ß22 + σ22 design complete ••• Opinions welcome - Page 7  

Then obviously your headphone amp is a pair of monoblocks, yes?

Ok. But let feeding the neurosis be the option, rather than the standard.

What critical applications? All of the amps you have listed are portables with TRS jacks.

There's nothing lacking in the Neutrik four pins.

se

Now that’s an idea? 3 pin XLR has got a place after all. LOL

Yes, they should be standard on all monoblock headphone amps.

se

who's neurosis am I feeding?? all i'm doing is stating the facts, which you have not refuted, but simply said its not enough of a problem to worry about; I beg to differ, but I am just saying what i'm doing. other peoples may do as they wish and should be free to choose without fear of the XLR inspector


thats because my buffalo32 hasnt been cased up properly yet, so its not listed in my gear list proper. it is the dual mono version (though not strictly as the sabre is 8 dacs split into 4 each channel) and drives headphones directly. I dont list cardboard boxes in my gear list the same 3 pin XLRs on the DAC have a second set of lines attached with TX2575 load resistors inline for load setting; both are switched with the OTTO relay so I didnt have to instal another set of XLR for my active monitors



I disagree, the plating is crappy and thin, the silver corrodes down to the underneath on the silver versions sometimes before you even receive them (this happened to me recently in an order from HAVEinc and if i'm going to use high quality conductors through the rest of the cable, i'd rather not use nickel in the connector. for the money they are great; I just dont like them being the only option.

I wasn't referring to you personally. I've only been speaking in the context of commercial manufacturers. I don't care what DIYers do.

What I was saying is that I'd like to see the commercial side of the market establish single four pin as the standard.

Ah, gotcha.

Silver doesn't corrode. It will tarnish (turn black) due to sulfur compounds in the air, and is rather easily dealt with with a little Tarn-X. If you received tarnished jacks, it's probably because they'd been sitting around in a warehouse for quite a while.

They're not the only option. You can also get four pin XLRs from Switchcraft and Deltron to name just two.

se

yeah OK, well sure I wouldnt argue if there were better options, or even more options, but at the moment the neutrik is the best one IMO and its still not really up to snuff.



cool

I know this, and its quite conductive too, but the stuff on the neutriks wasnt just silver oxide, it was all mottled and rainbow coloured, so mustve eroded down to the subplate, meaning the plating on top is crap. yes they mustve been sitting around the warehouse for a while, but the XX series hasnt been around for ages, so if its got to that state without even being used, I dont hold great hope for how well it will do under use. like I said they are good for the money, but there simpy isnt a truly hi-end 4 pin as yet and I doubt anyone will make one so we can establish a standard for headphones. only hope is a small OEM design.



I didnt mean literally, but the neutrik is the only one I would consider using. the deltrons are no better and are also ugly as sin IMO. the switchcraft are OK, but only come in nickel plate I think; could be wrong there, but I couldnt even find a gold plate version, let alone silver. which is not something I or my customers would consider using. when manufacturers start putting 4 pin jacks on there amps more often, it will become more viable and maybe then the connector manufacturers will fall in line. but as it stands there are very few options for their use, bar DIY and a couple of other options, certainly not enough to even attempt to make a standard. maybe you should hold a consortium and invite all the headamp manufacturers along and state your case?? or perhaps strap a bomb to yourself to get the point across maybe then they'll listen hehe

se[/QUOTE]

I've never had any issues with Neutriks.

Again, silver doesn't corrode or erode. At least not in air at normal temperatures. And the mottling was likely silver sulfide, not silver oxide. Again, it could have been easily taken care of with some Tarn-X.

That's what happens with silver. And has more to do with what's in the air than the silver itself.

It's also possible that what you were sold were some Chinese counterfeits. There's so much sulfur in the air over there from the burning of coal it wouldn't take long for anything silver to start turning ugly.

And why limit yourself to the XX series?

If you want a nice 4 pin male, check out the NC4MX-HD.



As I said previously, I've found nothing lacking in them.

Switchcraft's regular A series XLRs have silver plated contacts. The A4M is what you'd want for a four pin headphone cable.

And what's wrong with nickel? It doesn't tarnish and it's very hard so it wears well.

se

Very excellent.

well perhaps I got a bad batch, because 4 out of 10 males I got were dodgy, actually just looked at them again, its not silver sulphide, IU know what that looks like, anytime i've seen it, its been dark grey/black, this isnt


whatever you say, I repeat I have seen silver sulphide and this isnt it.


lol

perhaps, but I doubt it, they are an industry wholesaler

well I suspect they use the same process for all of them, I cant see them developing an entirely different plating process for each range, i've never seen this before either, they are being good about replacing them, but if there are any problems with the replacements, I wont be using them again. regardless you or anyone are not going to convince me to replace BAXLR and its ilk with neutrik, sorry but regardless, even a fu;lly functional and perfect neutrik 4 pin (of any type) is not in the same league IMO

they look pretty sweet, perhaps i'll get them to replace with them instead. do they come in black??





as I said, I have....

now lets leave this subject alone shall we?? I dont think its fair to IPodPJ that this thread is taken off topic to the point where his and your build is forgotten. you certainly are obsessed; when someone releases one that can play in the same league as my current choices, i'll think about it.


thanks for the tip, i'll look into them, I do generally find switchcraft to make better connectors than neutrik; but its still not the same
well, its not copper, currently I can build a cable that is copper from head to toe, well except for a short length of rhodium (for HD6XX) or whatever the HD800 ODU connectors are based on. for a hardwired cable its possible to have copper from start to finish (other than the solder at the headphone driver, the BAXLR are solderless) with a thick silver plate and a solid teflon, peek, polyamide or delrin chassis

now lets please leave it, you arent going to convince me its a good idea to replace bocchino with neutrik or switchcraft 4 pin wholesale, I will continue to use those on occasion when it suits, but not for mission critical work. and certainly not until there are myriad amps that I can plug into.

now IPodPJ: what trannies are you using?? and can I ask which fabrication house you are using for the panels?? did you do the layout in illustrator or CAD?? the reason I ask is because i'm thinking of switching from getting the wooden front panel of my buffalo32 100% laser-cut, to a mixture of laser and CNC milling to allow the use of a thicker wooden panel and still be able to mount the connectors properly. my build has all inputs and outputs except for the IEC and fuse holder on the front and there are quite a few

I split this discussion into its own thread.

now IPodPJ:and can I ask which fabrication house you are using for the panels??[/quote]

I'll be having that done here locally.

PJ did the illustration in Illustrator, I'll be doing the dimensional mechanical drawings for the machining and finishing in AutoCAD.

Then you should probably go with 100% CNC milling, with the possible exception of lettering and other marking which can be done with laser if you want it to be subtle.

How were you planning to finish the wood once it's been machined?

se

I have a few comments on the design, You might want to ignore them, I won't be offended, both because you've stated it's finalized and because I can be a bit obsessive on these things.

Main peeve: Why do you use three completely different fonts on on the front panel. Four even, as the greek letter and the 22 clearly doesn't match.

Second peeve: Why so much lettering on the front plate? You've repeatedly stated that you want a 'clean' look, all the un-necessary lettering is what really messes up the facade in my eyes. Since this isn't going to be a production unit you don't have to worry about wether your customers know where to plug the the different contacts and which knob to turn to change the volume. You know it is a fully balanced amplifier, fed by a a dual mono power-supply. The left 3pin jack for left 3pin plug, 4pin jack for 4pin plug, trs jack for trs plug, you know all this, so why all those letters? Vanity?

Again, you're welcome to disregard my comments and consider my minimalism and 'away with anything un-necessary' philosophy as a tad extreme, I just had to get this out.

Oh and

I understand.

It seems like we've got radically different views on aesthetics. I generally find a well thought through 'DIY look' more appealing than a 'commercial look'. I think there's something in the simplicity that follows from a tight budget.

But the font thing still stands. I still don't see the point in using four different types. One all twirly wirly classical looking, one futuristic, and one ultra conservative simple, plus the greek letters.

No it's not Arial. Typographically there is a clash with the script font and headline font, the script looks of a 1915 era whilst the Beta22 and Sigma22 logos look 1980's.

Alas typography is a lost art form, as is careful kerning/leading etc.