Balanced or RCA sound quality difference?

Ayre believes in balanced circuits and designs (all?) their gear to be balanced with true balanced circuits and designs. The single ended connections are compromised compared to the balanced connections because the balanced has to be converted to single ended. There are other manufactures and gear that follow that philosophy as well. And then there is balanced gear where the balanced connections are converted from single ended. With gear designed the way Ayre does things the balanced connections will sound better than the single ended. With gear that is designed by other companies the balanced and single ended connections can sound pretty much the same.

 

I use balanced from my Parasound JC 3+ phono stage to my Parasound Halo Integrated because the JC 3+ manual states:

"If your line level preamplifier is equipped with balanced XLR inputs we recommend using the JC 3+ Balanced XLR output jacks for the maximum rejection of external noise sources."

It surely has a lot of gain. I don't know how much the XLR connection adds in gain but the Parasound JC 3 Jr. specs says it's 6dB more with balanced. I suppose the JC 3+ might be similar.

 

I find that balanced has a lower noise floor and in the case of Audio Research gear, you get +6db more gain. I have gone all balanced on the main rig with the exception of RCA outs on the turntable but VPI offers a balanced option there too.

 

I like that "click" when the XLR slots home. I even use them on my Lamm amps which are single-ended just because I really like XLR connectors.

 

I just plugged in a pair of DIY xlr interconnects between my pre and power amp. They replaced an RCA version of the same cable. The gain actually decreased ugh

 

When using XLR on my OPPO in conjunction with the variable volume to increase amp volume and reduce gain, balanced really cane into its own for me. I now like both balanced and unbalanced very much, although the detail using balanced is addicting...but then the smoothness of the unbalanced is as well. I love choice! !!

 

But they wiggle more than RCA's

(not that it should matter unless you're paranoid)

Mic's also use XLR's = instant cool

 

I switched to XLR's from my preamp to my amp, and I'll never go back to RCA's.

The gain and dynamic range at lower volumes is noticeably better and I love getting a fuller sound at lower volumes.

Another great thing about balanced is that top quality cables (Mogami, etc.) are really cheap compared to quality RCA's.

These are most likely the cables the studio used to record the music, so it's got to be good enough for me!

 

That would be correct behavior. XLR is supposed to be carrying pro levels, +4dBv, and the input level should be attenuated.

Any equipment where the gain increases is because they went ultra cheap, and the XLR differential pair are consumer level and load, and the RCAs are just wired to 1/2 of that.

 

I find these comments problematic. Rather than repeat myself in this regard I will simply provide this link:
Atma-Sphere music systems, inc.

Operating balanced as opposed to single-ended may or may not result in 'louder'. Take the example of a balanced output using an output transformer. If operating single-ended, one side of the transformer is grounded but the same signal exists at its output regardless. If this is connected to a balanced input then the gain is exactly the same if that transformer is grounded or not. This is simply because the balanced input is seeing the same signal regardless- no addition signal level or gain accrues.

Musically speaking the ability to have the interconnect play a more neutral role leads to greater transparency and thus will always be better. But:

In high end audio its a simple fact that most equipment does not support the balanced standard (so the interconnect likely will play a role), and these days a lot of studio gear doesn't either! If it did, conversations like this would not occur: everyone would simply know that balanced operation sounds better. But because the standard (AES48) is frequently ignored by some pretty big players, we have a conversation that will be on-going for the foreseeable future.

The above quotes will thus be correct mostly in cases where the standard is not supported.

 

The “XLR” acronym sounds cooler than “RCA”.

 

Old thread, but checking it to see how my experience compares, which is this:

Emotive ERC-3 CD player to Yamaha CX-A5100 pre-pro, both of which take XLR or RCA: XLR is notably clearer. (Optical, also supported by both, comes in between; but that's on the Emotiva having a DAC implementation I like better.)

That Yamaha to an Emotiva BasX A-300 amp via RCA versus to an Emotiva Stealth PA-1 via XLR: XLR is notably clearer too but this case is apples to oranges, since the PA-1 is class-D rather than class-AB, monoblock rather than multichannel, and costs 50% more per channel ... a different animal. But given the difference heard in with the CD player, which was an apples-apples comparison, I suspect that when Yamaha and Emotiva play in the XLR space, they're doing better than in the RCA space. This may well not be true for differently engineered lines.

The cable runs are all 3'. The RCA cables are mid-range quality. The XLR cables are on the cheap side. The equipment's mounted vertically in a rack, so there's plenty of opportunity for cross-talk between cables.

 

Agreed. I have an Ayre DX-5 connected to an Ayre AX-5 twenty, the improvement with a balanced cable is uncanny.

 

Here’s a thought: why don’t you just borrow a pair of balanced cables for someone and give it a listen yourself?

I have owned a bunch of the Schiit stuff and have tried both types of cables. Some of their gear prefers balanced cables. I heard a difference between balanced and single ended, but it was subtle, certainly not like the difference between loudspeakers. But enough of a difference that I preferred balanced. Nothing anyone can say to you in that thread can change what you prefer with your own ears, so why not just try that?

 

I had an all balanced system around 2003-8 with MF kw 500, Dm 25 cd and so on. It was my only system that had a buzz. When I went back to single ended in 2009 my noise was gone. Back in 1999-2003 I had a BAT vk 22 and that was noisey with 60 hz hum as soon as you click the volume up.
Same home same room, this at that time was a newer house, built with a builder, a very simple modest but quality 4 bed home, which started my neighborhood with new road, electric, cable bla, bla in 1992. Balanced did not improve anything other than increase the above mentioned buzz.
No my cable box was not part of the system most of the time and if it was part of it a line transformer hum killer was introduced on the rg-6 cable and noise all gone from the cable box.
In theory balanced is great but in my case was at best a wash. Of course YMMV!? Take care, John M.

 

I am curious if one day before my Esoteric sa-50 becomes long in the tooth I can be play it in balanced XLR mode if I change out my a amp/pre amp to a balanced xlr amp/pre amp. Reviews have said back in 2011 that the sa-50 sounds better? In balanced mode. Maybe one day. My curiosity now is the Aperion super tweeters. Take care, John M.