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Why aren't dual-mono airline-style connections the standard?

post #1 of 4
7/27/11 at 11:07pm
Thread Starter 

I realize most people either don't care or are dopes about any technology and that's why WITHOUT government or industry consortium standards (particularly the academic and PhD driven ones), a lot of technology informally standardizes a certain way without "guidance" in less-than-optimal ways.  But the difference between a 3.5mm single TRS and dual TS connectors, like those used on older airlines in the passenger area, is not particularly big from the usability standpoint.  It's not that much larger and it's a lot more durable... less likely for it to snap off than a single 3.5mm plug.  And the advantages of course are that dual mono is vastly superior to TRS with shared ground on one cable, hence the reason I assume aircraft engineers (with a lot more brains than the laymen public or crappy consumer electronics companies) used them in the first place.  For that matter, why aren't audiophile and DIY headphones and amps taking this route?  It would seem an outstanding solution, in particular, to the issue of portable devices, low impedance headphones, and the problem of shared-ground cross talk. 

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post #2 of 4
7/27/11 at 11:20pm

In general, I agree that a lot of standards are adopted for poor reasons, often selecting an inferior option (like those stupid dual 3-pin XLR balanced headphones, though thankfully this is changing). 

 

However, dual TS is an absolutely terrible idea!  The size does add up, especially in today's tiny mobile devices.  It can be confusing which is L and R.  Tangled wires anyone?  The usability of such a system is far more challenging (in TRS, you don't even have to look at what you're doing), and the cost does add up in the end. 

 

 

As for separated grounds... most amplifiers share the ground internally, making the separated wire ground frivolous.  However, for those of us who do build (or buy) bridged/balanced headphone amplifiers, we DO have separated grounds, via 4-pin XLR connectors.  this is a far more elegant solution than dual connectors in every possible way - though I would have preferred if we used mini-XLRs instead

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post #3 of 4
7/28/11 at 11:54am
Thread Starter 

Isn't the akg 700 series already bi-wired?  Does anyone sell just stock ones with a 4-pin xlr or dual TS connect that doesn't charge double for the **** thing?  I mean, that's some kind of hyped bs at headroom.  You should be spending the extra cash on the dual ground amp, not the cable that is one of the cheapest parts.  Is the mini XLR 3 or 4 pin on the 702 and Q 701?


Edited by Reticuli2 - 7/28/11 at 11:58am
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post #4 of 4
7/28/11 at 6:12pm

Were the airline dual-mono connections designed that way for the purposes of signal preservation or sound quality? I've always assumed they were designed that way simply because they were uncommon, so as to discourage people from pocketing the airline's headphones for home use. I'd be shocked if the armrest panels in these 30-40 year old aircraft actually did anything special with the two signals, and if the ground wasn't just shunted between them anyway. In any of the newer aircraft I've visited, the headphone jacks were the plain ol' mini standard, something I assumed was a product of headphones being so cheap and available that the theft of the airline's stock had stopped being something worth worrying about.

 

If there was any sound quality reason for dual mono connectors, I'd guess that at least one or two boutique manufacturer (or one who wanted to be perceived as boutique) would have introduced this type of jack for home equipment.

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