If your headphone cables are terminated in a 1/4’’ plug, you should never plug them into an 1/4’’-to-XLR adapter. You can do it the other way, i.e. it is safe to have your cables terminated in an XLR connecter and plug that into an XLR-to-1/4’’ adapter.
Where did you buy your cables from? Some of the boutique cable makers (like Arctic) will re-terminate your cables for free, as long as you pay for the new connectors and for shipping.
On the other hand, I don’t know if the Naim offers any benefit from it’s XLR output.
I do have Arctic cables, but I wouldn’t want to re-terminate them, since 90% of the time I’m using these cables with a 1/4"-accepting amp that doesn’t have an XLR input.
There’s a danger in going from 1/4 to XLR? I’m surprised, but particularly since ZMF looks like they’d happily make such an adapter.
Ultimately, I don’t know that there’s any significant advantage, and I wouldn’t want to mess with my cables (not to mention my headphones) if it wasn’t a good idea - thanks!
Regarding that adapter, I have seen warnings against employing an adapter to use a single-ended cable with a balanced amp output as it could result in damage to the amp and/or headphone. That being said, I’m not an electrical engineer and someone else here may know better.
Regarding XLR vs single-ended, other than maximum power ratings, I don’t think there is any intrinsic benefit to one format vs the other. It comes down to implementation, e.g. one of my amps recommends the XLR output for critical listening, the single-ended output is provided just as a “convenience”. Another amp has only single-ended outputs, and both amps sound fantastic to my ears. I’m not familiar with the Naim Uniti Atom HE, so unless one output is recommended over the other for critical listening, and your HP’s power requirements are satisfied, then personally, I would just enjoy the single-ended output with your existing cables.
They all sound great with the HE, so no problem with sticking with my current cables - you know how it is, always looking to see if you can do a little better!
Just because people will make an adapter doesnt mean its a good idea. From what I recall there is a ground that has nowhere to go and makes amp go boom. Also, I dont see ZMF offering the “bad” adapter on their site. Its the usual SE to XLR (Amp to can).
It’s easier if you think about it in reverse. In the first case you are just splitting a common ground and running it through a balanced cable. You are not getting a real balanced signal to your headphones - just doing what the headphones would do with a single ended cable, but a few feet earlier.
In the second case, you have an amp that was designed as balanced, and you are shorting together the left and right “black wire” signals - which is not the same thing as a common ground. Yes shorting is a loaded word, but even if you are “adding” the signals, you risk a short.
Hello! I’m Shar and am here for some advice on buying some headphones.
My Logitech G933 that I have has recently given up the ghost and now I want to buy a nice set of headphones.
I have no knowledge of headphones, amps, or really anything audio related.
I apologize in advance, just after trying to read reviews and recommendations online from all the magazine sites just made me feel lost and confused.
If any other information is needed, I will try and answer.
The type of headphone I am looking for is Closed-back and wired.
My price range is: $100-$700
I like to listen to: Music,Movies and my primary use where most time will be spent gaming. I enjoy listening to the game music(such as FFXIV)
I will be using them for: At home, need closed back to keep from bothering the hubby.
Since your primary use will be gaming, may I ask what type of games? I ask because, if you play online, you’ll need to consider that some DACs have been reported to cause a slight audio delay; and if you’re playing competitively online, delay is the real enemy. The reason I bring that up is, if you don’t go with an efficient headphone that can be run from your motherboard audio/computer soundcard, you may need an amp and/or DAC for them, which allegedly can cause delay; just something to think about.
AKG K371 is pretty well regarded for a closed back in that price range. Should be relatively easy to drive even without a DAC/amp, but always something worth considering in the future.
Headphones (and speakers) fall on a spectrum between bass-focused and treble-focused. Some brands and models emphasize one over the other, while others emphasize the middle and tend to be neutral. There are strong differences of opinion about each style.
Do you have a known preference?
Often, hip-hop and club/dance music emphasize bass. Bass-focused headphones can become muddy and unclear because the bass overwhelms everything else. Classical and acoustic music often focus more on treble (or neutral) to present more details. Treble-focused headphone can be challenging/painful because treble is often piercing and causes heading fatigue.
Sample brand personalities, but only rough approximations:
Beats: Often very bass heavy
Sony: Often neutral to emphasized bass (varies)
Bose: Often middle focused (cuts highs and lows)
Sennheiser: Often neutral but varies
Dan Clark: Often neutral but varies
Focal: Often neutral (the Elegia is in your price range)
I had the Arya last week, but had to return due to build issues. Sound was great though. I’m purchasing the LCD-X 2021 model which I can compare to my he6se v2 modded. Will let you know what I think. But I have no measurement equipment so it will be my personal impressions.
I’d currently choose the HD-58X. I’m using it for phone, portable, and the headphone jack of my guitar amp. The size is medium versus truly portable, but it involves none of that on-ear nonsense. It doesn’t scale much, but starts out above the PortaPro and works with a lot of stuff. The price is $139 at Drop right now.
Well, with the purpose of audio calls in mind I’ve bought 1MORE EO320 and… I’m not really happy with them.
I could swallow the sound quality (I wish it were just a bit better because it’s possible to use those earphones to listen to music in bed too, due to the their small size, unlike my Blessing2). But the stiff, plasticky cable (the top part of it, from the split to the earphone; the bottom, coated part seems ok) feels very low quality and I’m afraid it’ll break soon.
Do you know of any sub 100$ in-ear (see the attached picture, it’s not in-canal) earphones with a mic or detachable cable that you could recommend? I’m currently looking at smabat M2 Pro.
I feel like there’s not that much choice where it come to earphones that are not in-canal.
You might consider something from Koss - either a headphone or an ear-clip model. Decent microphone, comfy. Lets in room sound. I use the Porta-Pro headphone for calls frequently and have not had complaints about voice quality. Plus the KSC 75 and KSC-35 have pretty good sound for what they are.
Most of us here like to pair them with aftermarket “YAXI” ear pads.
HP → XLR terminated cable → XLR-to-1/4" adapter → 1/4" amp jack
HP → 1/4" terminated cable → 1/4"-to-XLR adapter → XLR amp jack (
danger!