[bogginhead]

I've got everything ready to solder here; I'm reterminating my HE500 cable made by Best In Verse Cables so I can use my balanced amps with them. I have a pretty decent picture / diagram showing me what needs to go to what pin. But I'm having trouble understanding which wires are positive and which are negative. There's two blue wire and two white. I understand that one of each is going to be either positive or negative...but which one? I do have a multimeter, but I have almost zero idea how to use it or if it'd be any help here. Thanks in advance for any help or advice!!!

 

[buke9]

The center pin on the SMC connector is positive. Just put the meter to a low ohm setting or continuity setting if it has one and go to each end of wire till you find one that give a tone in some meters or close to zero.

 

[bogginhead]

Gotcha; will do. And what will the tone or it being close to zero tell me, if you don't mind me asking? I'm very much a beginner at this type of thing, lol.

 

[buke9]

That is the other end of the wire.

 

[bogginhead]

That is the other end of the wire.

Sorry; what I mean is if I hear a tone or get a number close to zero when I'm checking the other end (non-smc connector end) does that mean that wire is positive? Or negative?

 

[megabigeye]

Hi there,

The continuity setting on your multimeter tells you if electricity can flow from one of its leads to the other. If you touch the multimeter’s leads together or to a conductive material, there should be a beeping sound. If there is no beep, it means that electricity is not able to flow from one lead to the other.

Tools you’ll need:
multimeter
masking tape
pen or pencil

1) Start by touching the black and red leads together. Is there a beep? Yes? Good! That means electricity is flowing. Move to step 2!

If there’s no beep, make sure the multimeter is on the continuity setting and/or try replacing the batteries. Proceed to the next step after you get it to beep.


2) Firmly press one of the leads (black or red, it doesn’t matter which) to the CENTER PIN (+) of the RIGHT CONNECTOR. Make sure it is ONLY touching the center pin. Press the other lead to the different wires until one of them beeps. If it beeps for more than one, make sure you’re not accidentally touching the lead to both the pin and the barrel, and then try again.

Once you’ve figured out which wire the pin is connected to, mark both ends with a piece of tape.

On the piece of tape at the connector end, mark with an “R”.

On the piece of tape on the raw end, mark with an “R+” symbol.

This is your RIGHT POSITIVE (+) WIRE.


3) Repeat step 2, but press the lead against the OUTER BARREL of the SAME CONNECTOR that is marked with tape. Double check that the positive wire that you’ve already marked with tape does not also beep. If it does, there is a short somewhere.

Mark the raw end with a piece of tape with an “R-“ symbol.

This is your RIGHT NEGATIVE (-) WIRE.

4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the LEFT CONNECTOR, marking each wire with “L”, “L+,” and “L-,” respectively.


Ta-da! You’ve learned how to properly use a multimeter’s continuity setting!

 

[bogginhead]

Hi there,

The continuity setting on you multimeter tells you if electricity can flow from one of its leads to the other. If you touch the multimeter’s leads together or to a conductive material, there should be a beeping sound. If there is no beep, it means that electricity is not able to flow from one lead to the other.

Tools you’ll need:
multimeter
masking tape
pen or pencil

1) Start by touching the black and red leads together. Is there a beep? Yes? Good! That means electricity is flowing. Move to step 2!

If there’s no beep, make sure the multimeter is on the continuity setting and/or try replacing the batteries. Proceed to the next step after you get it to beep.


2) Firmly press one of the leads (black or red, it doesn’t matter which) to the CENTER PIN (+) of the RIGHT CONNECTOR. Make sure it is ONLY touching the center pin. Press the other lead to the different wires until one of them beeps. If it beeps for more than one, make sure you’re not accidentally touching the lead to both the pin and the barrel, and then try again.

Once you’ve figured out which wire the pin is connected to, mark both ends with a piece of tape.

On the piece of tape at the connector end, mark with an “R”.

On the piece of tape on the raw end, mark with an “R+” symbol.

This is your RIGHT POSITIVE (+) WIRE.


3) Repeat step 2, but press the lead against the OUTER BARREL of the SAME CONNECTOR that is marked with tape. Double check that the positive wire that you’ve already marked with tape does not also beep. If it does, there is a short somewhere.

Mark the raw end with a piece of tape with an “R-“ symbol.

This is your RIGHT NEGATIVE (-) WIRE.

4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the LEFT CONNECTOR, marking each wire with “L”, “L+,” and “L-,” respectively.


Ta-da! You’ve learned how to properly use a multimeter’s continuity setting!

Man, I really appreciate the detailed directions! I just wanted to make sure it was done correctly the first time. I do wonder about the Star Quad used for this cable, though; as far as I could see there was no ground of any kind to connect. I guess it would have to have been removed by the original maker (Best In Verse)?

 

[megabigeye]

You're welcome! It's strangely cathartic writing out detailed directions for something that I take for granted as being simple. It helps me realize, oh, this isn't as easy as I thought it was.

I'm definitely no expert in this, but I believe that as to the ground being "missing:" in a DC circuit (batteries, most consumer electronics) the negative and ground wires are the same thing. That's why RCA cables have only two conductors, speaker and headphone drivers have only two wires connected, batteries have only two terminals, etc. Only AC circuits (a wall outlet) have a third ground wire.
A single-ended circuit has three conductors: Left +, Right +, and Left-Right –
A balanced circuit has four conductors: Left +, Right +, Left –, Right –
Since they're both DC circuits, the (–) runs double duty as negative and ground; just that a balanced circuit has Left– and Right– separated and single-ended has them combined.

This is my understanding. Like I said, I'm not an expert. If somebody with more knowledge comes and says I'm wrong, I'll humbly defer to them.

 

[buke9]

Man, I really appreciate the detailed directions! I just wanted to make sure it was done correctly the first time. I do wonder about the Star Quad used for this cable, though; as far as I could see there was no ground of any kind to connect. I guess it would have to have been removed by the original maker (Best In Verse)?

All you need is four wires for a balanced headphone cable. You might be confusing the shielding of some cables and grounds two different things.