Hey Jim,
Yes, you will be noticible louder if you run a balanced cable with your ES (a balanced cable will only work for systems designed to run balanced, of course). Think of an unbalanced signal as "half" that of a balanced one, though it is not "half" the volume. But in terms of the "wave signal," it is literally half, where the other half (of a balanced signal) is the same signal but 180 out of phase ...the simple net effect is that you get a louder, cleaner final signal (where both halves have been "summed" so to speak) as the signal-to-noise ratio is better (as if the noise floor were dropped).
The balanced cable simply looks like a regular phono plug with a third ring conductor (another black band). Sometimes these are referred to as TRS cables for "tip, ring, sleeve" where a regular guitar end is referred to as a "TS" for tip sleeve.
I've used both, and there are reasons for doing it either way. But the real answer is try both and see which you prefer.
Oh, I've never personally used a V-cable, but that little guy is simply a regular cord with a volume knob. You need a real TRS-to-XLR cable to utilize the balanced signal the ES is designed for.
Edward
