[chuckgopal]

Hello everyone,
 
Firstly - thank you to the incredible community out here, which has helped me through purchases (Grado SR80, 325, Sennheiser CX300, IE7, Klipsch Image S4) at various points of time.
 
I have a Grado SR325is currently. Absolutely love the cans. I hate the 6.3mm jack, though. My source is a Cowon S9 and in a month, I'll be getting an Electric Avenues PA2V2 amp, which also has a 3.5mm hole.
 
Is it advisable snipping off the 6.3mm jack and just fitting in a regular 3.5mm in there? I do have an adapter which I use but it tends to be loose. And here in India for some reason, I can't seem to find a proper cable. I tried to have one made, but that resulted in audio coming only out of the left channel.
 
Thanks!
Deepak
A Grado lover from Mumbai.

 

[chuckgopal]

Hello,
 
Sorry to bump this up but hoping to get a reply this time
 
Deepak

 

[Nightslayer]

Shouldn't be a problem. Do take note that your cable will have 8 conductors (4 ground and 2 to each signal) and it will be huge so fitting it to a 3.5mm would involve some rather unwieldy soldering work, and you will need a large enough 3.5mm plug.
 
Also, if you already do have a custom-made cable and you only have sound in one channel that means that there is a soldering point loose, (I am assuming that your cans aren't busted since it appears that you have put the stock cable back on) perhaps you could doublecheck the soldering on the jack or the connection points on the Grados? The cable wire itself should not have a problem if you had it custom made.

 

[chuckgopal]

Hi!
 
Thanks for the reply. No, the Grados were not busted, the cable which was made was faulty because the male pin was mono.
Guess I could just have a proper cable made, I don't see the point shelling out money for Grado's own cable.
 
Slightly reluctant now to snip up the Grado, though - that's a lot of money down the drain if it doesn't work out right
 
Deepak
 

 

[BotByte]

You want to cut off a high quality, still functioning, plug so that you don't have to use a adapter?
 
By all means go ahead, just so you know, you'll start cutting away at the clarity and over all sound quality if you do. Just use your SR80 for portable and leave the 325i at home.

 

[aamefford]

Grado makes a fantastic 1/4 to mini adapter.  Every headphone junkie should own one.
 
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=grado+adapter&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=13871035132899308972&sa=X&ei=gmE9TpPEG6PkiAKgoZTDBg&ved=0CCcQ8wIwAA#ps-sellers

 

[Gwarmi]

 
 Risking a potentially dodgy re-wiring job on a perfectly good set of cans like the 325i to
 scrimp and save $15-$18? 
 
 Not a good investment in my books, especially if you want to sell them one day or
 start collecting various amps.

 

[Nightslayer]

Quote:

Hi!
 
Thanks for the reply. No, the Grados were not busted, the cable which was made was faulty because the male pin was mono.
Guess I could just have a proper cable made, I don't see the point shelling out money for Grado's own cable.
 
Slightly reluctant now to snip up the Grado, though - that's a lot of money down the drain if it doesn't work out right
 
Deepak
 

Uhh. Then swap out the mono pin for a stereo? That would solve all your problems, you realize? Including letting you keep the stock cable should you need to resell your Grados. Unless the cable has two conductors, in which case I have nothing to say. Also, if you do decide to cut up your wire please do make sure you know how to handle that iron and you've got a good quality replacement jack.
 

 

[Nightslayer]

Quote:

You want to cut off a high quality, still functioning, plug so that you don't have to use a adapter?
 
By all means go ahead, just so you know, you'll start cutting away at the clarity and over all sound quality if you do. Just use your SR80 for portable and leave the 325i at home.

 
Cutting the plug also allows for a shortening of the cable, which would be good for his intended portable use. And as long as you're fine with the iron I can assure you that your soldering job would probably be equally as good as theirs is. I'm assuming that its standard to use a decent gold-plated jack, at least. The argument about aftermarket value holds, but I don't think you'd degrade the sound quality ANY if you replace the jack.

 

[BotByte]

Quote:

 
Cutting the plug also allows for a shortening of the cable, which would be good for his intended portable use. And as long as you're fine with the iron I can assure you that your soldering job would probably be equally as good as theirs is. I'm assuming that its standard to use a decent gold-plated jack, at least. The argument about aftermarket value holds, but I don't think you'd degrade the sound quality ANY if you replace the jack.

I'm sorry, most people aren't like you and I. I've had about two years wiring some what of 3500 wires and plugs for a Prius into a loom with a soldering iron. I did one of those everyday for two years, give or take weekends.
 
And still, my soldering jobs get thrown out.
 
Other then that, there are so many variables in a soldering job that can can go wrong and degrade the connection. 
 
 
I'm saying, why throw away a perfect set of cans for a adapter change. Grado use a great plug and have a wide array of adapters specially made for their cans. If someone want to cut and decrease their sound quality, more power to them. But you buy good cans for a reason, don't mess with their hardware (as in wiring, drivers) and leave them alone.
 
Now if the cable was broken, by all means mod them. But if he can't just buy a adaper for them, why should I care if he wants to screw up his cans. 
 

 

[chuckgopal]

Hello everyone,
 
Thank you so much for the replies. Looks like the best thing to do would be to get a local stereo cable made (sadly bedridden right now post an accident so will have to rely on cheap adaptors I can order off eBay India for now), and later get a proper Grado cable when someone nips down from the States.
 
Was always apprehensive about chopping the cable of a 295-dollar-headphone. Just wanted to know if any of you had tried it out before. Thanks once again for your help.
 
Deepak

 

[dxps26]

Deepak bhai,
 
Please don't mutilate that lovely Grado Cable. Get the Grado Adapter, or, if you're handy with a Soldering Iron, ride down to Lamington Road, and find some good Neutrik 1/4 female connectors and a 3.5mm male plugs, along with a foot or so of Heatshrink, and some good single-core cable-2mm should be fine. Braid it (or get your wife/girlfriend to do it, LOL) cover with heatshrink and solder away...
 
good to know there are Grado lovers in Mumbai. did you get them from Pristine Note in Navi Mumbai?
 
EDIT-  Whoops. didn't see your last post. Being Bedridden Sucks, but it let me do this to my SR225i when I got my knee reconstructed last year. Right now i'm recovering from a couple of dislocated metatarsals I was rewarded with after having a Dump Truck drive over my left foot somewhere in Rajasthan.
 
Get Well Soon!!

 

[chuckgopal]

Hello
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Getting something similar done, though not the components you've mentioned. I got the Grado from the US itself - had a friend ship them down for me.
 
Deepak

 

[dxps26]

Quote:

Hello
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Getting something similar done, though not the components you've mentioned. I got the Grado from the US itself - had a friend ship them down for me.
 
Deepak

EMS Shipping or UPS/Fedex? thinking of sending the girlfriend a pair of ATH-ES7 or HD228 from the US. I had Steven(of Lovely Cube amplifier fame) ship me my amp last year to Mumbai, and Good God, the Rings of Fire I had to jump Through to get it out of the EMS office near the Domestic Airport. Add to that the Import Duties. Did you end up paying any Import Duty or suchlike??
 
sorry for OT discussion, though...

 

[Nightslayer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dxps26 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

If you're handy with a Soldering Iron, ride down to Lamington Road, and find some good Neutrik 1/4 female connectors and a 3.5mm male plugs, along with a foot or so of Heatshrink, and some good single-core cable-2mm should be fine. Braid it (or get your wife/girlfriend to do it, LOL) cover with heatshrink and solder away...I
 
Get Well Soon!!

Single core cable is not a good idea, and make sure your heatshrink isn't the overly thick type (the thin transparent ones tend to be fine), because if you use either of the above you end up with a very stiff cable. Granted it's only an adaptor, but it does stretch to a foot long so pliability might be desirable.