Just ordered a balanced cable for my HD800, am I wasting my money?

[#Yoda#]

In my experience the benefits of balanced headphone cables stand out impressively when you use a DAP with well designed balanced amplification. Not least, the additional power helps, especially with higher impedance headphones like the Sennheiser HD 800 with many headphone amps. 

[#Yoda#]

22 minutes ago, mansr said:

The power argument is a red herring. Nothing inherently limits the output power of a single-ended amp.

In case of a mobile device, the battery runtime limits the output power finally. Is there any reason to use a single ended output if you use an amp with fully balanced design?

[#Yoda#]

4 minutes ago, mansr said:

The battery life depends only on the power drawn from it. A battery has two terminals. How this single voltage is turned into current through the headphone drivers is irrelevant.

 

A specific amp might of course provide the required power only on the balanced outputs, and then that is what one should use. Now we are, however, talking about implementation details, not inherent properties of single-ended or balanced outputs.

Essential is the final outcome and in my personal experience, many balanced DAPs, headphone amps or headphone outputs of other devices deliver a superior sound quality compared to single-ended.