I would say it depends on what other gear you have. If say, you have Ayre which is designed to run balanced it's a dealbreaker. If you have any sort of british gear -NAD, Rega, Cyrus, Roksan, Creek etc it's not as most of that equipment is designed with single ended in mind.
For short runs, single ended shouldn't be a big issue as I understand it. I'm running the Octave with an LFD integrated which is all single ended and it is working fantastically well, balanced is not something that I miss or even wonder about at this point.
There is a new Metrum Hex coming out which I believe has balanced ins/outs but it's a lot more money-$4k or so I believe.
For short runs, single ended shouldn't be a big issue as I understand it. I'm running the Octave with an LFD integrated which is all single ended and it is working fantastically well, balanced is not something that I miss or even wonder about at this point.
There is a new Metrum Hex coming out which I believe has balanced ins/outs but it's a lot more money-$4k or so I believe.