I am just curious what you guys do.

I disconnect my hd600 from xcanv2 everytime I am done listening ( and plug in before my session)

Tides

I am wondering, if wears and tears when connecting/disconnecting the phone jacks also influence the sound's quality.

My RS-1's are really babied...they are disconnected every time I turn off the amp so they can go hide in their home (their beautiful box).

But my HD600s only live in the box when I stow them away for a day or more at a time.

Take it from someone who's worked in radio stations for nearly 3 decades, headphone jacks DO wear out. But it takes a LOT of plug/unplug cycles to do it. In radio stations, where different air-staffers plug and unplug headphones many dozens of times per day, headphone jacks last anywhere from a year or two to (max) about five or six years (in my experience). But replacing them is no big deal for someone not afraid of a soldering iron. If that doesn't describe you, any half-decent technician can do it for you.

In a home setup, with headphones not plugged/unplugged more than once or twice a day, you may well NEVER wear out your headphone jack. And there is very possibly a benefit to plugging/unplugging fairly often...it scrapes off any oxidation which may build up on electrical contacts. In fact, it's a good idea to unplug and re-plug ALL of your audio components a couple of times per year, rocking the plug back and forth in the jack a little bit, and rotating it as you remove, and insert. There are commercially available products with which to treat your plugs/jacks to prevent oxidation. Clean contacts are happy contacts

Mike W~

Thanks for the input.

I avg no more than 2 plug/unplug here per day. Most of time just 1 plug in and 1 plug out motion

I was just wondering if the repeat in/out will wear down the headphone jack. I am not too worry now after reading your post. Since I am using it at home and I treat them like KINGs!

Tides

I usually unplug my MDR-CD3000 from my NAD amp when I'm done with them. That means a plug/unplug cycle per day.

I feel safer with the cans on the case, the pads look really delicate, and I have lots of clumsy humans around here.

I usually leave my 580s plugged in, simply because I don't have a case or anywhere special to put them.

Some high end amps can mutes/disconnect the signal to headphones/speakers (via relays) until the amps (condensers full charged) are ready to operate. By the way, sometimes I heard popping sound, when turning on/off the amps or devices especially cheap audio devices. Is this phenomenon hurting headphones or speakers?

Tips:-
Always turn on devices according the signal path.
Example:

CDP --> EQ --> SOUND PROCESSORS --> AMP;

and switch off on reverse manner..

AMP --> SOUND PROCESSORS --> EQ --> CDP

This procedure might preventing / reducing unwanted noises when switching on/off the devices...

I don't know about headphone jacks but RCA connectors do wear out. I have some nice ones I use for DIY experimentation and their goldplating is wearing off in places (scratched) after about a year of (ab)use.

I only unplug them to change headphones

I always thought that leaving them (or guitars) plugged in 24/7 would eventually ruin the spring mechanism of the jack, resulting in a loose connection.

I guess repetitive insertions would also eventually cause the same problem.

Don't know.

Well, I have no idea how many times I plug/unplug my headphones everyday, but it's certainly not dozens of times like radio staffers. Either way, I've had a pair of grado sr60s for a little less than a year and the gold plating is already wearing thin. It is now a pale yellow/silver color... While there hasn't been any degradation of the contact quality, I think I'll still be leaving my new ety's plugged in most of the time. Now I just wish I had built my cmoy amp with a 1/4 inch jack!!

Hey Jude, does wiping the plug with the micro-cloth help very much? I always figured that the jack itself would cause more damage than any dust on the plug, but maybe I'm wrong.

Quote:



That is my concern as well, the spring mechanism in the jack.

which is why I do the plug/unplug routine before and after my listening session ( which is ONE per day)

This is like a no win situation



Tides

I tend to leave mine plugged in all the time and simply turn off the amp when I'm not listening.

Maybe someone can comment on turning on and off the amp with the headphones plugged in. With almost every amp I've used, there has been a "whooshing" sound through the headphones after the amp is turned off.

Also, sometimes when I turn on the amp with the headphones on, there's a "pop" noise, that's not too loud, but still concerns me.

My question is, what is the "pop" caused by. Secondly, what's the turn-off "whoosh" caused by. What is the likelihood that the pop or whoosh is hurting my phones?