Topping A50s head-fi

Itamarz said:

the a50s is realy balanced vs the l50 which is not? Which means the a50s have the potential to sound better?

Click to expand...

-a50s 2.5mm[correction: 4.4mm] is "true" balanced and not same output as single ended over another connector
-l50 is like A30 Pro : crazy power but actually unbalanced

Potential to sound better? Not really, it is an audiophile myth perpetuated on forums like head-fi. Balanced is positive and negative signal with double the output, double the noise and very good common mode rejection against ground loops etc. There is nothing to indicate it is inherently better sounding, it can just go louder. See for example this great article:

Veri said:

-a50s 2.5mm is "true" balanced and not same output as single ended over another connector
-l50 is like A30 Pro : crazy power but actually unbalanced

Potential to sound better? Not really, it is an audiophile myth perpetuated on forums like head-fi. Balanced is positive and negative signal with double the output, double the noise and very good common mode rejection against ground loops etc. There is nothing to indicate it is inherently better sounding, it can just go louder. See for example this great article:

Audio Myth - Balanced Headphone Amplifiers are Better

This Myth Goes Something Like This: "Balanced headphone amplifiers are better." "If balanced line-level connections work well, balanced headphone outputs should also work well." We disagree! Benchmark does not offer voltage-balanced headphone outputs on any of its products. The reason for this...

benchmarkmedia.com

Click to expand...

A50s actually has a 4.4mm output. As for its balanced and unbalanced outputs, listening to my Sundaras it is definitely not the same experience. Whether because of the noticeably higher power output, greater distortion [although that would be ridiculous given the measurements], the cable [even funnier], or something else, have no idea. Sundara probably likes power.

Itamarz said:

Thanks for the answers!
So if l50 is stronger even on "balance" mode so why would anyone chhose the a50s over it for almost the same price?

Click to expand...

I was in dilema two days ago. Purchased another A50s for my second stack. Reasons:
- stack with the D50s [have two of them]
- form factor, really small in size
- extremely nice and proven sound with my Sundaras balanced so didn't want to roll the dice to get something that may "sound/think to sound" even slightly different
- bulky transformer, already owned one with the L30, had to switch it on/off through the power strip 'coz it was sucking ~3-4W when idle
- don't know if L50 heats like L30, hope not and A50s is barely warm even after several hours of use
- L50 is a brand new product and I swore I would no longer buy devices that hadnt been on the market for at least 6 months
- saved 40

But L50 has much more power unbalanced and a switch instead of preamp + balanced inputs if needed/wanted, like that.

Video liên quan