1wyseman
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2016
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I'm loving the Moon Audio Silver Dragons I got last week. But it might be easier for you to stick with a domestic Kennerton product.
@eric65: could you make (or point me to) a sonic comparison between the three cables, please?
Edit: also I think that the reason the audeze cable might not be performing with the kennerton is because kennerton use different pin connection in the cable with the mini xlr.
Edit: also I think that the reason the audeze cable might not be performing with the kennerton is because kennerton use different pin connection in the cable with the mini xlr.
Did Kennerton published the pin definition of their mXLR connection? I was assuming that it is fully compatible with Audeze mXLR pin out, but apparently there are minor different.
The story goes like this. I want to bring my Odin outdoor, so I acquired a Whiplash TWAg mXLR > 3.5mm headphone cable and tested it with my DAP. To my surprised, the cable, which was originally terminated by Whiplash for Audeze LCD series, works well with all my mXLR headphones except the Odin. I have tried two amplifiers (Cayin C5 and iHA-6) and the result remain the same. I have traced the connection and compare it with the Kennerton Litz headphone cable and arrive at the following table:
Base on the pin definition of the Kennerton Litz headphone cable, can we assume that the Odin (and probably other Kennerton headphones with mXLR connectors) are wired to pin 1 and pin 3 of the mXLR male connector at the headphone?
Since the Whiplash headphone cables are 4 strands only, it cannot connect to all 4 pins of the mXLR connectors, and unfortunately they picked pin 1+2 and therefore not compatible with Kennerton Odin which is pin 1+3. The reason why the Whiplash cable works with all other mXLR headphones are because they followed Audeze's pin definition and wired to all 4 pin of the mXLR male connectors.
I think wiring all 4 pins of the mXLR male connector is a good idea and I suggest Kennerton to consider this option. This is the two issues that we have to take into account if we choose to remain the current practice:
(1) I believe significant percentage of aftermarket mXLR headphone cables are wired to all 4 pins, especially for those 8 wires or 16 wires heavy duty (aka expensive) models, they simply cannot "jammed" into two pins of the mXLR plug only. If customers are comparing the Kennerton headphone against other mXLR based headphones (such as the Audeze LCD3) with one of these cables, then Kennerton might lost its edge because they are connected to HALF of the cable only but the customers are not aware of that.
(2) For those aftermarket mXLR headphone cables that are wired to 2 pins only, there is possibility that the headphone cables are not compatible with the Kennerton headphones. Theoretically, all mXLR headphones wired to 1+2, 4+2, 4+3 will not be compatible.
In my case, I have to mod the Whiplash TWAg from pin 1+2 to pin1+3, this is technically straight forward but I lost the Whiplash logo on the TWAg cable and the cable will become a DIY item instead of factory terminated aftermarket cable.
@Andykong
Yes, indeed, for now, we only use #1 and #3 contacts. Thanks for the information about third-party cables!
We initially used all 4, but then dropped down to 2. Will consider going back to 4.
Finally got the Kennerton Odin for review, and did a quick unboxing. I really like what I am hearing!
Finally got the Kennerton Odin for review, and did a quick unboxing. I really like what I am hearing!
Finally got the Kennerton Odin for review, and did a quick unboxing. I really like what I am hearing!