Balanced headphones (4 pole TRRS) under £100
Nov 4, 2018 at 11:54 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 21
monkey51

monkey51

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HI guys ,
Have a AK70 MKii on the way which I got half price due to the 3.5mm jack not working , but going to use Bluetooth anyway with my AKG Y50 BTs (can these be used on the balanced output with a 2.5mm to 2.5mm cable ? ), my question is can you guys recommend any over ear or on ear balanced headphones for the 2.5mm jack under $150 and would I need to buy an adapter to connect to the 2.5mm jack ,
 
Nov 5, 2018 at 5:25 PM Post #2 of 21
Can the Y50’s be used balanced that is a no without modding. You need to find a headphone with dual entry removable cables and most likely you can find a cable with a balanced trrs 2.5mm connector but most will not come with it as the 2.5mm is meant for iem’s for the most part. You can find plenty of iem’s for your price adding the additional cable in with it. Not too many headphones in that price range have dual entry removable cables.
 
Nov 5, 2018 at 8:48 PM Post #4 of 21
I would look at the ZS10’s as they are the best KZ’s I’ve heard so far. Also the iBasso IT01 with a balanced MMCX cable could be had for $125 and is also very good.
 
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Nov 5, 2018 at 9:51 PM Post #5 of 21
buke9 said:
Can the Y50’s be used balanced that is a no without modding. You need to find a headphone with dual entry removable cables and most likely you can find a cable with a balanced trrs 2.5mm connector but most will not come with it as the 2.5mm is meant for iem’s for the most part. You can find plenty of iem’s for your price adding the additional cable in with it. Not too many headphones in that price range have dual entry removable cables.
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Pardon my thread disruption, but I would like to ask you a question. I've always been under the impression that for running balanced, you need a dual entry can. So I posed this same question in another section, and it may be useful for the OP. On ebay, there is a single entry cable, 2.5mm to 3.5mm trrs. It's a 4 pole L+L - R+R. I've never seen anything like it, and not knowing much about balanced cables, I don't know if it's a real thing or not. Would be great if it is, because I could run all my single entry cans balanced through my Opus #1s. I'll post a link in a bit. If this is a real thing, the OP could use it as well.
 
Nov 6, 2018 at 12:51 AM Post #10 of 21
gr8soundz said:
I don't own them but they're on ear and fully balanced (no such thing as SE to balanced cables). Also comes with a 3.5mm TRRS (earcup side) to 2.5mm balanced cable.
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Did you look at the link to the cable I posted? Isn't the wire to the Pioneers you shared single ended? Or do those headphones have dual entry?
 
Nov 6, 2018 at 1:38 AM Post #11 of 21
Mhog55 said:
Did you look at the link to the cable I posted? Isn't the wire to the Pioneers you shared single ended? Or do those headphones have dual entry?
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Believe it or not, there are headphones with single entry that can work balanced. Not many exist but the Pioneer MHR5 is among them and comes with 2 cables: one for single-end use and one for balanced. Other headphones with this ability (although none include a balanced cable like the Pioneer) are the original Sennheiser HD598 (which uses a 2.5mm TRRS on the earcup side), Oppo PM-3, and Fostex T60rp.

The wire you posted should work with the Pioneer (and Oppo, Fostex too) but would be redundant since the MHR5 already comes with such a cable. However, unlike the included cable, the one you linked to won't lock inside the earcup.
 
Nov 6, 2018 at 2:08 AM Post #12 of 21
gr8soundz said:
Believe it or not, there are headphones with single entry that can work balanced. Not many exist but the Pioneer MHR5 is among them and comes with 2 cables: one for single-end use and one for balanced. Other headphones with this ability (although none include a balanced cable like the Pioneer) are the original Sennheiser HD598 (which uses a 2.5mm TRRS on the earcup side), Oppo PM-3, and Fostex T60rp.

The wire you posted should work with the Pioneer (and Oppo, Fostex too) but would be redundant since the MHR5 already comes with such a cable. However, unlike the included cable, the one you linked to won't lock inside the earcup.
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Interesting. I'm still not quite following though. What exactly is it about the headphone itself that makes it balanced capable, that other single entry cans don't have?
That particular cable I linked is listed on ebay several times with different titles. For example, they have one listed for the Hifiman Edition S, and another for the B&O H6 - both headphones that I own. If it actually works, do I need to purchase each individual cable, or will one work for both?
 
Nov 6, 2018 at 2:13 AM Post #13 of 21
As another example, if you visit the listing for the Pioneers you posted on ebay and scroll down, there is a listing for a white single ended balanced cable for Audio Technica ath series. If you click on that and scroll down, you will also find the same balanced cable style listed for the single ended Sennheiser Momentum. So yeah, I'm a tad bit confused
 
Nov 6, 2018 at 2:33 AM Post #14 of 21
Where does it say that headphones must have dual entry to be balanced?

I also have the Momentum 2.0 but, unlike the others I mentioned, they aren't internally wired for balanced. Using a balanced cable with them won't make a difference.

For the ones I mentioned it's the type of cable used that determines when SE or balanced is in use. No different than switching between SE/balanced cables on a dual entry headphone.

Hopefully this helps, otherwise you'll need to do some more research.
 
Nov 6, 2018 at 2:41 AM Post #15 of 21
I've conducted more research than I care to mention. What I'm gathering is that people don't know what they're talking about. I've read on this very forum numerous times that you can't have a fully balanced circuit unless you are using a split cable with dual entry cans. Then I run across all these single ended cables that claim to be balanced, but nobody can answer my question as to whether they actually provide a fully balanced circuit. If the headphones themselves need to be internally wired for balanced, why in the world are their all these aftermarket cables made for headphones that do not come from the factory with internal wiring for balanced audio. So I guess I'll just buy the cable and see what happens.
 
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