Bought an Arcam rHead headphone amp which has outputs and a switch for either RCA or XLR.
What are they?
Which is best - does one give better quality sound?
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What are they?
Which is best - does one give better quality sound?
n
nopiano said:I think they are inputs not outputs!
If you have XLR outputs on your source, whatever that is, I'd use xlr to xlr. You may have heard them called balanced connections elsewhere, and are more often used on pro gear and studio kit, where long cable run are commonplace.
If you have a typical Hi-Fi component it will likely have rca outputs, which you should use in that case.
newlash09 said:But my Yamaha wxc-50 doesnt have any XLR outs. And my amp has XLR ins. And I found some XLR to rca cables on the net. Will going for these XLR to rca give me any sonic benefits or should I stick with the RCA to rca. Thanks.
newlash09 said:But my Yamaha wxc-50 doesnt have any XLR outs. And my amp has XLR ins. And I found some XLR to rca cables on the net. Will going for these XLR to rca give me any sonic benefits
newlash09 said:or should I stick with the RCA to rca.
davedotco said:Are just a connector, they can be wired balanced, unbalanced or completely mucked up as with some old Naim amplifiers. Whether as a connector an XLR is better than a decent phono is open to debate.
Balanced cables tend to use XLRs (though other connectors can and have been used, including phono plugs) so the comparison is usually made between a balanced XLR cable and an unbalanced phono. To test the difference you would really need to have two components with both balanced and unbalanced connectors.
In general terms, my view is this. If your components are fully balanced throughout, use balanced cables, if not use regular unbalanced phono leads.
+2Electro said:davedotco said:Are just a connector, they can be wired balanced, unbalanced or completely mucked up as with some old Naim amplifiers. Whether as a connector an XLR is better than a decent phono is open to debate.
Balanced cables tend to use XLRs (though other connectors can and have been used, including phono plugs) so the comparison is usually made between a balanced XLR cable and an unbalanced phono. To test the difference you would really need to have two components with both balanced and unbalanced connectors.
In general terms, my view is this. If your components are fully balanced throughout, use balanced cables, if not use regular unbalanced phono leads.
+1
insider9 said:+2Electro said:davedotco said:Are just a connector, they can be wired balanced, unbalanced or completely mucked up as with some old Naim amplifiers. Whether as a connector an XLR is better than a decent phono is open to debate.
Balanced cables tend to use XLRs (though other connectors can and have been used, including phono plugs) so the comparison is usually made between a balanced XLR cable and an unbalanced phono. To test the difference you would really need to have two components with both balanced and unbalanced connectors.
In general terms, my view is this. If your components are fully balanced throughout, use balanced cables, if not use regular unbalanced phono leads.
+1
QuestForThe13thNote said:But it has sometimes been postulated to be the routes on the circuit and the directness of the signal path. was my point. That's could account how I know some people have accounted a differnence with xlr over rca in unbalanced unit mode. Also I know some people who have used xlr adapters on one end, where some units are unbalanced.
Electro said:One other difference between using Balanced XLR cables over RCA is that the output voltage doubles using the XLR connections, at least it does with my Electro equipment.
davedotco said:Electro said:One other difference between using Balanced XLR cables over RCA is that the output voltage doubles using the XLR connections, at least it does with my Electro equipment.
If balanced and unbalanced outputs are provided then it is usual for the unbalanced out to be the same voltage as each phase of the balanced output. With a fully balanced system like yours, each phase will be the normal 2 volts (ish). Each phase of your components will then be fed by a 2 volt signal.
Only when they are summed for an unbalanced circuit by a differential input will they measure 4 volts (ish). (assuming unity gain differential circuits)
To say that balanced circuits run at twice the voltage is an over simplification.
davedotco said:Balanced cables tend to use XLRs (though other connectors can and have been used, including phono plugs)