Similar reasoning as to why some of us on HC felt that a 5 pin XLR should have been the standard for balanced connections on full-size amps and not the 4 pin. This would have allowed simple construction of adapters for standard single ended headphone connection as the ground would be available...

By "single ended" I mean normal 2 channel stereo, as you would find on most audio equipment with pairs of RCA connectors, or normal headphones with a TRS plug. Most home audio equipment has the grounds of the inputs or outputs connected together. Older headphones would normally be wired with a 3...

The Moon audio article is correct. A balanced amplifier will be providing 4 amplified signals: L+, L-, R+ and R-. A single ended adapter will tie the L- and R- together for "ground". Since the amplifier is actively driving these signals, shorting them together will not make the amplifier happy...

Stupid question: I just got a pair of Ether C Flow (1.1) and these have the angled pads. Is the thick part of the pad supposed to go to the front or the rear of your head? I assumed the rear, but these have the pads on opposite. Thanks! Oh, also, someone was asking how you tell them apart (C...

Interested. Would you consider shipping to the US (Chicago area)? Thanks, Chris

Yep. Found this, which matches their port descriptions for the headphone jacks: You would not connect the sleeves of either 1/4" to anything. Balanced connections don't reference to ground, so not needed here. The + connections would go to the 1/4" on the left, and the - connections to the...

A little late on this, but one reason why I modified a version of Kevin's protect board to incorporate a mute switch which completely disconnects the phones via the protect relay. Also did the same with Amb's board for SE only use (on my DynaFET). This of course won't help you regarding live...

n/m

The output stage of the CFA3 doesn't really look stripped down from the CFA2 to me, but I haven't compared them closely. On the CFA3 that I worked on, I couldn't tell much if any difference between the SS vs. ZF modes either.

Do you have a multimeter with ohms functionality? If so, check continuity between the - speaker terminals. If 0 ohms (or <1 ohm), you should be good. If not, then the - terminals are not common and the 4 pin XLR would be prudent. I'd also ask this question somewhere like diyaudio, in the Pass forum.

Not necessarily afraid of them. I've built around 5 of the SS Mini Dynalos, which are pretty much all SMD. The problems with SMD include the difficulty in troubleshooting them, parts removal/changeout (depends on device footprint), problems with matching devices (resistors/transistors), etc. An...

You could also check with Spritzer on his site: https://mjolnir-audio.com/products/

After getting the baffles and pad rings cleaned up, and figuring out how much force, best tools, etc., I got em. I used a small chisel and once I got a corner up, I just went around them and they popped right out. Surprising. I'm not in a big hurry on these, so will start sanding. Might use some...

Got a set of the baffles and pad rings cleaned up. It looks like the support settings used were a bit aggressive, as there was a solid layer of material that I could tell shouldn't be there, but was not latticed or whatever you call if for normal support material. After some prying, I was able...

A friend of mine printed these for me using PLA (and the original files). They look a bit rough on the inside, and considerable clean-up to do on them (started half-assed on one of the cups). I should have used the modified files with the adjustable bass port, etc. Do these look worth the effort...

I'd probably use the 3rd jack you list. The higher current spec just means the jack can handle more current than the other 2 will. Absolutely no effect here, and might last longer. As long as it is physically the same, should work fine.

Yes, still viable (and very good). Google "SS Dynalo" and you should find what you are looking for. There is also a Mini version that can be build, as well as an SS Dynahi. The SS stands for SuperSymmetry. Kevin has Nelson' Pass' permission to use this as a non-commercial design. These are fully...

TEAMHifiman: From Shakespeare: "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" Post a schematic (or at least a partial) so that people can actually evaluate the claims. Or stop posting about it. Your posts provide no substantive rebuttal, and those who know electrostats and amp topologies and have...

Absolutely not (sorry). For a balanced amp, these are not grounds but amplified minus signals, 180 degrees out of phase with the positive signals for each channel. The amp would not take kindly to having these shorted together. 4 wires is a must.

I believe that all of the proper engineering concerns for the OP have been brought up already by Spritzer and possibly KG. The OP has chosen to spin and deflect (including an email to myself, even though I've only bought and returned a pair of IEMs to them...). My reputation on these sites is...

[Mod Edit] The issue here is engineering questions, brought up by some people who know what they are doing, and know safety and proper engineering regarding electrostatic headphones and amps running 400-450V rails. Do you trust them, or do you trust a manufacturer with a track record of flavor...

To add to this, FCC testing IIRC is Part 15, which is for RF emission, and is not a test of electrical safety, and not even applicable to this. [Mod Edited]

Yes, I'm well aware of that as I rewired one pair of mine to balanced, using a mini 4-pin XLR on the headphones. I couldn't recall whether the cable itself actually had 4 conductors in it or not (I didn't reuse it). You would obviously have to use a different connector on both ends though; you...

Agreed. I wasn't thinking chip amp. IIRC my T50RP had a 4 wire cable on it stock. YMMV, but easier to rewire/reterminate.

Do you have a multi-meter (DMM)? If so, in ohms mode, measure between the - speaker outputs. Common ground on these will show a very low value (< 1-2 ohms).