Can balanced headphones run without problem on an unbalanced Amp/DAC?
I don’t know why I can’t find a straight answer, I just don’t want to break any of my gear.
I thought anything could run of a regular Amp/DAC safely but only balanced headphones could run of a balanced Amp/DAC, is this correct?
And if so does that mean I could get a regular, non-balanced Amp/DAC it could run my balanced Argons and also use anything unbalanced like my DT770’s and HD598 without problem?
If if means I can use all my headphones on the same Amp/DAC if it is unblanced then I will probably do that so I wont break anything.
You can run balanced headphones off of an unbalanced source as long as you have the right adapter for the balanced cable (or an unbalanced cable). It’s the other way round that you can’t do (balanced source to unbalanced headphone).
So I can’t just use a regular 3.5mm lead with the argons? It still has to be a balanced 3.5mm lead with an adapter to unbalanced to plug in the Amp/DAC?
The Argons have a balanced 3.5mm jack, you can order a 3.5mm balanced to XLR cable but I didn’t as I wasn’t sure if i’d need ti or not and can always buy later. I was going to see if i could use them with a regular 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable and not need balanced.
You can, I was more meaning that sometimes you may need to be careful with the pin outs as not all headphones are wired the same (I can’t use my HeK cable with my E-MUs for example). It should be fine for the Argons though, especially if you are using the stock cable.
What source are you using? And what type of connection are you plugging them into? As many people have fried their headphones plugging unbalanced into a balanced port.
I’m looking to purchase one specifically as I am waiting for the argons. I would love if I could have an amp dac combo under €300. It would be even better if I could use my unbalanced headphone from it aswell. I am not into dac and amps at all. I bought by Fiio ek10 years ago and have been using my dt770s and hd 598’s. It’s only now I have purchased the argons i need to learn this stuff to make a purchase. Is there any way to get a combo amp/dac that you can use for both balanced and unbalanced headphones?
I just returned the ifi zen DAC becase everyone told me they didn’t have enough power. The guy who mods and sells them says to have at least 1W at 50 ohms which the zen dac was no where near.
My personal preference for anything planar under $500 is the Asgard 3, but I know its difficult to get in the EU (I bought mine direct from schiit US to the UK).
Woah man that’s not a good practice. So as usual a balanced connection consist of 4 leads, the positive and negative left right, while the single ended consist of left right and ground. If you plug in a balanced amp or source to an unbalanced headphone, you run the risk of short circuiting the negative left right since they are combined into one connection, the ground. On the other hand, if you connect a single ended amp or source to a balanced headphone, you are just combining the negative left right leads of the headphone, and that’s okay.
So, the trickier part, why does the amp is not directly fried? It’s because every amp is different. I’ve seen cases where it is directly fried, but I’ve also seen cases where it runs just fine. So is everything okay? NOOOOO! What you are doing (balanced amp to unbalanced headphone) is fatiguing the components inside because they are taking loads that they are not designed to take.
Anyway, I would not suggest anyone to simply buy any converter to have their single ended headphone connected to a balanced amp.
Should I just see if I can get a refund for the balanced mod? I just don’t want anything to break and I would like to have an amp I can use all of my headphones on.
You’ll be totally fine running it with a SE cable, so I wouldn’t say you need to cancel the balanced mod
For example, I’ve been using my t60s (wired balanced internally) from my A3 which is SE only. Most of my headphones are dual entry or ran balanced internally, and I don’t have a balanced desktop amp.
I’ve read this reply twice now and something doesn’t add up here…
There’s no way everyone except for me has a dedicated balanced and unbalanced amp or has chosen to only buy balanced or only buy unbalanced headphones… I’m sorry but that’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever read?
Well I have both. What I’m saying is that the headphone itself should always be balanced. Then, it can be connected to anything. You can use adapter for balanced headphone to single ended source.
For example, I have all of my headphones wired in balanced cable so that I can use all of my amps. So what if I want to use my single ended amp? I simply plug my balanced to unbalanced adapter.
Okay… that’s some BS bahahaha.
I just checked product pages of Schiit, Topping and SMSL and all of them tell you you can run both balanced and unbalanced headphones out of their balanced AMP’s; so unless the manufacturers know less about their own products than you?