When I had a Chord setup I prefered balanced, it was blatantly obvious to me which was best.
When I had a Chord setup I prefered balanced, it was blatantly obvious to me which was best.
Ultrafide U500DC power amplifier - Croft Vitale )highly modified) - TRIO L-07D Turntable - Denon DL103C1 - Funk Firm Houdini - Lentek MC head amp - 15" Tannoy Monitor Gold Loudspeakers in Lockwood Major cabinets (From Trident Studios) - Tannoyista SPEC 3 Custom Crossovers - VanDamme Black Speaker Cable
Tannoyista.com - Audio Equipment Reviews
I have to say that I do accept, and agree with you on the technical side of this one Jez,
However; as usual, we are not comparing figures, we are dealing with a person's perception of what they feel sounds best to them, and in this case, and dare I say it, many others, it seems to be that Balanced set up is prefered over Single ended, I have to say though on a personal level' I have never found the need to use a balanced line set up at home, however, some of my amps were designed to be single ended, or balanced input.
"Today scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality"
Nikola Tesla
Its now a conspiracy theory to believe that the Immune system is capable of doing the job it was designed to do.
A fish is only as healthy as the water its swimming in ! [Dr Robert Young]
www.tubedistinctions.co.uk
Matthew 5:10
Exactly!
Take the Cambridge Dacmagic as an example.
The XLR output sounds better than the Phono (From experience).
This is because the output is a balanced circuit.
The single ended output uses an additional op amp per channel to combine the two parts of the balanced signal.
So what you hear is an improvement due to avoiding a pair of additional op amps not needed on the balanced outputs.
OP's DAC may be similar.
Not withstanding Jez's comment that if designed as a single ended in the first place, it may have fewer op amps any way.
*So my experience is that one form of output will sound better than the other, dependant on circuit topology, the type of cable/connector type makes sod all difference.
Last edited by Qwin; 24-04-2017 at 17:48. Reason: *additional thought
Spot on. That's what I've (hopefully) just explained on the phone to Jez. Ultimately, to the listener concerned, what's preferred is preferred, regardless of what is technically correct. In that respect, therefore, there are no "myths", simply because a listener's preference is just as real to him or her, as what is technically wrong to Jez.Originally Posted by AnthonyTD
However, solely in terms of listening experience, I have to agree with Jez and Anthony, in that so far I've not considered it as sonically necessary to use balanced connections. I don't think there's any definitive answer to this issue though, in terms of which is best, than there is with pretty much any other aspect of hi-fi.
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
The trouble I have with the subjective side of things Marco is there is quite often an objective reason why one sounds better than the other. As in my Dacmagic example, also in a similar way, when I commented on your RPi thread. Where its not a subjective opinion, about it sounding good, its because of the use of the I2s bus to mount the DAC very close to the processor without cabling or other traffic. This way of doing things is a very real physical difference, so there is usually some reason other than personal preference involved, in most cases anyway, there will always be a Beatles or Stones element.
I don't disagree at all, Ken. However, for me, if what is stated as technically wrong still sounds better than what is technically right - I'll go with "technically wrong" every time!
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
I don't mind objective information as long as:
- Don't cherry pick the details of a post that miss the intent of the discussion and thus serve to subjectively crap on the discussion. Participate in the discussion being had, not the discussion you want to derail it into. That is an issue regardless of objective/subjective questions.
- Don't assume your facts are the only facts relevant and use them as a club against others. Barry's thoughts at 42, Qwin's at 45, and those that mentioned that it all depends on implementation, were all examples of additional relevant data. The tone of the presentor should not imply his/her data and his/her grasp of them is the only thing that is important.
- Don't mix in opinions along with your facts and then claim you are only presenting irrefutable facts.
- Don't arbitrarily drop into a conversation in a way that effectively disrupts it to "set others straight" but refuse to engage in the terms of the conversation being had. So, I join your convo and don't have to argue "on your terms" but if you disagree, you have to argue "on my terms".
- Don't demean others by entering their conversation and then saying you have zero interest in their experience.
- We need to value people, not just data.
Bruce
Theories are not so much answers as questions, to be supported or undermined by experience & testing.
Source: Audiolab 6000CDT > Calyx 24/192 DAC
Amplification: Pass-design B1rev2 pre-amplifier > Neurochrome Modulus 686.
Loudspeakers: Proac Response 1SC
Cables/stands: spkr: MIT MH-750 biwire; IC: HT Truthlink; Target stands, sand-filled; Excel Cat6A 23AWG UFTP & 1attack.de Cat.7 SFTP.
Other: Balanced AC transformer to hydra mains distr; Bass traps & Acoustic panels; Isolation: Inner tube & roller bearings; 3xZyxel ES104A switches in series w/Vreg upgrades.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
I know where your coming from Marco, but when have you ever truly preferred something technically wrong?
Valves offer a distorted view of things from a pure frequency point of view, but the type of distortion is pleasant to our senses, so it depends what your criterion is for the measurements. If 3rd harmonics are to be considered technically good, from a sensory pleasure point of view, is a serious and technical question.
Whether we value something that sounds pleasurable over pure accuracy is another can of worms.
It's all shades of Grey with respect to what we consider relevant technically, once you get away from the basic electrical and acoustic theory.
It's like knitting Fog trying to establish what it is that we actually like about one thing over another, and even harder to articulate it.
The attempts make for good reading though.
Good post Bruce
Difficult to answer that one, Ken, because it's not something I've ever really considered, as what's technically right or wrong doesn't concern me. I leave that to the engineers. Ultimately all that matters is whether something sounds right to me, or not, using MY judgement criteria.
However, I've heard equipment and systems that measure impeccably, yet sound rather disappointing (as in sonically adequate, but musically bland/inept).
Indeed it does,. Firstly we have to define (and agree upon) what is considered as "pure accuracy"Whether we value something that sounds pleasurable over pure accuracy is another can of worms.
Now *that* I really do agree with!It's all shades of Grey with respect to what we consider relevant technically, once you get away from the basic electrical and acoustic theory.
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!