Atom HE - headphone connection - ask for advice

Hi, I would like to ask for advice. I have Atom HE, running with Sennheiser HD800s and I am purchasing a cable for them (FAW Noir). I need to decide on 6.3mm jack unbalanced versus XLR balanced connection. I looked over the internet, however not found any specific information (not mentioning some discussions whether it is truly balanced amp or not - I do not want go into this area).

I would really appreciate any feedback from you having some experience/thoughts on this. Is is better to choose balanced or unbalanced connection with Atom HE? Or it would not make any difference at all. Unfortunately I am not able to test it before purchasing.

Thank you.

Balanced connections tend to give a bit more ā€œoomphā€. However, the xlrs are less common and can be limited without an adaptor.

I tend to use the XLR connection as this enables a longer headphone cable. Technically the Atom H.E. is ā€˜pseudo-balancedā€™ though Iā€™m no engineer and cannot tell you what the difference might be. Iā€™m sure it will drive your headphones well whatever connection you prefer.

Thank you for your input. Actually I can choose between two these options, the cable will be 4 meters long. The only practical aspect for XLR might be the fact that it is plugged in the rear part, however not so critical for me.

Hence I only focus In sonic aspects.

InTune - you mentioned ā€œoomphā€ - would it be only bass region or more of everything, treble included?

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I had the standard XLR 4 pin cable that came with my Meze Elites and that sounded better than the uprated 6.35 silver cable when used with the Atom HE. Iā€™ve since converted this silver cable to a 4 pin XLR and it now sounds much better than the standard cable.

I can only assume there is more going on between the 6.35 / balanced connectors that Iā€™m able to explain. Apart from I prefer the sound from the XLR. As a result, I personally would only buy balanced cables for my Atom HE. I prefer the 4 pin XLR vs 4.4 as it seems a more robust option and I also like that it plugs in at the back keeping the facia clear of any cables.

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This response I got about the balanced out.

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Just thinking on about this. If you canā€™t decide whether to go SE or Balanced, go balanced.

You can always add an adapter to use a balanced cable with a SE connection but not the other way round. It may just save you buying another cable later on!

Thank you very much for all your valuable comments.

@A-Fin This is actually what I have decided - balanced XLR with the future option of using the adapter if needed.

Have a great day.

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