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iMac + DacMagic + Roksan Kandy K2/B&W's across the room & now a Fiio E09K nearby !???...

post #1 of 7
11/18/12 at 10:42am
Thread Starter 

  Hi everyone

 

  i've managed to establish in this Forum that i CAN connect my DacMagic  XLR & RCA outputs simultaneously - GREAT !

 

  my doubts now are about the following :

 

  my DacMagic is connected to my Roksan Kandy K2 via it's RCA output & i need to connect my newly acquired Fiio E09K so it sits next to me/my iMac to drive my headphones 

 

 being unable to find decent quality cables were i live, i sourced 2 angled Neutrik NC3FRX female XLR plugs ( lack of space behind the D-Magic.. ) + a couple of Neutrik NYS373-9 & Neutrik NYS3732 male RCA's to make my own...

 

 the D-Magic's XLR outs being balanced, i checked my VanDenHul '' how not to burn the house down'' cable guide ( here's the link in case anyone is interested :  http://www.vandenhul.com/userfiles/docs/Audio_and_Video_Cable+Connector_Wiring_Diagrams_for_DIY_purposes.pdf  )

 

 & indeed it's clearly explained how to solder what/were...only there are 3 examples of how to do it !! which one would be the correct way for the DacMagic ?

 

 

1000

 

 

 now remains the last hurdle : what sort/brand of cable should i get ? & where from - preferably from an online vendor based within the EU ?  without going € crazy, just keeping up with the needs of the rest of the gear.....the cables will be roughly 60cm in length

 

 any suggestions will be GREATLY APPRECIATED !

 

 oh & this just hit me : since my Roksan amp sits 4.5 meters away across the room, should i use the balanced XLR outs to connect to it & keep the RCA to RCA for my Fiio headphone amp instead ?

 

 many thanks & regards to all

 

 Nuno

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post #2 of 7
11/18/12 at 5:56pm

Assuming it's safe (I wouldn't try it), the benefits of balanced connection for long cables won't be there given you have an unbalanced input on the Kandy. Isn't there a line-out/pass through on the Fiio? That shouldn't color the sound if you wire them in series : DAC MAgic > RCA cable > input RCA Fiio E09K > line out RCA > Roksan Kandy K2

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post #3 of 7
11/19/12 at 1:20am
Thread Starter 

  Hi Protege

 

  & thanks for your input !

  although what you say makes perfect sense - please bear with me.. - as a consequence of my ignorance in these matters i thought that :

 

1 - even though the cables are balanced XLR to unbalanced RCA as exemplified in the VanDenHul wiring diagram above, i thought ( hoped ?.. ) that given the distance, there would still be some advantage in using them to connect the DacMagic to the Roksan hence that last question 

 

& 2 -  because of my Fiio's ''future location'' - where i laid my camera's pouch, roughly the Fiio's size.. - right next to my computer & external drives on my desk + my profound dislike of cables all over the place - check out this photo below :

 

 

1000  

 

 i want to try keep a minimum of them showing & this way i would ONLY have 1 pair of RCA + the Fiio's power supply wire entering the passageway behind it to connect to the DacMagic, etc...which would be easier to ''conceal'' than if i had 2 pairs of cables, you know what i mean ?

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post #4 of 7
11/19/12 at 5:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nuno1959 View Post

 1 - even though the cables are balanced XLR to unbalanced RCA as exemplified in the VanDenHul wiring diagram above, i thought ( hoped ?.. ) that given the distance, there would still be some advantage in using them to connect the DacMagic to the Roksan hence that last question 

 

 

Assuming it does work (which Van Den Hul wouldn't recommend otherwise), it just sends a signal - which AFAIK won't in any way be balanced anymore since the receiving device isn't balanced either, regardless of whether all three on one end are connected to something at the other end. It's kind of like using the SE output on a balanced headphone amp.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by nuno1959 View Post

2 -  because of my Fiio's ''future location'' - where i laid my camera's pouch, roughly the Fiio's size.. - right next to my computer & external drives on my desk + my profound dislike of cables all over the place - check out this photo below :
 

 

 i want to try keep a minimum of them showing & this way i would ONLY have 1 pair of RCA + the Fiio's power supply wire entering the passageway behind it to connect to the DacMagic, etc...which would be easier to ''conceal'' than if i had 2 pairs of cables, you know what i mean ?

 

Personally I think the best way to deal with the wires is to just find some way to hide them, maybe move the E09K back a little bit, drill holes through the shelves to run the cables through ten pull them tight and then bind them, etc. I would have purchased the Sony Z-series with the dockign station if I had the money just to get rid of the wires on the sides of my laptop, but so far I still have the USB cable to my DAC sticking out. Planning to wait around for a low profile right-angle USB-A to get around this, and teh work station I'm having built will have lots of holes to run wires through under the top of the table.

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post #5 of 7
11/19/12 at 6:06am
Thread Starter 

  i hear you : yes cables all over can be an eye sore ! 

 

  ever since i played in a band years ago, being the one who did all the setting up/connecting of the gear in our rehearsal studio, i ''honed'' this mischievous way of getting them away from sight, from under our feet while retaining ease of access.

  it does require quite a bit of planning + trial & error BUT i feel it's well worth it in the end :

  some friends of mine have like a third of the things connected to their computers & i SWEAR if one fell in there, people would only find us like a week later or so !...LOL...

 

  fortunately because i built my own desk from scratch i was able to build in ways for the cabling to go under, behind, through - you name it ! everything BUT on plain sight but still easy to connect/disconnect things as the system evolves &/or components get added

 

  anyway back to the point : i'll do just what you suggested & move slightly back the Fiio & since there's already a passage for cables behind it i should be fine - just have to order a couple more RCA's or order an interconnect long enough to split in two & then add the RCA's i bought where it was cut while retaining it's own - any suggestions of a decent cable from what's available say on Amazon.co.uk  for example ?

 

 again thanks for your suggestions

 

P.S.: just in case you'd be interested, check out my ''cable free'' environment here :

 

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/13706825@N03/sets/72157632049137806/

 

  cheers


Edited by nuno1959 - 11/19/12 at 6:08am
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post #6 of 7
11/19/12 at 6:34am

I use this cable for my DacMagic: http://www.4sound.dk/shop/xlr-phono/supreme-pro-cables/lcxfp-1-meter-dual-hun-xlr-phono.html

 

It has XLR pin 2 connected to RCA center connector and pins 1 and 3 connected to shield. As stated above I don't think you'll get the advantage of a true balanced connection

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post #7 of 7
11/21/12 at 9:52pm
Thread Starter 

  Hi Guys

 

  sorry the tardiness of this answer ! :-b....

 

 just followed ProtegeManiac's suggestion, dropped the XLR plugs, got myself a length of Monster cable with RCA's - which i'll need to be made a bit shorter & that will be that : it's true sometimes one can complicate things unnecessarily...

 

  will post a photo when it's all ready & done ! thanks for your input guys !!

 

  cheers

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