[harpo1]

  And the headphone jack on front is NOT balanced?

No.

 

[chillaxing]

  I'm looking at getting a balanced DAC to power my headphone collection and was wondering peoples thoughts who have a balanced cable for their PM-3s. 
 
I am looking at the Teac UD-501-B which looks like the only balanced out are the dual 3 pin XLR. Looking at the cable needed; TRRS on headphone end, and dual 3-pin XLR female for amp end. I'm interested in this cable: http://www.doublehelixcables.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1 Which doesn't have a 3-Pin female XLR. Is there an adapter I can get to connect this cable to the DAC or do I need to look elsewhere?
 
Or this cable: https://www.moon-audio.com/blue-dragon-cable-oppo-headphones-v3.html I don't see a "balanced" option but at the bottom of the page is states:
"The Version 3 is quieter than the Version 2 with no microphonics.  It is a balanced cable geometry that can be terminated for either single ended or balanced configuration.
This cable can be configured in a variety of different ways. Please note that single ended signal connection can not be converted to balanced signal connection. As the grounds are tied in the single ended connector. Therefore, only pick this configuration if your amp has no single ended connection outputs."

What does it mean "Please note that single ended signal connection can not be converted to balanced signal connection".

 

Thanks for any help

 
 
I have a balanced dyson cable terminated in Trrs to rsa/alo if your interested.

 

[InAndOut]

   
 
I have a balanced dyson cable terminated in Trrs to rsa/alo if your interested.

 
 
   PM Sent.

 

[harpo1]

   
 
   PM Sent.

What amp will you be using?  What is your current balanced set up?

 

[harpo1]

   
 
I have a balanced dyson cable terminated in Trrs to rsa/alo if your interested.

Why are you trying to sell him something when he doesn't even have a balanced set up?  Plus the DAC/AMP he listed doesn't even have a balanced headphone out?

 

[sludgeogre]

Is it possible for you tell me a little bit how this cable behaves in portable use? Especially microphonics? With zippers etc?

Sorry, been off of head-fi for a while. Hope you still need the feedback. There is no microphonics in the cable from what I can tell, it's much quieter than the stock cable to my ears. It plays very nicely with zippers and clothing, feels great and all of that. The only problem I have with the cable is that when it gets twisted it coils up pretty hard, so you have to make sure it doesn't get twisted at all. Once I have it on and the player in my pocket though, I can leave it like that all day as I travel.

 

[InAndOut]

  What amp will you be using?  What is your current balanced set up?

 
 
    I'm still trying to figure that out. I'm now thinking Teac UD-301 with an SMSL SAP-9, or save up for the Teac 503 which will do it all, but I think that's a topic for another thread. Each setup requires different cabling and I need to have it all sorted out before I make the purchase. Thanks for looking out, but I don't spend my money easy, especially on cables, but it looks like in this case it'll take at least $150 for a balanced cable. I'm still wondering what the single ended side of the Teac Dac will sound like and will make that purchase before anything else is made. I've been through the 25 pages of the Headfi Teac Dac 503 thread and it has a bunch of 501 and 301 references which is nice. 
 
   But I have my questions answered as to the XLR outputs on the DAC side of the unit and realize the 503 will need a Dual 1/4" on the Amp out to the TRRS on the PM-3 side. Where as the SMSL is a 4 pin XLR which seems to be the more popular Amp out connection, but I need another cable to go from the Teac to the SMSL. 

 

[Bambule]

Sorry, been off of head-fi for a while. Hope you still need the feedback. There is no microphonics in the cable from what I can tell, it's much quieter than the stock cable to my ears. It plays very nicely with zippers and clothing, feels great and all of that. The only problem I have with the cable is that when it gets twisted it coils up pretty hard, so you have to make sure it doesn't get twisted at all. Once I have it on and the player in my pocket though, I can leave it like that all day as I travel.

Your feedback is really appreciated, good to hear that some folks aren't on head fi every day.
Yes, your feedback is too late, I already ordered one
And no, your feedback isn't too late, you're giving some impressions on what I'm now eagerly waiting.. Sounds good to me, my first motivation was getting the microphonics less disturbing. And I'll be paying attention to the curdling thing
Thanks, answer really appreciated!

 

[Bambule]

Funny thing about the cable twisting point is, that it annoys me very much on the stock cable already. But in the end it's just twisting back, until it's good to go.
Hope the forza gives me little bit more refinement in sq, and no cable sound

 

[matdur88]

Hi here! Just a quick question : Whitch dap can be the beater fit for the pm3 ? Between the acoustic research m2, the fiio x7, or the new ibasso dx200.... ( pcm 1794 va dac sabre ) ?

Thanks you !

 

[howdy]

Hi here! Just a quick question : Whitch dap can be the beater fit for the pm3 ? Between the acoustic research m2, the fiio x7, or the new ibasso dx200.... ( pcm 1794 va dac sabre ) ?

Thanks you !

I would personally wait to see what the DX200 will offer. It will be for sale in 5 days finally.

 

[sabloke]

I love DP-X1 balanced with PM-3. LG V20 is also pretty good but does not have the power of the DAP. Both sound great, plenty of detail, transparency and clean, tight bass.

 

[Skarecrow77]

Pm3 holes look really big, maybe with my ears it's the depth, i don't know.

At home I only got the hd590, besides the pm3. I think they are extremely super comfortable. But holes aren't that much bigger. There is absolutely no contact to the ear.

Strange thing is, the on pm3 only hurts my right ear. I can't see any differences on my left and right ear, so I'm a little confused.
For the most part, the pm3 is comfortable. After an hour or so, I sometimes put them off for 3 minutes, and everything is quite fine. Not as ultra fine as hd590, but the difference in sq is worth it thousand times

That's a tough comparison for the PM-3 or any cans really, My old HD-590s are, to this day, still the most comfortable cans I've ever owned. Long after they died they remain my "gold standard" which all other cans are compared against. In my competitive FPS days, I would routinely wear the HD590s for as much as 9 hours without a break, and then i'd get up to go to the can or grab food and get my head yanked by the cable because I'd forgotten I even had them on. They were really that comfy. I ranked them 9.5/10 in comfort, where 10/10 is "not actually wearing anything" and 1/10 is "a screwdriver through the eardrum".

The closest I've found since then would be beyer DT-880s, which are probably a 9/10 once the pads are broken in.

My PM-3s I'd say are probably 8/10 now, maybe 8.5/10 once I give the pads more time to break in.

My Alessandro MS1 (aka Grado SR125s) are maybe 5/10.
 
Koss KSC-35s, as great as they sounded, were probably 3.5/10, god they hurt.

 

[Bambule]

That's a tough comparison for the PM-3 or any cans really, My old HD-590s are, to this day, still the most comfortable cans I've ever owned. Long after they died they remain my "gold standard" which all other cans are compared against. In my competitive FPS days, I would routinely wear the HD590s for as much as 9 hours without a break, and then i'd get up to go to the can or grab food and get my head yanked by the cable because I'd forgotten I even had them on. They were really that comfy. I ranked them 9.5/10 in comfort, where 10/10 is "not actually wearing anything" and 1/10 is "a screwdriver through the eardrum".


The closest I've found since then would be beyer DT-880s, which are probably a 9/10 once the pads are broken in.


My PM-3s I'd say are probably 8/10 now, maybe 8.5/10 once I give the pads more time to break in.


My Alessandro MS1 (aka Grado SR125s) are maybe 5/10.

Koss KSC-35s, as great as they sounded, were probably 3.5/10, god they hurt.

I can only confirm, you forget the hd590 on your head. Sad to hear that in times of increasing prices improvements considering the comfort are not remarkable at all, as a can like the 590 is still king. Maybe would've been better never owned them..
What do you mean by pads of the pm3 need break in time? Memory foam, is it changing. I always thought, the only change will be more compressed pads over the time (which don't lead to more comfort?)

 

[WhiteFang000]

Has anyone tried both these and the Meze 99 Classics(with the larger pads), that can vouch for the comfort in both cans? I'm mainly concerned about the size of the earcups, and it's not exactly very easy to search the sizes of different headphones' earcups.