Balanced to single-ended converter (XLR to RCA / BAL to SE)

Has anyone ever experimented or looked into using better transformers than Cinemag for balanced -> SE conversation? @purr1n recently said that even the CMLI-600/600C omits musical information coming from the DAC.

I'd love to find a better transformer that did not omit anything and was true to the source, or at least more true.

I don't know enough about transformers to really research this, but maybe Audio Note makes a transformer that could be used for this? @Donald North says they are the best in the world and uses them in all his amps.

 

You want something like the Audio Note TRANS-410 or TRANS-420
but with 600R input and 600R output instead of 150R / 150R.

 

Yes meanwhile everything known to man has been tried in the pro world and the standards are good opamp buffers, THAT IC buffers, and transformers (Lundahl, Jensen, Cinemag are the cleanest generally). They all have a sound but are fairly clean.

State of the art in poisoning Chinese children.

 

State of the art in poisoning Chinese children.
[/QUOTE]
At least he has a job and doesn't have eyes glued to a screen

 

What in the royal f?!Hope that was a typo or that you are high as a kite.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on which would be more true to the source between Audio Note and Lundahl?

I think it would be fun to make a super transparent converter. All this gear and then to have the transformers omitting stuff is sad.

 

If it was speaker OPTs, AN might have been the simple answer. But for line level iron, Lundahl makes some good stuff with Cobalt Amorphous core is what I hear. But then, there is a reason some builders pay the extra premium for the AN.

 

It might be simpler and cheaper to get a Kara? I’d be interested if more pyrates have ears on this and compare it to a converter for simple XLR to RCA conversions.

With regards to omission, converters will take something out. But for the Cinemags, it’s the commission that I enjoy. There’s a sweetness in the music with them. I’m wondering if AN or Lundahl adds similar similar sweetness to the sound.

 

there is no such thing as a perfectly transparent component in audio. Everything has an ability to alter the signal. Sometimes that is very little, as in inaudible, sometimes it is a lot, as in easily audible. and everything in between. All the gray area.

Here are some links you might find useful for isolators that use Lundahl and Jensen transformers. Any isolator may be used to convert balanced to single ended. See post #1 in this thread.

https://www.glensound.co.uk/product-details/gs-et02/
https://www.lundahltransformers.com/wp-content/uploads/datasheets/1584_x.pdf
https://www.jensen-transformers.com/product/pi-2xx/
https://www.radialeng.com/product/twin-iso

 

I built the converter with WE111c transformers. I prefer using them with the LIM over SE. I haven’t compared the LIM with other transformers but with Gungnir A2, I liked them more than the Cinemag 15K or Jensen 600ohm.

I don’t know how helpful this is though. They’re hard to find or very expensive now. For reference I paid $175 for the pair shipped 10 years ago.