I guess the four lead cables are only found on the absolute cheapest models and the high end models.
se
Yeah, any headphone cable with a TRS plug is going to have to have a common ground termination at the very least at the plug.
"Balanced" headphone amps have become popular in the higher end of the market and in these implementations, the common connectors are either a single 4 pin XLR or dual 3 pin XLR's.
Also, a couple of companies make unbalanced amps but offer a 4 pin XLR for termination which eliminates the common ground contact at the connector, making it instead inside the chassis.
se
Provided they have four leads going to the TRS plug, they can be re-terminated with a balanced connector.
se
Steve Eddy,
Unless there is some hidden invisible wire floating in air there must be four wires to make the connections to both sides as there is a separate wire leading to each ear. So, yes I could cut off the ends and see how miniscule they made the copper wires inside the sheath..... That would work.
Unless there is some hidden invisible wire floating in air there must be four wires to make the connections to both sides as there is a separate wire leading to each ear. So, yes I could cut off the ends and see how miniscule they made the copper wires inside the sheath..... That would work.
Yeah, but it is possible to go from 4 to 3 at the Y split instead of taking them all the way to the plug. You'll have to snip off the original plug in order to find out for certain.
se
Ah, ok. Yeah, each one is probably a miniature coax with a served shield. The center conductor will likely be mixed with some reinforcing fibers. Do you have as solder pot?
se
Well, if the center wires have reinforcement fibers in them, using a solder pot to give them a good tinning will make your work much easier.
se
Steve,
Okay I follow what you are saying there, really burning away the fibers would be more like what I would think the solder pot would do. I won't know the wire construction until I cut into them so for now it is just conjecture that they have any reinforcement fibers mixed into the wire braid. If they do I will follow your lead and tin the ends with a pot.
Okay I follow what you are saying there, really burning away the fibers would be more like what I would think the solder pot would do. I won't know the wire construction until I cut into them so for now it is just conjecture that they have any reinforcement fibers mixed into the wire braid. If they do I will follow your lead and tin the ends with a pot.
The fibers won't be in the braid, but the center conductor. And the braid won't be a braid, but a serve (i.e. wrapped helically around the center conductor). And if you tin them, be sure and use a bit of liquid flux on them. And always scrape the dross off the top of the pot before each tinning.
se
I have several headphone cable specs in front of me including one from a Bose supplier. They are all 60 strands of 48 AWG magnet wire, including the "shield" around the mike cable. You will need at least a solder pot to strip them. Mechanical stripping doesn't work. These are typical (except for the additional conductors) of current mass market headphones. They often have some Kevlar to add strength since 48 gauge wire is really thin (1.2 mils). Its 6 Ohms per foot so you need top parallel a few to get the resistance down. Its also pretty high grade copper, the poorer grades don't draw well at this diameter.
The Polite Version.....(Repost)
Dan.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Dan.
I may have cut my throat posting about the Dre/Iovine shite elsewhere, as a former associate says the Beats phenomenon/company is planning on dominating all of consumer electronics.... but this is so apt.
What "poorer" grades are you referring to, specifically? I can get regular electronics grade ETP (CDA110) all day long down to 50 gauge.
se
(Dumb) Hipster Fashion....
That Dre/Iovine combo sounds like not very nice people, probably best to stay away from what I have heard on the grapevine.
Dan.
I have a less politically correct version of that pic...Metal Head, House Head, D**k Head but could not post it from my harddrive, oh well.
Dream on I say....there are plenty out there buying these phones, but plenty of youngsters discussing on forums that they (sonically) suck also....the word is getting out. I borrowed a pair for a week and gave them back gladly, tons of other headphones that are much easier on the ears.
That Dre/Iovine combo sounds like not very nice people, probably best to stay away from what I have heard on the grapevine.
Dan.
I have a less politically correct version of that pic...Metal Head, House Head, D**k Head but could not post it from my harddrive, oh well.
I have listened to all of the DR. Dread headphones and couldn't imagine owning any of those, they're some of the worst sounding headphones on the market but I must say there are a few other new brands that seem to be trying to sound just as bad as the Dreads. Skull Candy or something like that was another horrid headphone.
some random comments --- at the really low end and for profits - where pennies count most -- two wires from each headphone driver would go into 3 wires to plug. Cheapest way... less copper.
The affect of changing the seperation of the original recording has several affects... one is to move image more towards mono.... images come closer together than original source.... only greater seperation will reveil this affect.
Secondly, when channels are combined there is a loss or cancel out of some information. You loose subtle sounds that contributes to audio sounding like hi-fi.
Only maximum channel seperation will keep the original sound field and freqs in tact as originally recorded and heard at the recording.
In the room, the first arrival of sounds (not the later reflections) hold the cues to the details in the sound and that includes what was or wasnt lost in reduced channel seperation.
Thx-RNMarsh
The affect of changing the seperation of the original recording has several affects... one is to move image more towards mono.... images come closer together than original source.... only greater seperation will reveil this affect.
Secondly, when channels are combined there is a loss or cancel out of some information. You loose subtle sounds that contributes to audio sounding like hi-fi.
Only maximum channel seperation will keep the original sound field and freqs in tact as originally recorded and heard at the recording.
In the room, the first arrival of sounds (not the later reflections) hold the cues to the details in the sound and that includes what was or wasnt lost in reduced channel seperation.
Thx-RNMarsh
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