I also have some, paired with an Oppo HA-1 and a balanced cable. Remarkably natural sound quality for a closed-back headphone - I found myself listening for hours, even in preference to my speaker system. Especially good for classical music, in my experience, although everything sounds wonderful to me.
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Have you found there is much difference to the sound between the balanced and single ended connection ,I am all electrostatic so irrelevant to me, I have not really had a good listen to compare?
For me the sound is very similar to a single-ended cable, except somewhat louder at the same volume setting, as mentioned by @Jazzfan_NJ. The balanced cable came free with the HD820s, so itās one of my few cost-free hifi experiences.
Using the spare balanced cable also gave me a free single ended replacement for the damaged cable on my original Sennheiser 800s - so I canāt complain!
S.E. output is 200mw and bal is 600mw so volume level difference would be quite significant.
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Yes - itās noticeably louder, even to my ageing ears. But I think people often mistake ālouderā for ābetterā. After adjusting for relative volume, I canāt really hear much difference, as you might expect. But other people (as so often in this community) may have a more nuanced view.
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My amp and Sacd/cd player/ R2R player as well as my electrostatic headphone amp connections are all fully balanced but that is just the the way the equipment was designed.
I couldnāt agree more. The original 800ās came close, and so did the Beyerdynamic T1.2ās but the 820ās are the first pair of cans that I can listen to without āmissingā my main speaker setup.
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Can they be ādrivenā by Fiio M11 Plus?
Torben
Hi Torben,
Iām not sure? The M17 drives them perfectly, but Iām not sure about the M11?
Sorry I canāt be of more help 
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My headphones and the appropriate playback devices
FiiO R7
FiiO M11 plus Ess
Byerdynamic DT 880
Ollo audio s5x
M&D MW 7 plus
Shure Aonic 5
Nils
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Hi Nils, could you give your thoughts on the Fiio R7? Iām interested in obtaining one as my bedroom system.
Many thanks in anticipation
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Iām interested too. I have a PL50 that I use with my M17, but the R7 looks mighty tempting, especially at the price.
Hi Glimmer,
I use the R7 for my desk setup, so far I have used my M11 pro for this. But I think itās better for the battery if itās not always being charged. In the bedroom I use the M11 pro in the evenings.
For the R7, I am still planning to buy the matching SP-03 boxes from FiiO. The advantage of the R7 for the desk is that I can use the play/stop function, for example, without using a computer/mobile. Since I have to work a lot with my work computer here, I can control the music without always changing computers or using my mobile (e.g. for phone calls).
I canāt say much about the tonal characteristics, I donāt hear any obvious differences between my different DACs (Rose RS250, M11 pro ESS, R7).
I use ROON
Are you still missing some information?
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Hi Nils, many thanks, i think that based on what you have told me i will be putting my order in soon.
Thanks again
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I read that these are now shipping. I also read that white will be a limited edition.
I like the aesthetics of the FiiO gear, including the R7 which looks really nice in white on your desk.
ZMF headphones are so beautiful - they are stunning
So for those of you not too far away from Pittsburgh, we are going to have a headphone meet on June the 10th. All are welcome. Stereo Stereo is a fabulous store for 2 channel as well.
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The most ādynamicā sounding planar magnetic headphones I have heard.
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Good luck with your meet.