Finally got my Zonie cable from Tripowin via linsoul (only 3.5 months after ordering), and got some hart audio cables for my other headsets (Sennheiser HD598cs, HiFiMan Sundara, and Tin T2ās for the IEMs), and I finally feel comfortable weighing in on the balanced output.
First, I want to express how thankful I am for the balanced output on the BTR5, I donāt have anything else balanced, and thereās no official balanced cable for the HD598cs, so I had to make my own. because of this, I purchased a miniXLR cable, and a spare HD598 standard cable (which has four lines all the way down btw), and butchered it (realisitcally my soldering sucks by comparison to what Iāve seen out there), to create a compatible cable to the Hart interfaces for my Sennheisers. I discovered I crosswired the L/R channel positives (found reversed audio when using it on an SE connection) and was able to determine that the negative leads were correct when I got very confusing mono output while using balanced and a stereo test track. one side was playing in phase and the other was out of phase - a very disturbing sound profile. After that was fixed, I can now test all my main headsets on the BTR5 without issue on balanced and SE.
To start, the SE is good, as many have stated. I wouldnāt say thereās a HUGE difference between SE and balanced for anything you would use this for; the cables are incredibly short and it shouldnāt make a huge difference anyways. However, the difference is very much present. the power difference is most notable, and the signal is really clean. When something comes through over one channel, it is very cleanly on that channel. The power is excellent and drives everything I have - to be fair, nothing I have is very hard to drive, but I donāt want to drain my bank account buying 50 headphones to find the ones I like the most. I have had the HD598ās for years, and recently picked up the T2ās and Sundaraās to improve my overall listening experience. I didnāt get the MMCX Hart cables because I needed portability. The 3.5 SE connection from my stock T2 cable is much more flexible than the Hart cables, and thatās my primary use-case; so I picked up the Tripowin Zonie 2.5mm TRRS balanced cable as a direct replacement specifically for use mobile with the BTR5 and T2ās. I donāt use my T2ās at home much or at all. I am today because the isolation is better than anything else I have and thereās a lot of construction noise happening outside. My issues aside, the T2ās are quite good on balanced here. I have Michael Jacksonās album āThe Essentialā queued up, and it sounds really really good. Some of the songs are quite complex acoustically, with grit and pop in some of the notes that really comes through on the T2ās. No notable distortion, fuzz, or issues.
I have this album in 24/96 FLAC, playing over BT using LDAC.
Honestly, balanced is a great feature, I love it and 10/10 would buy again. though itās arguable that itās not completely required, Itās definitely a nice to have, and results in a very nice and very clean sound from the BTR5.
dunno how helpful this is considering how many others have reviewed and left feedback on the BTR5, but I thought Iād put it out there for anyone who may be interested in one-more BTR5 balanced review. Iām by no means a professional reviewer, so I canāt really get into the sound profile or characteristics in depth, but so far a very positive experience all around.
