Please clear up my confusion re: meaning of "balanced" !

I am confused about this term. I've been told it can refer to either a type of topology or simply a type of connection.

If this is true, can I connect a DAC (Aqua La Voce S2) with balanced XLR outputs to a headphone amp with balanced topology (Schiit Jotuheim 2) ?

Here are links to photos of back panels of both components:

DAC:

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649395475-aqua-la-voce-s2-dac/images/1710537/

Headphone Amp:

https://www.schiit.com/products/jotunheim-3

stuartk07-24-2021 5:29pm

nekoaudio Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 489 posts 07-24-2021 at 06:36pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete The Wikipedia article on balanced audio probably covers everything you're looking for. Clicking through some of the links in the article will give you more details.
nekoaudio Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 489 posts 07-25-2021 at 06:57pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Well, things won't work right if you connect a phono RCA jack to a line-level RCA jack, or a consumer-level RCA jack to a pro-level RCA jack, or an analog audio XLR jack to an AES/EBU XLR jack, or a component video BNC jack to an audio S/PDIF BNC jack. So sometimes the same jack doesn't mean you can connect the two things—but I'm being pedantic only to avoid the potential for misunderstanding. But no, doing so shouldn't cause a fire and shouldn't make anything break, just things won't work. Likewise, you should use the correct cable type (specifications), independent of the connection type. Sometimes it won't matter, or won't matter much, but sometimes it can negatively impact the signal if you use the incorrect cable type.
nekoaudio Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 489 posts 07-25-2021 at 08:20pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete I guess connecting a line-level XLR output to an XLR microphone 12V phantom power input might cause damage to the output gear.