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Is it bad to constantly plug in and out the jack? - Page 2

post #16 of 26
4/15/07 at 3:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by terance View Post
as long as you use protection and have consent it is 100% ok
Lol
I think you'd want to stop at some point though, at least for a while anyway...
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post #17 of 26
4/15/07 at 3:19am
I'm never worried about the plug side, its the jack side I'm concerned about.
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post #18 of 26
4/15/07 at 4:57am
Do keep in mind though that when you hot plug it, you essentially short the right channel to ground for a short period of time.
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post #19 of 26
4/15/07 at 5:05am
I think it depends a lot on the quality of the jack. For instance, I recall seeing a picture of a bunch of Skylab's portable amps a long time ago, and noticed that the jacks on his Hornet looked significantly worn. I've also read that the jacks on the Hornets were upgraded at some point in production, which is nice to know. I have a Hornet, and the jacks show no signs of wear. Just to be extra cautious, I minimize plugging and unplugging of things. The first thing I did when I got the amp was to plug my ALO Cryo Micro into it, and it has not been unplugged since, nor will it ever be since it doesn't need to be unplugged.

EDIT: Here's a link to the picture I was talking about. Yes, it's just a digital photograph, and maybe it's the lighting or whatever else, but I think both jacks on that Hornet look pretty worn out from lots of plugging and unplugging of things. I'm sure they're still 100% functional, so I'm only commenting on what they can look like after some normal wear and tear.
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post #20 of 26
4/15/07 at 6:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by digitalmind View Post
Do keep in mind though that when you hot plug it, you essentially short the right channel to ground for a short period of time.
Cold plugging, too, could conceivably short both channels, affecting performance for the short-term, at least. Not to mention the negative impact on the consent factor.
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post #21 of 26
4/15/07 at 9:03am
I normally plug and unplug between my MS2i and HD600 and even MS-1s a number of times a day. One of the things I was considering was creating an "audio quality" switchbox so I can leave my cans plugged in all the time to avoid wear, and the hassle of tangling cables and use a simple flip of a switch to keep the cans isolated from each other.

I wonder how many cycles I can expect from a good switch!
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post #22 of 26
4/15/07 at 9:42am
also periodic cleaning of plugs/sockets woudnt hurt.
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post #23 of 26
4/15/07 at 10:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by botching View Post
also periodic cleaning of plugs/sockets woudnt hurt.
Very true! One of the things for folks to remember before swapping cables and stuff is to clean the connections before doing a listening, and then doing the swapping since a contaminated connection can be unintentionally cleaned during the swap and give the wrong impression of the benefits of the swap!

But yeah; the system should be gone through every now and then and checked for cleanliness and corrosion fairly regularily. Not as bad today as a few decades ago, but still important!
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post #24 of 26
4/15/07 at 10:30am
I wouldn't worry about it. These connectors are used constantly in the studio setting where they are most commonly found.
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post #25 of 26
4/15/07 at 11:08am
My biggest worry is with the cables between the source and my amp. They're both placed on shelves in my computer cadenza with the cables going through holes in the back and through holes going from one component to the other. It took some major gymnastics to get them routed and plugged in in the first place and I don't look forward to removing and cleaning them very often.

Thankfully they're gold plated connectors and corrosion isn't exactly the potential problem it could have been years ago.

....my main system was designed from the start to be easily accessable. *whew*
Rich.
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post #26 of 26
4/28/07 at 9:21pm
Yes, the headphone jack can break.
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