Balanced Headphone Selection Guide
At the very high-end of audiophile headphone audio you’ll find 'balanced' headphones and headphone amplifiers. Standard headphones have three electrical connections: one to each ear and a common ground wire. The audio drive signal goes to one side of the driver coil in each earpiece, and the return from the coils joins together in the common ground connection. In balanced headphones both sides of the driver coil are driven simultaneously and no common connection between channels exists. Therefore, balanced headphone amplifiers generate a normal and a perfectly inverted audio signal. The inverted signal is basically a mirror image of the normal drive signal; so when the 'normal' signal is going positive, the inverted signal is going negative in an identical sine-wave relationship.
HeadRoom currently offers three balanced-drive headphone amp lines: the Desktop Balanced Amp, the Home Balanced Amp, and the Max Balanced Amp. In brief, this complex method of driving headphones effectively doubles slew rate, voltage swing, & power output, and halves the output impedance of the amp as seen by the headphones. The result is a dramatic improvement in audio quickness, musical clarity, and sonic impact. The downside is a significant investment in custom balanced XLR-plug cabling and head-amplifier electronics. Also, some high-end audio components provide balanced-XLR outputs which are always the high road for fully balanced audio system connections throughout the entire signal chain.
We currently offer several balanced headphones re-terminated at HeadRoom: The Sennheiser HD650, Sennheiser HD595s, beyerdynamic DT880, beyerdynamic DT990, beyerdynamic DT770, and the AKG k701 The Grado RS1 can be ordered directly from Grado labs with balanced terminations. We'll be happy to process your balanced Grado headphone order at HeadRoom! The Sennheiser HD650, is our favorite high-end balanced-drive can; it’s very refined and luscious sounding with a slightly laid back presentation as its only quibble, but that characteristic also makes them great for long audiophile listening sessions without ear fatigue. Sennheiser HD595s, is a livelier-sounding can with terrific imaging, but it lacks a bit of sophisticated refinement. The beyerdynamic DT880, is clean as a whistle, a marvelous classical /symphonic music can. Its only fault is that it’s just a tad bass-shy for big bassheads. The AKG k701 offers an impressive mix of a tightly focused bottom-end response and superb musical detail resolution in the upper mids/ treble ranges along with an amazingly expansive, deep soundstage image. Lastly, the Grado RS1 is an unusual can with a unique mix of lush tube-like sound and intense immediacy, but lacks ultra-accurate extension at the high & low end. It remains an excellent audio connoisseurs' headphone, we recommend it as a fun break from dead-reference neutrality; possibly a second or third headphone purchase after some of the previously mentioned headphones.
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beyerdynamic DT880 & HeadRoom Balanced Fat PipeThe beyerdynamic DT880's recabled for balanced drive from your friends at HeadRoom. The love is in the details. |
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$389.00 |
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Sennheiser HD650 with Cardas Balanced CableRecable your Sennheiser HD650 and soak your head in some truly world-class audio. |
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$649.95 |
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AKG K701 with HeadRoom Balanced Fat Pipe UpgradeAKG K701's XLR-recabled for balanced drive systems from your friends at HeadRoom. The love is in the details. |
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$539.00 |
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AKG K701 with Balanced Stock CableLow-Cost AKG k701 Recabling Solution for Balanced-Drive Seekers. |
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$549.95 |
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