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Showing 1 of 126 conversations about:
BlueSkies
89
Mar 15, 2018
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shmearlof
22
Mar 16, 2018
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BlueSkies"This expectation that balanced headphone amplifiers should be superior to single-ended amplifiers, ignores some of the most basic laws of electricity. "
That comment, coming from the company that sells (Arguably) the best high end audio gear, (and that obviously competes with other high end audio companies) makes it pretty obvious that balanced headphone outputs offer NO real sound quality enhancements if the rest of the amp is built well, other than coloring the sound.
I completely agree with you, and I dont plan on getting a headphone amp with balanced out any time soon.
balanced cables themselves serve a purpose depending on use case. but not as headphone cables.
That comment, coming from the company that sells (Arguably) the best high end audio gear, (and that obviously competes with other high end audio companies) makes it pretty obvious that balanced headphone outputs offer NO real sound quality enhancements if the rest of the amp is built well, other than coloring the sound.
I completely agree with you, and I dont plan on getting a headphone amp with balanced out any time soon.
balanced cables themselves serve a purpose depending on use case. but not as headphone cables.
shmearlof
22
Mar 16, 2018
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AnentWell, you are right. And I can't give you the math. The article doesn't throw too many numbers at you either, but it says that voltage balanced headphone amps inherently produce twice as much distortion as a single ended of identical design..... hold on ill just quote 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). "
Now it doesn't provide any graphs and tests to verify its claims, but It explains that this is why single ended and balanced sound "different", because noise and distortion can color the sound. And honestly some people prefer that. but if transparency is your goal, single ended is by nature the better choice if you could choose between single ended and balanced amps of theoretically identical quality.
Now if the article didn't give enough documented data to prove its concepts to you, I can respect that. I'm not an audio engineer. But if you did read the article I am interested to hear what you think of it. I'm always open to learning.
" 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). "
Now it doesn't provide any graphs and tests to verify its claims, but It explains that this is why single ended and balanced sound "different", because noise and distortion can color the sound. And honestly some people prefer that. but if transparency is your goal, single ended is by nature the better choice if you could choose between single ended and balanced amps of theoretically identical quality.
Now if the article didn't give enough documented data to prove its concepts to you, I can respect that. I'm not an audio engineer. But if you did read the article I am interested to hear what you think of it. I'm always open to learning.
kukkurovaca
323
Mar 16, 2018
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shmearlofOf course, if people didn't sometimes enjoy some coloration and distortion in their audio, tube amps wouldn't have much of a market...
BlueSkies
89
Mar 16, 2018
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kukkurovaca"I enjoy distortion". I just can't get my head to a place where it understands that.
shmearlof
22
Mar 16, 2018
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RayFLol. I'd rather have Jimi's amp distorting the way Jimi wants rather than my amp distorting the way it wants.
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Benchmark, who many would say designs and builds some of the best audio equipment in the world, does NOT offer a balanced headphone amp. Read their explanation here:
https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-balanced-headphone-outputs-are-better