Balanced vs Unbalanced?

The merits...scientific and audio...the two are interlinked:
Lower noise floor due to EMI/RFI rejection
Lower noise floor due to absence of ground loop hum
Better high end and low end extension and resolution when using long interconnects

With some components I've had, the differences have been profound.

Balance is only better if the signal from the source is balanced from the start, at the digital to conversion. I have owned several CD players & DACs that where that was the case and balanced did sound better. However I have owned a few CD players that had balanced output but the signal was split and inverted at the output stage that does not sound as good as single ended. It depends on the design. For a curve I have all single ended input sources, but between my Pass Labs XP 10 & my XA30.5 I use balanced. I have tried both balanced & single ended & I prefer balanced. Go figure

05-30-10: Tvad:
The merits...scientific and audio...the two are interlinked:

I think they are quite separable.

Lower noise floor due to EMI/RFI rejection

Only if there is EMI/RFI to reject.

Lower noise floor due to absence of ground loop hum

Only if there is a ground loop.

Better high end and low end extension and resolution when using long interconnects

Really? Why? In my main system, where there is no significant EMI/RFI or problems with ground loops, the 10meter SE and BAL connections are of equal quality. I just prefer the XLR connectors to the the RCAs.

Kal

All things being equal, truly balanced is better than single ended, but at a cost in both money and effort. Due to budget considerations, I currently only use single ended.