[Lou Erickson]

I've recently gotten my first amp that has a 4-pin XLR balanced drive output, and I'm interested in taking the plunge on that.

I have several headphones with removable cables, and I've already ordered balanced XLR cables for those. That's easy, and I've done it and am now (im)patiently waiting for the USPS to get me some shiny cables.

I have some other headphones that do not have removable cables. I understand that recabling them to balanced drive is usually straightforward; you need to run four wires instead of three, and use a separate + and - for each channel instead of the shared ground. Well within my capability, especially with YouTube videos that show how to take the darn things apart without breaking them.

One thing I know I'm going to want is a 4-pin XLR female socket to 1/4" TRS adapater to let me run these headphones on normal single-ended sources. Everything I've seen says this is easy and safe, and lets you use the headphones on any normal gear you happen to have.

Does anyone know of a good pre-made adapter like this? My time is short, and if I can buy one made, I am happy to. My Internet searches for this cable have produced nothing useful, so I thought I'd just ask if anyone knows of one that's ready to go.

Is there a list of common recabling supplies? Last time I recabled a headphone the cable sleeve I used was awful and hard and noisy; what's the best place to get something soft and flexible? Are there favorite suppliers or brands for connectors and plugs, or do I just pick blindly from Mouser? I'll be needing 4-pin XLR male connectors that don't suck, cable sheathing, wire, etc. And maybe 4-pin XLR female and 1/4" TRS plugs... and heat shrink. I have solder and a soldering iron.

Any particularly good parts to seek out, or any particularly bad ones to avoid?

Am I forgetting anything?

Yes: If I can find it, I'd like more 6-pin male Stax compatible connectors to recable the headphone I did last time again, as the cable is stiff and awkward now. A very kind Head-Fi member sent me some last time, and I'm hoping there's a more regular supply. Anyone know of any?

Thanks for any guidance that'll get me going the right direction. I've got a pair of K701's and DT990's waiting for the change, and maybe some others if I feel up to it.

 

[PurpleAngel]

4-pin XLR female socket to 1/4" TRS adapter is sold on Amazon and eBay and AliExpress and other sellers.
Try search for "1/4 TRS 6.35mm 4-pin XLR balanced female" should give results.

 

[Lou Erickson]

4-pin XLR female socket to 1/4" TRS adapter is sold on Amazon and eBay and AliExpress and other sellers.
Try search for "1/4 TRS 6.35mm 4-pin XLR balanced female" should give results.

Thanks, that found me some! I knew they had to be out there but my searches kept finding speaker adapaters which is not what I needed.

 

[dunring]

It's perfectly fine to use a balanced XLR to regular 3.5mm/6.35mm adapters, but not the other way around. Some unethical places sell a 6.35mm female to XLR which will burn out an amplifier. I use a Youkamoo 4.4mm to XLR adapter and it's transparent for sound, really convenient too for amps with just XLR. I wouldn't advise converting them, a place on Etsy will do it for $100. The converted ones on eBay I've seen don't go for any more money than regular stock models, so it's pretty big money pit. Even the DT990 600 ohm I've had needed power, but usually the single end of a really powerful amp had enough power for them anyway.

 

[tomb]

The issue is in combining the outputs of a fully differential amplifier into a combined-ground TRS jack of any size. If the amp is truly fully differential*, you will be shorting the outputs with the common ground in a TRS jack.


* There is a big misconception in audio that is unfortunately hampered by the pro-audio world. A "balanced" amplifier or any device is "balanced" if it allows balanced input and output connections. That is significantly different than having an amplifier that is fully differential, with four, distinctly amplifier-driven channels.

We often refer to an amplifier as "balanced" in the headphone world if it is fully differential, but a "balanced" amplifier is not necessarily fully differential in its circuitry. There are headphone amps on the market that are sold as "balanced," but are not fully differential on the inside. Note that there are also output-transformer-coupled amplifiers that are fully differential inside with their circuitry, but do not have balanced input and output connections. I have built and sold dozens of such amplifiers myself.