what "sensitivity" is. You think hey this planar has just "16 ohm" impedance so what could go wrong?

[@GazzaBoo]

I have one set of phones wired as balanced because I’m using them with a Qudelix bluetooth dac/amp which doubles the output power in balanced mode. The phones are planars which like the extra power. I don’t believe they sound noticeably different in balanced mode.

[@shadowhawk]

You mentioned not recommending changing a balanced output to a unbalanced one, I assume using a lets say 4.4mm male to 3.5mm female. But what about adapting a cable that has 4.4mm plug to 3.5mm and plugging it into a unbalanced output? That shouldn't be any issues right? I am actually considering doing because my sources at the moment are all unbalanced with 3.5mm but I am considering getting cables with 4.4mm plugs going forward, in-case I upgrade to balanced sources in the future. Hope you can answer this. Thanks.

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

Good point, that is no problem at all. You can get 4.4mm cables for everything and use adaptors to connect it to an unbalanced jack (6.3 mm/3.5 mm) on an amp.

[@AT-wl9yq]

Balanced and single ended operation are not compatible. If you want to connect them, something has to be done to make the connection balanced on both ends, or make it single ended on both ends.

[@sunnyokp]

If you connect balanced to single ended, wouldn't R+ and R- of the amp be shorted?

[@howardhandville2107]

Sorry to be late to the party. Great video, btw. I have inexpensive headphones (Status Audio CB-1: 32 ohm, unbalanced/single cable). I understand it's not necessary, but would there be any benefit (or harm) in switching the stock cable for a balanced one to connect to the balanced 4.4 output on my FIIO DS2 dongle dac?

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

The Fosi DS2 dongle DAC has 4 times the output power from the 4.4 mm jack compared to the 3.5 mm, typical of balanced vs single ended outputs, so changing your headphone cable to connect to 4.4 mm is like getting a larger headphone amp.

[@2010GRABOWSKI]

I'm still yet to experience the 4.4mm balanced output on my Walkman. I can only imagine it would give a wider stereo sound?

[@michaelschwader7944]

The only reason for balanced cables is cable runs. How far do you need your connection to go?

[@faremissound]

Hi! Thanks so much for this video! Do you have a recommendation for a XLR female to 4.4 male connector? Thanks!

[@TylerDarlington]

The benefit of a 4 pin connector to your headphones is that you are loading each speaker driver individually. So sound stage is better. In a large PA you’re better off driving the speakers with discrete hot and cold wires. The same exists for headphones and why the connector is better than TRS. You cannot prevent signal from bleeding into both drivers when using TRS

[@Samuk190Tutoriais]

not true.

[@Samuk190Tutoriais]

I can say for sure its zero different on sound stage between a balanced cable or not. What changes is noise if you have eletrical device nearby, if you hearing headphones u will not LMAO

[@TylerDarlington]

@@Samuk190Tutoriais KZbin, Dave Rat, "The Audible Difference between 3-wire vs 4-wire Headphone/ In-Ear Monitor Cables" There is a noticable, and measurable difference.

[@Samuk190Tutoriais]

@@TylerDarlington You should not believe any youtuber, research by yourself, why no shop says "Hey get balanced cable, because it is better"? It same as choosing to use ethernet cable or shielded ethernet cable While ethernet cable will do just as fine, shielded ethernet cable is used only in applications where there is lots of interference. Same for balanced cable, only need when you have a long cable and lots of eletrical devices that can put some noise on it. like a microwave, do u have a microwave near ur computer??

[@Samuk190Tutoriais]

@@TylerDarlington Balanced cable, cancel the noise by inversing it on the other channel, there is no way it will improve sound quality at all LMAO!

[@hpfctif7tx7t]

What if you have an unbalanced amp and put its output on a balanced class A amp?

[@theecarking]

You'd probably be limited by the weakest link (the unbalanced amp).

[@Enzo_560]

Hey Abyss, kind of off topic question here, but do you guys ever run/plan on running gleam giveaways for your Diana headphones? Would love for the opportunity!

[@ABYSSHeadphones]

Nope

[@skyhero1888]

It’s only louder than single ended cables/amps But no better sound quality. If you hear with an amp/ dac at 24bit 196khz for example it doesn’t sound better with balanced.,cable/amp Balanced is good for studios with cable over 10 meters . The important thing is just to use good dac/amps and headphones. In my beginning time used oneodio and soundcore and thought that’s sounds great now 3 years later I bought some expensive headphones like the 800€ Meze 109 Pro and was stunning from that sound. At this point I thought why i bought so many shitty cheap headphones,they are al crap 💩. Don’t waste your money with cheap headphone like soundcore ore oneodio. amp/dacs with balanced connection is just marketing to confuse people to buy these stuff. I use iPad Pro M2 With Hiby FC/3/4 and Meze 109 Pro and it sounds fantastic with Apple Music.

[@Thee.Mighty]

useless talks.... balanced invented for noise reduction in electromagnetic noise environment