Balanced Headphone Amplifiers

[mulveling]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Tried the Balanced out of the Bryston BHA-1 this morning with the new Moon Audio Black Dragon cables for my Sennheiser HD600 and 650.

Immediate increase in perceived resolution and dynamics. Both pairs sound more open and airy with higher perceived sense of resolution and increase in dynamic drive and slam. Bass is tighter and more resolved. Not a trace of hardness or grain.

It's like going from a very good amplifier to a great one. Essentially this is what going Balanced with the Bryston BHA-1 is. I'll give the new cables some time to burn in and get used to the new and improved sound and do some SE vs Balanced comparisons via the BHA-1.

Yep, that's what you should be hearing! There's really no reason to avoid balanced drive in SS headphone amps, past a certain level, and even the very affordable HD600/650 improve immensely from it. Enjoy

In a hifi world gone crazy, the HD600/650 with a balanced SS amp, XLR cable, and good value balanced DAC (e.g. Yggy, Gumby?) gives a ton of high fidelity sound for the money.