# Direct Stream and headphone

**URL:** <https://forum.psaudio.com/t/direct-stream-and-headphone/2678>\
**Category:** DACs\
**Created:** [December 7, 2015, 10:06am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/direct-stream-and-headphone/2678 "2015-12-07T10:06:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![hkhvoz3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@hkhvoz3](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/hkhvoz3)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:06am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/direct-stream-and-headphone/2678/1 "2015-12-07T10:06:06Z")

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Hello

I remember, this was some time ago already a topic, but I did not find an answer to my question:

could I connect a headphone (Audeze LCD-X) to the unsymmetrical output of the Direct Stream DAC?

Thank you for an answer

Ulrich

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**Author:** ![tedsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/tedsmith/32/96626_2.png) [@tedsmith](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/tedsmith)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:40am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/direct-stream-and-headphone/2678/2 "2015-12-07T10:40:11Z")

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It won’t hurt anything to try it (you can short the DS’s outputs forever without causing harm to it, and the output voltage isn’t too high for the LCD-X.) The LCD-X are efficient enough that you may get the loudness you desire.

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**Author:** ![tedsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/tedsmith/32/96626_2.png) [@tedsmith](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/tedsmith)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:45am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/direct-stream-and-headphone/2678/3 "2015-12-07T10:45:42Z")

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You might also consider using the balanced outputs of the DS since the LCD-X is a balanced headphone (with four conductors.) That will get you another 6dB of gain.

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**Author:** ![hkhvoz3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@hkhvoz3](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/hkhvoz3)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/direct-stream-and-headphone/2678/4 "2015-12-07T13:46:36Z")

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Thank you Ted

Herzliche Grüsse Ulrich

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**Author:** ![alrainbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@alrainbow](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/alrainbow)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/direct-stream-and-headphone/2678/5 "2015-12-14T03:27:53Z")

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It will work and balance is better. But TED what is the output imp. If it’s high like 50 or more it may sound bad even if it’s loud.

Let us know