Balanced vs Unbalanced Digital Cables

The topic is is balanced digital cables, I think many are getting confused with balanced analogue XLR type cables, eg talk about 3dB increase in signal level. We are really talking about 3 conductor, 110 ohm XLR cables, normally used for what are AES-EBU digital connections between devices, eg streamer to DAC. They are not from DAC to (pre)amp. 

@m_j_s

Correct. The question is SP/DIF (unbalanced) vs AES (balanced) digital cables and not the analog equivalent that provides a volume boost.

On my Aurrender W20SE to Audio Research Reference CD9 SE DAC the AES sounds a slightly better. That is probably what Lumin will say. I would follow their guidance. But typically the quality of the interconnect will improve the sound quality vastly more than the connection type for high quality components. For low quality components it is harder to generalize.

Hi all,

for what it is worth, in my system (Aurender W20 -> Lampi Horizon -> Thrax Héros), the Toskink connection is way better than AES/EBU and noticeably better than USB. I don’t think there is a volume gain but it seems to me that the lower noise level makes me want to decrease the volume to get the same listening optimal experience. With optical, I gain in openness, spacialisation without the sometimes side effects you get when gaining in overall clarity impacts the tonal balance. It was not the same with my previous DAC (Lampi Golden Gate 2) so I would suspect it is highly equipment dependent as mentioned by many here in this thread and elsewhere.

Also potentially worth mentioning:

- I only was able to tangibly hear this benefit when using the Lifatec Toslink connector. Others didn’t deliver as this one did after I tried it following the advice of the chief engineer at SoTm

- Lukasz Fikus (founder of Lampizator) once explained to me that the interconnects are one thing but the attention given by the manufacturers to the internal connectors, power supply, etc. also had a major impact, I.e.: the full chain is highly electronics dependent

Brenn

It truly does depend on the how the equipment was designed, and what the focus of the unit was.....which inputs did they put their focus on.

In general I would always use I2S if that is an option, AES/EBU, then USB, then SPDIF