I’ve been happy with all the Lowepro camera bags I’ve used over the years.
To bring us back to audio, I bought a small Lowepro point’n’shoot case to use with my portable headphone amp. It does a nice job of protecting the litte amp and it’s easy to get to the amps connectors & volume knob while it is in the case.
I want to try balanced into IEM’s, so it’s more money for another headphone amp. Whee!
Mark Gosdin
N00b question here. I think I understand this correctly that I should NEVER use an adapter to go from an unbalanced cable into a balanced connection, but that it is ok to do the reverse. As I have acquired several custom balanced headphone cables with 4 pin male XLR terminations, are there any adapters (4 pin XLR female to 1/4") that members here use/like/recommend?
Cheers,
D
Correct!
Unless you want to pay premium prices for boutique builds, there’s not a lot between the different versions available on Amazon. Make sure you check phase and channel assignment if you buy there, however, as I’ve seen more than a few instances where those are not correct (even when the same vendor has supplied cables/adapters that WERE correct in the past).
A post was merged into an existing topic: Cables - 3rd Party/Upgrades & Recommendations
A beginner’s question: I just purchased a pair of Modhouse Argons T50RP Mk3 headphones which I bought balanced. Modhouse also sells a Periapt balanced cable for about $65. If I purchase that balanced cable, can I also use it with other balanced headphones I own? Is there any reason to own more than one balanced cable? (I do own a balanced amp). And, if so, are there any balanced cables one can buy for under, say, $100 that might be preferable? Thanks.
Each brand/model uses a different connector to the ear cups, so you might need half a dozen or more cables. There are also several different amp jack connectors for balanced (e.g., 2.5mm - with variants, 4.4mm, XLR3 x 2, XLR4).
As such, consider a modular system such as Hart Cables. This allows swapping connectors on both ends and adjusting length.
No personal experience, but I bought a whole bunch of balanced cables a few years ago and keeping them straight became a pain in the neck. I also heard changes only with my dynamic driver headphones, and use balanced for just a few scenarios now. My current everyday amps are both balanced and single-ended, as the amp can matter more than a balanced implementation.
I’m not a fan of Periapt’s large neck junction blob myself, and would personally choose another brand.
Thank you for your response, very helpful. I was afraid that something like that would be the answer. Your answer also underlines what seems to be an ongoing debate about whether Balanced really makes a sonar difference. Well, nothing is simple (butter the exploration is fun). Again, thanks.
Consider a universal headphone extension cable if your listening station is some distance from the amp. At least shorter headphone specific cables can be employed for different headphone style connections. The modular system is effective as @generic points out.
I can vouch for Fog City Audio’s customer service. I had a couple of questions, and Patrick (owner) got back to me within the hour. I ordered the cable (balanced for DCA Flow Closed X, hirose and pentaconn connectors) Monday late afternoon, and it arrived today (Thursday). He’s in San Francisco, does really good work with reasonable prices, and has a variety of cable connectors and sheathing color options. All Mogami cable. No microphonics, and no tangling! It’s an Etsy site, look for Fog City Audio. I am not usually this effusive, but I am VERY pleased with the cable.
Same for me, I bought same cable but with 4 pin XLR. Very fast service, good quality and sound.
Audiophileninja.com is also an excellent source, high quality, low cost.
Just thought I’d chime in here, a few weeks into ownership I’m happy with Hart. I like the feel of the cable and its lack of microphony. Very flexible. I’m going to try and sweet talk James, @brux here owner,here to mod my GRADOs.
This hasn’t worked for the Grados so far - But I see that custom cans in UK does mods, and I might just send them there to put on a cable that will work with my HART AUDIO cables.
I’ve just gotten balanced silver from HART for my Sennheiser HD-6xx, and I’m hoping the placebo effect or some actual effect helps with the Sennheiser veil.