[gerG]

I am considering ordering one of Jan's Corda kits, but when I looked at the picture on his site I thought I saw a pair of 1/8" mini jacks on the front panel. Is this true, or is my sense of scale off?

If so, are there ways around it? I would prefer a 1/4" phone plug, at the minimum. I have really gotten fed up with mini-plugs over the years.


Thanks

 

[ian]

Yup, you're right - the Corda uses 1/8" stereo mini-jacks. I use the Grado 1/4" to 1/8" convertor to run my RS-1's off the Corda. It works very well - its a very high quality product (nothing like those cheap ones you are used to from radio shack).

 

[gerG]

I do not consider those things a serious quality connection. I have had trouble both in the plug side (my Etymotics developed an internal short, and my HD600s came with an internal short) and in the socket side. I can frequently hear sound differences just by rotating the plug around. Contact cleaners and enhancers seem to help for a while. Maybe there is a really good socket/plug combination out there, but I haven't run across it yet.

A potential solution for the Corda may be dual mono mini-plugs. At least only one side at a time would be giving me a problem, and I wouldn't get the crosstalk problems.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Rotareneg]

Now that you mention it I did have trouble with the minijack that my Total Airhead has, which is the same one as on the Corda. The ground pin somehow managed to break off the bottom of the input jack, but it did sound pretty cool.

When I got home I desoldered the jack, removed the remains of the pin from the board and jack, and repaired it with a short piece of wire in place of the pin. If I get the Clou Red cable for my HD600 I'll just get a new drill (my old one's busted) and put a 1/4" jack on my Corda.

 

[ian]

The Corda's minijack is suprisingly solid and tight. It fights the Grado convertor very nicely. Just leave the Grado convertor connected all the time and plug in and out of the end of it if you are concerned. It is a very high quality adapter.

 

[Rotareneg]

Yeah, I should have mentioned that on the Corda the jacks are installed differently than on the TA. On the Corda the little plastic legs are cut off the jack housing so it sits flush to the board. Also the metal ring around the tip of the jack fits into the faceplate, supporting it and thus making it much stronger. The TA's jack just sits on the board, with nothing but the plastic legs and the pins soldered to the board to support it.

 

[chych]

Bashing the minijack a bit more...

For some reason I can cause white noise or something to form when I plug something in my MG Head's minijack and move it around... not so with the nice and stable 1/4" (which takes priority too).

 

[Jan Meier]

Dear Headwizers/Headfizers,

There have been several reasons for me to choose 1/8" sockets instead of 1/4" types.

1. Nearly all modern headphones (except Grado's) come with a 1/8 jack that is integrated in the 1/4 jack. Using 1/4 type sockets would unnecessarily increase the number of contacts in the signal path.

2. If, by accident, you put stress on the cord the 1/8 jack disconnects. With the 1/4 jack there is a sincere risk of pulling the amp of the shell. The CORDA has a relatively low weight.

3. In my opinion the 1/8" sockets look more nicely on the CORDA amp.

Of course the vulnerability of the connectors is a reason for concern. I attacked this problem by two measures:

1. The little plastic legs are not cut off the jack housing put fit tightly into small holes in the PCB board.

2. The ring around the tip of the jack is slightly recessed (0.2 mm) within the faceplate. Even if by accident you use a lot of force while inserting the plug this force will be "absorbed" by the (4 mm Aluminium) faceplate.

As for 1/4 jackets/sockets. Sure they are more stable. However, note that there's no exact industrial standard for this combination. I have experienced problems with these connectors too simply because jack and socket didn't exactly match. Connectors always are a weak link. If you want to go for sure I guess you have to remove any socket and solder the headphone cable directly to the PCB-board.

Cheers,

Jan

 

[gerG]

I appologize to the community for distracting you from your vital work on the Porta Corda.

I had assumed that the reason for the minis was due to the fact that most phones now come with the mini and an adapter. I hadn't thought of the possibility of yanking the amp off the shelf. Good call.

Believe me, I have considered soldering the cable directly to the board. This is actually feasible with the HD-600s, since the cable easily unplugs from the headset. Don't cringe like that, I would run the cable out the back panel with proper strain relief.

Another alternative for me is to add a panel mounted jack to the back of the unit. I agree that the 1/4" plug is less than ideal, but it is pretty common. It is also what occupies the upstream end of my HD-600s. I clipped off the bad mini that came on them and replaced it with a 1/4". As you said, one less interface.

Right now I am leaning toward the Corda kit for the 600s at work, and an SAC for the K1000s at home. How convenient, since you sell both!


Always the quest!

 

[ppl]

My Bigest complaint with Jacks on Most all Mass marker Equipment is the Flakie PC Board Mounted Jacks be it 1/4" RCA or 1/8" Always the jack will come loose from the PC board from the Stress of the Conecting cable. PC mounted Jacks with a Nut that Fastons the Jack to the Chassis are available to quality Minded OEM's and it is beyound me why thay are only used in Pro-Audio Equipment.

Regarding the 1/4" jack allowing you to pull the amp off the shelf Yes i have had this happen but also used the Headphone Cord to pull the amp back out of the Lake while on a Boat. Boy i was sure glad for those 1/4" connectors then. But i install (2) Headphone jacks on all my amps (1) 1/4" and (1) 1/8" so as to be able to use any Headphone Plug. With Sony's screw on adaptor (The BEST THING SONY HAS COME UP WITH IN A WHILE) alot of virsitility can be had using 1/8" & 1/4" jacks on the amp.

 

[Possum]

LOL! Is that where the little description next to your Member status comes from?

 

[ian]

Hey ppl, if you're in Eugene, why dont you check out the thread for the Pacific Northwest Headroom visit. Haven't seen you there yet.

 

[Neruda]

damn straight ppl, you have to be there!

 

[ppl]

No Possum the Watter resistence was put up by a modirator i gess. it was added after my Explaining that the Main reason for getting the Sl-SW-860 was because i left my Sony Discman out in the rain and it Needed to be Replaced and The watter resistence feature of the Pannasonic caught my eye. so to test this i put the Player in the Shower to make sure it still played, Because if that was not going to happen i would have looked at other players but that panasonic played just fine and Way cool Silver Aluminium case to Boot.

Thanks for the info on the headroom Toor When and whare or should i go to the Headroom site?

 

[ian]

ppl, here is the thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...ight=northwest