[JayNetTech5]

Why do my gold plated headphone plug bits get scratched by simply inserting and unplugging from headphone jacks? I see they start to form a faded slightly purple ring or rings around the bit, or have a slight scratch on them. Is this normal? Look at your plugs and look to see if you see horizontal rings or slight vertical line scratches that appear white or silver on the gold plated plug.

 

[HamilcarBarca]

Quote:

Why do my gold plated headphone plug bits get scratched by simply inserting and unplugging from headphone jacks? I see they start to form a purple ring or rings around the bit, or have a slight scratch on them. Is this normal? Look at your plugs and look to see if you see horizontal rings or slight vertical line scratches that appear white or silver on the gold plated plug.

 
What do you plug them into?

 

[JayNetTech5]

laptop, ipod touch 4g, another laptop.

 

[DaBomb77766]

Gold plating will always wear off over time, the gold is just too soft to be totally permanent.  It should't actually affect the sound in any way though, it's just an aesthetic thing.

 

[JayNetTech5]

Quote:

Gold plating will always wear off over time, the gold is just too soft to be totally permanent.  It should't actually affect the sound in any way though, it's just an aesthetic thing.

I notice all of our other gold plugs have scratches, and they were plugged into other devices other than the ones I mentioned. Maybe I'm just paying attention to little things?

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

I notice all of our other gold plugs have scratches, and they were plugged into other devices other than the ones I mentioned. Maybe I'm just paying attention to little things?

Again, all gold plugs will scratch no matter what!  Eventually the gold will mostly wear off and the plug will just be silver with little gold rings here and there.

 

[JayNetTech5]

Quote:

Again, all gold plugs will scratch no matter what!  Eventually the gold will mostly wear off and the plug will just be silver with little gold rings here and there.

I don't understand why they use gold plate for. Oh well LOL

 

[Great Sound]

They should nickle? Chrome? plate all plugs like this one,last longer,doesnt corrode and doesnt look cheezy.
Pffffff gold conectors

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

I don't understand why they use gold plate for. Oh well LOL

Well it's because gold doesn't corrode.  If it were copper or steel or something, it's liable to corrode and that can impact sound quality!  But as the poster above noted, nickel can be used too.  People just like to use gold instead because it's preeeetty and high-end.

 

[Mr.Sneis]

It's just a fact of life with the connectors.  AFAIK with the gold plating it is more resistant to corrosion however gold is a relatively soft metal.  Plug/Unplug them less and don't spin them.  A OCD strategy I use is to use an extension cable on said headphone so that it's the extension cable and not the headphone plug getting the most wear.

 

[JayNetTech5]

True

 

[power911]

this made me realize that my MS1i headphone jack is officially coatless now >.<