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[robertisonline]

A friend of mine recently purchased Fiio’s BTK3K DAC+Amp. Direct link here: https://www.fiio.com/btr3k

Both he and I were wondering why the balanced output dramatically increases sound quality compared to the unbalanced output. Is this normal for most or all DAC’s? This specific DAC is manufactured with dual AK4377A chips and dual crystal oscillators.

Outputs are listed as 3.5mm SE and 2.5mm balanced. I can’t find what the SE means.
Lastly, this DAC advertises that it can tell what kind of headphones are plugged into it and adjusts output accordingly. Any ideas on how that is possible?

Thanks to anyone who can help my friend and I to better learn and understand these things. I feel truly blessed to have the knowledge and support of the JRiver community. We have learned so much from you all—thank you!

Robert and Will

[dtc]

SE is just single ended, that is unbalanced.

Balanced circuitry is used to cancel noise in the signal path. It duplicates the signal 180 degrees out of phase and  noise is eliminated by comparing the two signals. Headphones use the technology since the voltage levels are small which allows noise to be potentially introduced. Headphones also use balanced signals to eliminate the common ground between the left and right channels. There is a lot written on this topic. More here.

https://www.headphones.com/pages/balanced-headphones-guide

https://www.moon-audio.com/are-balanced-headphones-better

Balanced cables are commonly used in commercial setups, like long microphone runs, where noise can easily be introduced.