04 Episode_What's the Deal With Balanced vs Unbalanced Cables?

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04 Episode_What's the Deal With Balanced vs Unbalanced Cables

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[MajorHiFi]

Thanks for watching! Do you use a balanced cable? If so, what benefits do you hear?

[progressiveguy]

Hi Steph. Thank you for explaining the differences with a way I can understand.
Merry Christmas to you! -Don

[dsr]

You touch on it at the end, but so much depends on your system. I have a more expensive unbalanced tube amp hooked up to a Benchmark DAC. There's a lot of extension and good transients with all my headphone brands (and with tube rolling, can find so many subtleties as well). I do have a nice music streamer that I'm using as an HD transport to my DAC. It has both a balanced and unbalanced headphone out: when I listen with my unbalanced cables, it sounds a lot warmer and in some ways muddy compared to my higher end unbalanced setup. I'm hesitant about spending money on an expensive optional balanced cable just to see what difference there is with my lesser tier balanced headphone stage. I'm pretty certain that the end result would be still not as resolving as *my* ideal setup that happens to be unbalanced.

[phantomphreak]

Hey Steph! Woah, I never heard of balanced and unbalanced cables. I admit when I read the title of the video I was unsure what that could mean. You continue to amaze me with your knowledge. This is a great series and I can't wait for more.

[navinbabji]

I have a couple of balanced cables with the MMCX pins for my shure earphones...trust me, it makes a huge difference when compared to the unbalanced cable, the highs and lows are clear and there is no sibilance in the earphones...but they are bloody expensive..

[francocastilloAR]

Los cables balanceados solo sirven para los micrófonos porque estos se tienen que amplificar.

[hamiltons.]

Great video! Off topic question, would you say the Focal Clear is worth the cost difference compared to something like the sennheiser 660s? And if so, would the Ifi Micro IDSD be a good match?

[AIRFORCEFREAK]

I am loving these videos but maybe create a script? Seems like you are just going off of your knowledge which I know is vast but you are still trying to figure out the best way to describe on the cuff. Thank you very much for these videos.

[MAELOB]

Steph some manufacturers such as Benchmark disagree that balanced is better for driving headphones.