Should you happen to own, or intend to buy a AKG K7xx, in particular those with detachable 3-pin mini-XLR cables, do yourself a favour and mod those to full symmetric, as the K701 ancestor was shipped with.
This brings the full flavour of spatial clues right to your ear. Not only improving upon the sense of the acoustic room meant by the original mixdown, but also in tonality and resolution and more subtle, even on PRaT.
The original cable of the K701 still is available as cheap replacement part from Thomann for example, being comfortable, durable and of excellent sonic performance
AKG K-601 / K-701 Spare Cable – Thomann UK
here is how to open the K7xx without damaging:
YouTube
Some pictures below, how this can be done the easy way and in about half an hour.
keep swingin'
This brings the full flavour of spatial clues right to your ear. Not only improving upon the sense of the acoustic room meant by the original mixdown, but also in tonality and resolution and more subtle, even on PRaT.
The original cable of the K701 still is available as cheap replacement part from Thomann for example, being comfortable, durable and of excellent sonic performance
AKG K-601 / K-701 Spare Cable – Thomann UK
here is how to open the K7xx without damaging:
YouTube
Some pictures below, how this can be done the easy way and in about half an hour.
keep swingin'
Attachments
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Rewired in that way you can also use bridged amplification (so called balanced) 4 pin XLR stereo headphone outputs I would guess. Provided you change the amp side termination jack to male 4 pin full size XLR. AKG should have done 4 pin mini XLR ear cup joint right from the start. Those mini terminations either in 3 pin or in 4 pin have same size.
Well yes. For now the standard TRS is good enough, but will be replaced by a 4-pin mini XLR with adapters to cover all possibilities.
Bridged amplification is not in the pipe but dual mono for sure and these will provide a 4-pin mini XLR out as well.
Its kinda weird that even ol' DIN headphone jacks have provided a dedicated pin for each of the headphones poles, what nowadays must be "reconstructed" by DIYers
Bridged amplification is not in the pipe but dual mono for sure and these will provide a 4-pin mini XLR out as well.
Coldn't agree more
Its kinda weird that even ol' DIN headphone jacks have provided a dedicated pin for each of the headphones poles, what nowadays must be "reconstructed" by DIYers
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Given the opportunity lets remind there is controversy about the superiority or not of the bridged headphone driving technique 
"This paper explains why single-ended headphone amplifiers are inherently more transparent than balanced headphone amplifiers"
"This paper explains why single-ended headphone amplifiers are inherently more transparent than balanced headphone amplifiers"
Given the opportunity lets remind there is controversy about the superiority or not of the bridged headphone driving technique
"This paper explains why single-ended headphone amplifiers are inherently more transparent than balanced headphone amplifiers"
I completely agree on
but not at the headline though.
The benefits of symmetric drive stems from equal impedance not from inverse voltage drive. To cite Bill Whitlock
Balanced Interfaces
So in the end there is nothing to gain here with headphones driven from symmetric headamps, but there is a lot to gain from split cable leads and connectors.
I had to learn this way back, when I upgraded from a really old Sony MDR professional also using completely split cables, that only the 4 wire AKG K701 didn't let me down on channel separation and subsequent effects like mentioned in my first post.
So I have to admit that calling it a "symmetric mod" is kind a misleading term from the mere technical point of view.
It opens the possibility for HP to be driven by symmetric sources if one happens to like that for one reason or another, but its real benefit is towards improved interchannel isolation.
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I don't see any major drawback from this arrangement, worked well for me with the K701 for many years and now with the modified K712 nothing left for desire too.
The cables going both ways right to the ear cups bothered me on other headphone though.
But then thats just me.
What were your findings with this mod of yours?
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Aerospace litze wires not available to public.
But this is close enough to what I used :
RS PRO 0.336 mm2 PTFE Equipment Wire 25m, 600 V, Silver Plated Copper 19 Strands BS 3G 210:1996 | RS Components
Patrick
But this is close enough to what I used :
RS PRO 0.336 mm2 PTFE Equipment Wire 25m, 600 V, Silver Plated Copper 19 Strands BS 3G 210:1996 | RS Components
Patrick
FGG.2B.304.CLAD62 LEMO | Connectors, Interconnects | DigiKey
EGG.2B.304.CLL LEMO | Connectors, Interconnects | DigiKey
There are other cheaper sources in the EU.
Patrick
EGG.2B.304.CLL LEMO | Connectors, Interconnects | DigiKey
There are other cheaper sources in the EU.
Patrick
In the DAO SE, we use a different socket without the mounting flange.
For cosmetics only :
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/hea...s-zgf-headphone-amplifier-34.html#post5405088
Patrick
For cosmetics only :
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/hea...s-zgf-headphone-amplifier-34.html#post5405088
Patrick
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