Play with Balanced?

[Peanut]

Current Gear List

-Schiit Lyr 3 with internal standard DAC
-Hifiman Sundara
-Grado 325e

Nothing is being ran balanced, but I’m curious if its worth it. I recently was gifted the Dekoni Blues T50RP mod and starting to wonder it would be beneficial to venture out for Balanced cables for the Sundara, and a balanced AMP/DAC, and maybe some balanced options in the future. The Lyr 3 has plenty of headroom, clean, and enjoyable… If the only advantage of balanced is more power, then maybe what’s the point?

Thanks in advance

[Delta9K]

There is not always a definitive yes/no answer, but check this out it may help you decide what is best for you.

Cheers!

Is Balanced Better? Pros & Cons of Balanced vs. Single-Ended

To Balance or Not to Balance? That is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler to buy a balanced amp or DAC or an unbalanced (or single-ended, aka SE, the two terms are interchangeable) amp or DAC is the focus of this post. There have been lots of questions around this forum about whether a balanced amp or DAC is better than a SE amp or DAC. Should you explore balanced? Is balanced better? It’s understandably confusing. After all, in the English language, ‘balance’ is often used in the context of desc…

[marcgii]

Yeah there’s no reason to worry about running your headphones balanced until you have an amp with a balanced output that’s known to be superior to its SE out. IME, the difference is quite small, if noticeable, with most amps and headphones.

Don’t buy balanced gear just for the sake having it. Case in point, Asgard 3 vs Magnius.

[Peanut]

Thanks for the clarification. The Lyr 3 is a great amp, and the question of not having the balanced output always made me wonder. Thanks again!!