Schiit Audio Magnius back panel photo courtesy of Schiit Audio. The larger 3 pin sockets are the AES balanced input and output connectors.
As with other topics in audio, balanced audio connections are shrouded in myth and mystery. This article introduces some of the basics in a non-technical way. Reference [6] from Benchmark Media takes a more detailed look at pro verses home differential connections and some of the myths surrounding differential mode connections and amplifiers. Reference [8] also from Benchmark Media talks about differential headphone amplifiers.
Read Carefully and Be Careful What You Read
This is engineering, not politics. Alternative facts don’t exist, but fried equipment does. Miss-wiring an amplifier’s output stages can activate the protection or destroy the output stages. Transistors have a disconcerting ability to protect the output fuses of classic amplifiers. Modern amplifiers like Schiit Audio’s Vidar use electronic protection of the output stages. Be sure to follow amplifier user guide wiring instructions.
I’ve listed all of the references I used to create this article. I encourage you to at least read the Benchmark Media articles from their knowledge base. Benchmark’s audience is pro recording and mastering studios and the creatives who own and run them. Benchmark is all about getting its clients to put their money where it matters to build a high value mastering system that is clear and transparent until it needs to be colored to make judgements about how a mix will sound over typical audience playback systems.
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