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Folks, a few days ago I got Electrocompaniet EMC 1UP CDP, which is a balanced unit, but also has RCA outs, so for evaluating the sound difference between those two options, can I use both of them connected to my preamp to see which one has a better sound?
Thanks in advance.
Follow Ups:
My main concern was if I possibly can damage the CDP connecting it the way I describe.
Here's what I try to achieve - when I received the piece, I used the RCA cable since I didn't have a balanced one. It sounded nice. Two days ago got balanced Acoustic Zen Matrix Ref ii cables, and sound became loud, which is understandable, but pretty bad, very heavy on bass, causing headache. Now I was thinking to connect both of them for switching the inputs to see if the RCA will do the same, even though it didn't before I got the Xlr.
The CDP is brand new, AZ cable is also new.
I very much doubt that connecting the two at once would cause physical damage to any of your equipmemt.That overdriven type sound, may be just that. Overdriven. The likely much greater signal amplitude of the XLR output may be overdriving the following gain stages of your amplification chain. As was pointed out earlier by PAR, you would need to match signal amplitude between the RCA and XLR outputs in order to validly compare them. If lowering the system volume control doesn't eliminate the overdriven sound then you should stay with the RCA based interface.
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Ken Newton
Edits: 06/09/16
Thanks for your response, Ken. I connected both outs, and the Xlr is definitely bad - too much bass, ear-piercing highs etc. I'm using RS spl meter to stay at same volume level, and the RCA sounds incomparably better. Everything sounds just great, even though, EC player is a balanced unit, and my gear is also balanced, their (EC) preferred connection is balanced.
At this point I don't know what to think.
erik, the following is probably a stupid question on my part. It sounds like you may be comparing the sound of the balanced outputs while the RCA are also connected to the preamp. You are not doing that, you are disconnecting one type of interface when listening to the other, yes?
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Ken Newton
Ken, I did it both ways, no difference.
I agree with Ken. The pre-amp's input is being overdriven. The EMC -1 series of CDPs have specified outputs of 2.3V for RCA and 4.6V for XLR. There's the potential problem.
I am assuming that you are using your BAT pre-amp? Maybe BAT could offer advice.
A classic way of dealing with excessive voltage applied to an input is to attenuate the voltage by using, for example, in-line attenuators either as a plug in device or by padding down the output by adding a resistor network to the interconnect cables. My advice is don't as it screws up the sound in my experience especially small dyanamic shifts. It may simply be better to stick with the RCA connection.
I really appreciate your response, PAR. This is a very frustrating experience. Yes, I'm using it with my BAT gear, and definitely don't want to add attenuators or resistors. I'll try to return the cable first then I'll see what to do. My head is literally exploding.
" head is literally exploding"? I hope not as I hope that you'll be with us long enough to solve the problem :-)
Hahaha, don't worry, PAR, I'll be around. The CDP is going back, BTW. Stopped working. Complete POS.
Doing so would eliminate the primary performance advantage of a balanced interface. Which is the rejection of common-mode (ground loop) noise. Such noise is often present in A.C. mains wiring, even if at non-obvious levels. Assuming that the XLR and RCA outputs are not driven by independant active line driver stages, you do not want to connect the two interface types at the same time.
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Ken Newton
Edits: 06/09/16
So long as both are properly buffered this should be OK.
However it is essential to distinguish what is going on. Are the two outputs the same but a difference is caused by the different cables one of which is intrinsically inferior to the other? Are the amplifier's inputs causing the difference and not the CDPs outputs? How can you eliminate the fact that the XLR outputs may provide a 6dB increase of output voltage which may, in turn, skew your subjective evaluation?
I would also point out that although an A/B comparison of short sections of music can be revealing of differences, it can also be misleading. For example it is easy to judge that one connection seems to offer increased detail over the other. However what may not be revealed is e.g. that this was caused by a small rise in treble output which becomes annoying over a longer term.
I would suggest that you just connect it up one way and listen for a decently long period then try it the other way. Try to use broadly similar cables from the same manufacturer. XLR and RCA analogue cables from the same range can often be fabricated from identical wire. It is surprising how often what seems "better" upon immediate exposure turns out not to be so longer term.
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