[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrevorNetwork I understand now! Thanks to both of you for your time and patience. Basically if the red side is receiving +9v, and the black side is receiving -9v (peaks of sine waves), since the speaker is polarized, it is looking to the red side for direction, and the differential between the two for amplitude. it will move +18v, because the red side is receiving positive at the time. Sound right? *lol*

Well at least you got it eventually

Now to implement it, eh?

 

[tiberian]

my mini dac has a pair of balanced out as well...maybe i should get a balanced silver dragon or ask larry to do a custom job for my hd 650s...
i really want to check out my dynahi now

.

 

[RnB180]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer Just chop the plug off the stock cable, pull the two cables apart a bit, strip down to bare wire, and solder an XLR to either side, putting signal to pin 2 and ground to pin 3. Total cost $6-12 for the XLR's ($30 or so if you consider the opportunity cost of the stock cable).

Is this correct? normal XLR connectors designate the pin 1 as the ground. are balanced headphone cables different?

http://www.vandenhul.com/artpap/wiring4.htm

this link states otherwise and to ground the wire to pin one on a mono signal.

anyhow, if this is the case on how to make a balanced cable, then to avoid hacking a perfectly fine headphone cable, couldnt one just make a Female trs adapter?

i.e. signals go to tip and ring and ground to ground. then the tip and ring each go to there XLR connector respectively and the ground to the appropriate ground pin.

 

[the terabyte]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 Is this correct? normal XLR connectors designate the pin 1 as the ground. are balanced headphone cables different? http://www.vandenhul.com/artpap/wiring4.htm this link states otherwise and to ground the wire to pin one on a mono signal. anyhow, if this is the case on how to make a balanced cable, then to avoid hacking a perfectly fine headphone cable, couldnt one just make a Female trs adapter? i.e. signals go to tip and ring and ground to ground. then the tip and ring each go to there XLR connector respectively and the ground to the appropriate ground pin.

What he said is correct. The ground pin should be floated, we're only connecting the + and - signal pins. You can make a balanced to single TRS adapter like you described, but such a creation would not provide any of the technical advantages of balanced drive.

 

[RnB180]

so in a balanced cable the ground isnt connected?

an adapter shouldnt do anything more then add convenience. I didnt think it would add anything beneficial other then just prevent one from hacking a headphone cable.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 so in a balanced cable the ground isnt connected? an adapter shouldnt do anything more then add convenience. I didnt think it would add anything beneficial other then just prevent one from hacking a headphone cable.

For some balanced headphone connectors, the ground pin is used to connect to the shield of the cable, if there is any. I don't think the stock Sennheiser headphone cable is shielded. If it is, then solder the shield to the ground pins.

Otherwise, you don't use the ground pins on the XLR's.

-Ed

 

[Kees]

Thought I should revive this OLD thread. I think more people are interested in this lately. I found it, did Iron-Dreamer's mod and I'm running my HD650's balanced now from the balanced outputs of my pre amp (AVM v3). BIG difference.
I think that, like in most speaker based systems, the limiting factor for the sound quality is usually NOT the speaker/headphones, but the way you drive them. I know from a lot of experience that even very moderately priced speakers can sound amazing when matched with the right source and amp.
In a similar fashion I think the HD650 do not reach their full potential in most setups. Running them balanced will make you realise how good they actually are. Maybe not perfect, but a LOT better than most people think they are.
Thanks for a great tip Iron-Dreamer.
Kees.

 

[choariwap]

i'm planning to do this with my hd650s... does anyone have pics of how the stock senn cable looks like inside?

i want to plan my attack before i operate

thanks!

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by choariwap i'm planning to do this with my hd650s... does anyone have pics of how the stock senn cable looks like inside? i want to plan my attack before i operate thanks!

Not the best example of soldering, but it worked.

The inside is one bunch of filaments of which part (ground) is isolated with a green coating. You have to split the two bunches carefully and carefully remove the green coating (scrape with a small knive or something) before soldering it.
At least that is how it worked for me.

 

[choariwap]

ahhh, so thats how it looks like inside...

so the green enamel stuff serves as the insulator for the signal and ground? isnt that a bit thin for insulation?

i've tried looking at some cheapo earbuds and they have the same coating insulation..i was able to get the stuff off with some flux

would the enamel burn off with flux and solder? might get a bit tricky to avoid shorts on this thing