Headphone amplifiers with XLR input

XLR

— initially, XLR is a connector of a characteristic round shape, with a set of contacts in the form of pins (and sockets for them) and an additional retainer on the outer ring. It can have a different number of contacts and be used in different formats. However, in headphone amplifiers, when talking about XLR inputs, they usually mean an interface with a 3-pin connector for balanced connection of an analogue (line) audio signal.

Such a connection works on the principle of “one channel per connector”, so most often there are at least two physical connectors in such an input — for the left and right stereo channel (although there are more specific options — for example, an XLR microphone input, with one jack). As for the balanced connection, this is a special format that uses three wires per channel (instead of the standard two) and a special way to process the signal at the input. Due to this method, interference due to third-party interference in the connection cable is mutually canceled when it enters the amplifier; in fact, the cable itself plays the role of a noise filter. This allows you to work even with fairly long wires without compromising the purity of the sound. On the other hand, XLR connectors are quite large, and balanced format support affects the cost of the device. Therefore, in general, this interface is considered professional, it is installed in amplifiers of the appropriate level, mostly stationary (with rare exceptions).