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Is balanced necessarily better?

Assuming fully balanced equipment that also offers single ended connections, and no RFI problems, is the use of balanced interconnects necessarily the better way to go? My forum search indicates some who say balanced is better because the connectors are inherently better and because of noise cancelling properties associated with the signal flowing in both directions; and others who say for reasonably short runs and no interference problems that rca/single-ended connections sound better in many cases, maybe because the signal has less circuitry to traverse. This has come up for me because I am considering different preamp alternatives, and if I decide not to stay with a fully balanced system, I have more choices. To give things a try I substituted some old AudioTruth rca cables for my Luminous Sychestra Sig balanced cables. Except for the 6db loss in output, I have initially found the rca cables to sound a little smoother, with more rounded images, a little plumper bass, and what initially sounds like a more "musical" presentation. The system is a Muse Model 10 source/Muse Model 3 Sig pre/McCormack DNA 500/Aerial 9's. BTW, Steve McCormack told me the DNA 500 sees the signal the same way whether balanced or single-ended, and didn't seem to think the amp would sound significantly different either way. Therefore, even though many manufacturers are now offering more balanced equipment, especially at the upper end, others such as CJ continue to make only single-ended equipment. What are do you guys think, is balanced necessarily better?
mitch2
pedrillo
560 posts
 
Just wanted to add that recently I coupled my sim's p-5 preamp to w-5 power amp with balanced cables by blue jeans and the difference is totally different, by far much better. I am now looking to get balanced phono stage and eventually cd player. thanks blue jeans and many thanks simaudio.
gregm
3,021 posts
 
*Bsic balanced is slightly more expensive for obvious reasons (complementary circuits)
*Balanced is useful because you just have to match circuits -- not components (so easier to implement linearity) + you get common mode rejection.
*Of course, in balanced you get twice the circuit noise
*Single-ended, in "ultimate" implementation, would be extremely expensive -- it would require component matching for each channel and extremely careful ground to ahcieve ultimate linearity. Forget it -- but that would be the best.

Finally, the rca connections are horrible; the xlrs are much better & reliable. No wonder pros use balanced as standard.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Gregm...Pro sound uses balanced lines because they run signals hundreds of feet amongst a tangle of other wiring. Noise rejection is important to them.
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
>>Finally, the rca connections are horrible; the xlrs are much better & reliable<<

Totally untrue. There are some extremely high quality RCA connectors available just as there are very poor balanced connectors. Many manufacturers use only single ended connections on their amps and preamps because they believe them to provide performance either superior or equal to balanced connections. OTOH some manufacturers such as BAT and Atma-Sphere design their products for balanced connections. As always YMMV.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,333 posts
 
I use XLR cabling between components and even for runs to my active speakers but I have no illusions - the sound quality is no better than RCA (to my hearing). As some have pointed out, there is indeed better noise rejection and less problems with ground loops/hiss .....especially when using long cable runs. These are very important factors to pros who have different equipment hooked up in their studio each day and cannot afford to waste time trying to trace a hum or ground loop.

In a modest home audio set up, RCA jacks can perform just as good as XLR....and they are cheaper to manufacture! (Although it is sometimes a sad reflection on audiophile equipment consumers that some extremely expensive equipment manufacturers should cut cost by not providing balanced circuits and XLR jacks whilst packaging their items with beautiful brushed metal and expensive finishes....form over function is what sells I guess)
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