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XLR to RCA adapter

Kasenumi
By Kasenumi
in Audio
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Hello everyone
Is there a difference in sound quality if I connect my Monolith Liquid Spark AMP to Geshelli Labs Enog 2 Pro DAC with XLR cables? Liquid Spark AMP doesn't have XLR inputs, only RCA so it is either RCA connection or conection using XLR to RCA adapter. The questions are:
1) if there is any difference betweet RCA connection (unbalanced) and XLR cable (balanced) connected with adapter to RCA (unbalanced)? Would the sound quality be better with XLR adapter to RCA over RCA only?
2) For RCA cables I have chosen Audioquest Evergreen 2xRCA/2xRCA (image attached). Is it a good choice or are there any better cables for the price?
3) For Toslink cable I have chosen Audioquest Pearl Optilink -  Toslink/Toslink (image attached). Is it a good choice or are there any better cables for the price?
 

036a9faac1c32a965a5e60d3937e9b8e.jpg

c291160532978a9d44d3437ca51c70e8.jpg

Case: Fractal Design Torrent;
GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 2080 GAMING X TRIO 8GB;
RAM: G.Skill Flare X, DDR4, 16 GB,3200MHz, CL14;
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, ; 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH D15;
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-AB350-GAMING 3;
PSU: be quiet! 700W PURE POWER 11CM 80+Gold;
SSD 1: SanDisk Extreme PRO 500GB PCIe x4 NVMe;
SSD 2: PLEXTOR PX-1TM9PeY 1TB SSD

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2 hours ago, Kasenumi said:

Hello everyone
Is there a difference in sound quality if I connect my Monolith Liquid Spark AMP to Geshelli Labs Enog 2 Pro DAC with XLR cables? Liquid Spark AMP doesn't have XLR inputs, only RCA so it is either RCA connection or conection using XLR to RCA adapter. The questions are:
1) if there is any difference betweet RCA connection (unbalanced) and XLR cable (balanced) connected with adapter to RCA (unbalanced)? Would the sound quality be better with XLR adapter to RCA over RCA only?
2) For RCA cables I have chosen Audioquest Evergreen 2xRCA/2xRCA (image attached). Is it a good choice or are there any better cables for the price?
3) For Toslink cable I have chosen Audioquest Pearl Optilink -  Toslink/Toslink (image attached). Is it a good choice or are there any better cables for the price?
 

036a9faac1c32a965a5e60d3937e9b8e.jpg

c291160532978a9d44d3437ca51c70e8.jpg

These cables are actually good choices, although I don’t think you could hear much of a difference anyway.
 

Forget about balanced.

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Don't bother with XLR if you're converting to an unbalanced connection, just use unbalanced the whole way.

Sloth's the name, audio gear is the game
I'll do my best to lend a hand to anyone with audio questions, studio gear and value for money are my primary focus.
Click here for my Microphone and Interface guide, tips and recommendations
 

For advice I rely on The Brains Trust :
@rice guru- Headphones, Earphones and personal audio for any budget 
@Derkoli- High end specialist and allround knowledgeable bloke

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17 hours ago, Kasenumi said:

Hello everyone
Is there a difference in sound quality if I connect my Monolith Liquid Spark AMP to Geshelli Labs Enog 2 Pro DAC with XLR cables? Liquid Spark AMP doesn't have XLR inputs, only RCA so it is either RCA connection or conection using XLR to RCA adapter. The questions are:
1) if there is any difference betweet RCA connection (unbalanced) and XLR cable (balanced) connected with adapter to RCA (unbalanced)? Would the sound quality be better with XLR adapter to RCA over RCA only?
2) For RCA cables I have chosen Audioquest Evergreen 2xRCA/2xRCA (image attached). Is it a good choice or are there any better cables for the price?
3) For Toslink cable I have chosen Audioquest Pearl Optilink -  Toslink/Toslink (image attached). Is it a good choice or are there any better cables for the price?
 

036a9faac1c32a965a5e60d3937e9b8e.jpg

c291160532978a9d44d3437ca51c70e8.jpg

Don't bother with balanced, unless both the Amp and DAC do balanced properly. Balanced is great for noise/interference rejection, but converting it to unbalanced makes the noise rejection advantage pretty pointless.

 

Audioquest cables are amazingly well made, but won't make a difference to the sound.

 

I actually find AmazonBasics Toslink cables to be quite well made, if you want to save some money.

 

Also take a look at Blue Jeans cables, They're well made, pretty affordable and overall a good and trustworthy company who don't make any silly claims about their products, And they've had some pretty damn funny legal exchanges with Monster Cable.

 

http://www.bluejeanscable.co.uk/store/audio/index.htm

LTT's Resident Porsche fanboy and nutjob Audiophile.

 

Main speaker setup is now;

 

Mini DSP SHD Studio -> 2x Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC's (fed by AES/EBU, one feeds the left sub and main, the other feeds the right side) -> 2x Neumann KH420 + 2x Neumann KH870

 

(Having a totally seperate DAC for each channel is game changing for sound quality)

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On 6/17/2020 at 2:19 AM, rice guru said:

Xlr is for balanced amps  with the liquid spark go rca.

I have just tried RCA 2X to 3.5 cable from Audioquest (Evergreen). It actually feels different. The sound is a bit more powerful. I dont know, maybe it is only my imagination but I have been using regular RCA for some time and the new cable...The sound is 5% quieter on the same level of volume but it feels more powerful, more full, sound effects like shooting and explosions are even more real and "have shape".
The noise is almost gone. 

Case: Fractal Design Torrent;
GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 2080 GAMING X TRIO 8GB;
RAM: G.Skill Flare X, DDR4, 16 GB,3200MHz, CL14;
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, ; 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH D15;
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-AB350-GAMING 3;
PSU: be quiet! 700W PURE POWER 11CM 80+Gold;
SSD 1: SanDisk Extreme PRO 500GB PCIe x4 NVMe;
SSD 2: PLEXTOR PX-1TM9PeY 1TB SSD

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The noise is due to better shielding, the rest, likely placebo.

Sloth's the name, audio gear is the game
I'll do my best to lend a hand to anyone with audio questions, studio gear and value for money are my primary focus.
Click here for my Microphone and Interface guide, tips and recommendations
 

For advice I rely on The Brains Trust :
@rice guru- Headphones, Earphones and personal audio for any budget 
@Derkoli- High end specialist and allround knowledgeable bloke

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2 hours ago, Kasenumi said:

I have just tried RCA 2X to 3.5 cable from Audioquest (Evergreen). It actually feels different. The sound is a bit more powerful. I dont know, maybe it is only my imagination but I have been using regular RCA for some time and the new cable...The sound is 5% quieter on the same level of volume but it feels more powerful, more full, sound effects like shooting and explosions are even more real and "have shape".
The noise is almost gone. 

a good quality cable can make a difference over a cheap rca cable so nice. 

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