[dgrb]

Forgive me if this is an inane question, but I am fairly new to IEMs.

So, I have an Astell & Kern Kann which I like very much and both Final E5000 and A4000 phones.

The cable on the E5000 is clearly superior, but it uses a different connector (MMCX?) to the A4000 (two pin), so I am seriously considering lashing out on something like the Penon Leo Plus, which seems to be held in high regard,

So my question is about connectors: the Kann has both 3.5mm unbalanced (which the stock cable uses) and 2.5mm balanced jacks and the Leo Plus is available with both.

Can I uses a 2.5mm balanced connector with my A4000s? Is there any upside or a downside?

thanks.

 

[Tiax]

I am seriously considering lashing out on something like the Penon Leo Plus, which seems to be held in high regard

If all you need is a nice comfortable cable, you can find one for much cheaper.
This list would be a good start:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...zTm4ei7HEfP8AI1zxswrMw2ho/edit#gid=1801072063
( there is a a cable ranking tab )
Fancy alloys like "gold-silver-palladium" don't conduct sound any better than regular copper or silver, and are only good for transferring your money to the manufactures pockets.

Can I uses a 2.5mm balanced connector with my A4000s? Is there any upside or a downside?

Sure you can. Downside is that you need a new cable Upside is that you can get a better looking and more comfortable one.
Balanced connection is more powerful (not always, but often), but you don't need it with these iems. It can also have a different output impedance, which affects sound a bit.
But when you read claims that balanced is always "better", or cables make a big improvement in sound quality, don't pay them much attention, it's nonsense.

 

[surfgeorge]

Yes, you can get a balanced cable for your IEMs and connect to the A&K DAP.

Advantage is that you should get more power, but more importantly a cleaner signal with better signal to noise ratio.
The only disadvantage I see is the mechanical weakness of the 2,5mm connector and that you need an adapter to use with regular 3,5mm single ended outputs.

 

[Tiax]

a cleaner signal with better signal to noise ratio.

This is true, but it's important to add that these improvements are beyond the limits of audibility, so in my opinion you only ever need balanced connection if high gain of a single ended one can't drive your headphones to a desirable volume.
Balanced cables are required for professional application, but in case of DAPs and iems it's mostly a marketing gimmick.

 

[kadinh]

The only disadvantage I see is the mechanical weakness of the 2,5mm connector and that you need an adapter to use with regular 3,5mm single ended outputs.

I solved this problem by getting a few ddHiFi adapters; if i have a 2.5mm or 4.4mm connector, i have everything available to me to convert to 2.5mm/3.5mm/4.4mm. Kind of tedious, but I bought them all before DUNU and FiiO were making their modular cables.

 

[kadinh]

My 2¢, I almost always buy balanced cables since you can put balanced/unbalanced adapters on them, but you CAN NOT use an unbalanced cable (ie. 3.5mm) to go to a balanced adapter.

 

[dgrb]

Thanks for all the advice.
In the end I opted for a XIHNS cable from RikudouGoku's list with a 3.5mm plug; my reasoning was that a) the difference is supposedly all but inaudible b) my Kann has plenty of power and c) I can use this with my other PAD on those occasions, such as last night, when my Kann has a snit and won't boot.