[TFaile]

I recently purchased a Shanling M6 to try out and it is my first DAP that has a 4.4mm balanced output. Shortly after receiving It I also purchsed a 4.4mm trrs to dual 3.5mm cable for my HIFIMAN Sundara. I have tried contacting customer support and no one has been super helpful whether it be HIFMAN, the cable retailer, or Shanling.

Originally I thought it may be an issue with the cable, maybe it still is? I can get the cable to work with the HIFIMAN 4xx with no problems however I cannot get any sound out of the Sundara's. The player will still detect the cable being plugged and unplugged even though the Sundara's are not receiving a signal for some reason. Are the Sundara's really that picky? Are they grounded differently and require a different cable? Any suggestions would help.

I should also mention that the cable isn't a super expensive cable. It is KK brand and 69 usd off of amazon. I have used the same brand cables with other headphones on a 2.5mm trrs with no issues. Also the Sundara will play just fine off of a normal 3.5mm trs connection on the Shanling M6.

 

[TFaile]

A quick update. I still cannot get the HIFIMAN Sundara to work with any balanced cables. I can get all the cables to work with other headphones with the same connections. I'm not sure why they are doing this but I am starting to think it's an issue with the headphones themselves. Unfortunatley I don't think HIFIMAN is going to help me with my issue.

 

[buke9]

A quick update. I still cannot get the HIFIMAN Sundara to work with any balanced cables. I can get all the cables to work with other headphones with the same connections. I'm not sure why they are doing this but I am starting to think it's an issue with the headphones themselves. Unfortunatley I don't think HIFIMAN is going to help me with my issue.

Does sound strange but I don’t know how they are wired. If I remember I’ll ask HiFiMan tomorrow as I’m going to CanJam NYC.

 

[Mozbach]

Does sound strange but I don’t know how they are wired. If I remember I’ll ask HiFiMan tomorrow as I’m going to CanJam NYC.

Hi,

Im planning to power mine using the FIIO Q1 MKII through balanced out. Wondering if getting a balanced cable will work?

 

[Mhog55]

Can you exchange them? The cable sounds fine. QC issue perhaps...

 

[GunGrave]

I think a good bet is that the Sundara's are not wired as you expect. They could be dual mono/stereo with normal/inverted pins 3.5mm jacks. Many other manufacturers pull this trick to make their cables the only ones compatible. Is your cable specifically for Sundara ?

 

[NA Blur]

My guess is the Sundara cable is not fitting fully into the Sundara. Use the original cable and pay attention how it fits into the headphone connectors. Switch to the balanced cable and look/feel how deep the 3.5mm connectors go into the headphone connectors. Any differences?

 

[ravenhawk]

I have a similar problem with my Sundara (& cables/amp/DAC). When I listen to the Sundaras using the stock cable plugged into my Topping L30/E30 stack using my PC as the initial source I seem to have no problems. When I try to use either my iPhone 11 Promax or my iPad Air (new last year) as the source I get no sound. It is a different USB-B cable (made for IPhone and IPad) than the one I use for my pc. Initially I got it to work using that setup, but later I could only get sound out of one headphone then within several days no sound at all. I can listen to the Sundaras if I go straight into the iPad skipping the topping dac/amp but volume is just too low without the amp in between.So at this point I am just listening with my pc, which is OK I guess as I seem to be able to eq the headphones much easier with the pc. I hate the stock cable and am considering replacing it. Any chance this will help with getting sound out of the Sundaras through the IPhone?