[Kibble Fat]

Hello everyone,
 
I've been looking for a pair of higher end headphones that are detailed and neutral.  The RE0 was a logical choice.  When I realized the RE-ZERO was available, it got me interested in trying a balanced setup.  While I do want to keep its balanced capability in tact, I also want a cleaner adapter solution for unbalanced use. 
 
I introduced this idea in an RE-ZERO thread but got no feedback - so here is a new DIY thread

 
The adapter that comes with the most recent edition of the RE-ZEROs is a 3-inch jobbie shown below:

 
What I want to do is do away with the adapter completely.  My idea was to add a small on-off switch close to the RE-ZERO's plug between the two "negative" wires.  The paint rendering below should clear thing up.


 
Any thoughts?  Would using the short length of only one "negative" wire by the plug be too much of a bottleneck for audio signal?
 
Thanks for your help!
 
Eric

 

[jageur272]

Electrically speaking, it is one negative wire, but it will be the same as any commercial headphone cable out there (2 positive and 2 shared grounds).  A small SPST switch should do the job.

 

[Kibble Fat]

What I’m asking is, for devices that are set up for 4-conductor mini use, is using only one of the negative wires enough?  An example is my 6G ipod which uses the middle ring for the microphone signal.
 
Here is the max amperage table presumably from the American Wire Gauge website:
 

AWG gauge	Conductor Diameter Inches	Conductor Diameter mm	Ohms per 1000 ft.	Ohms per km	Maximum amps for chassis wiring	Maximum amps for power transmission	Maximum frequency for 100% skin depth for solid conductor copper
OOOO	0.46	11.684	0.049	0.16072	380	302	125 Hz
OOO	0.4096	10.40384	0.0618	0.202704	328	239	160 Hz
OO	0.3648	9.26592	0.0779	0.255512	283	190	200 Hz
0	0.3249	8.25246	0.0983	0.322424	245	150	250 Hz
1	0.2893	7.34822	0.1239	0.406392	211	119	325 Hz
2	0.2576	6.54304	0.1563	0.512664	181	94	410 Hz
3	0.2294	5.82676	0.197	0.64616	158	75	500 Hz
4	0.2043	5.18922	0.2485	0.81508	135	60	650 Hz
5	0.1819	4.62026	0.3133	1.027624	118	47	810 Hz
6	0.162	4.1148	0.3951	1.295928	101	37	1100 Hz
7	0.1443	3.66522	0.4982	1.634096	89	30	1300 Hz
8	0.1285	3.2639	0.6282	2.060496	73	24	1650 Hz
9	0.1144	2.90576	0.7921	2.598088	64	19	2050 Hz
10	0.1019	2.58826	0.9989	3.276392	55	15	2600 Hz
11	0.0907	2.30378	1.26	4.1328	47	12	3200 Hz
12	0.0808	2.05232	1.588	5.20864	41	9.3	4150 Hz
13	0.072	1.8288	2.003	6.56984	35	7.4	5300 Hz
14	0.0641	1.62814	2.525	8.282	32	5.9	6700 Hz
15	0.0571	1.45034	3.184	10.44352	28	4.7	8250 Hz
16	0.0508	1.29032	4.016	13.17248	22	3.7	11 k Hz
17	0.0453	1.15062	5.064	16.60992	19	2.9	13 k Hz
18	0.0403	1.02362	6.385	20.9428	16	2.3	17 kHz
19	0.0359	0.91186	8.051	26.40728	14	1.8	21 kHz
20	0.032	0.8128	10.15	33.292	11	1.5	27 kHz
21	0.0285	0.7239	12.8	41.984	9	1.2	33 kHz
22	0.0254	0.64516	16.14	52.9392	7	0.92	42 kHz
23	0.0226	0.57404	20.36	66.7808	4.7	0.729	53 kHz
24	0.0201	0.51054	25.67	84.1976	3.5	0.577	68 kHz
25	0.0179	0.45466	32.37	106.1736	2.7	0.457	85 kHz
26	0.0159	0.40386	40.81	133.8568	2.2	0.361	107 kH
27	0.0142	0.36068	51.47	168.8216	1.7	0.288	130 kHz
28	0.0126	0.32004	64.9	212.872	1.4	0.226	170 kHz
29	0.0113	0.28702	81.83	268.4024	1.2	0.182	210 kHz
30	0.01	0.254	103.2	338.496	0.86	0.142	270 kHz
31	0.0089	0.22606	130.1	426.728	0.7	0.113	340 kHz
32	0.008	0.2032	164.1	538.248	0.53	0.091	430 kHz

 
And here are the specs for the RE-ZERO:
 
16 Ohm impedance
Sensitivity: 100db/1mw
Rate input: 10mw
Maximum input: 30mw
 
I roughly calculated currents for the rated and max power which are 0.025 A and 0.033 A respectively.  These are both below the recommended max currents however I am not sure what wire gauge the RE-ZERO has.
 
Eric

 

[Kibble Fat]

bump?

 

[Currawong]

Don't see why it wouldn't work. The trouble might be finding a small switch that is sufficient quality and is easily installable.

 

[jschristian44]

honestly, i dont mind the little adapter with my re-zero's.  it makes the cord longer which i like and i think it looks cool.  makes it look like the cable is higher quality i think.