[prodo123]

Hi,
 
I've recabled my HD 25-1 II into 4-conductor balanced mode and plan to test balanced vs. unbalanced by way of breakout cables leading from the 4-conductor TRRS 3.5mm jack on the headphone to 1/4" dual TRS for balanced and single 3.5mm TRS for unbalanced.
 
The issue is that after receiving all the parts from eBay (cable from navships, props to him), the setup is not working because of extremely low-quality TRRS female connectors. They have their merit for being metal but they just aren't connecting properly.
 
So my question is: is there a source for high-quality TRRS connectors where one can solder one's own cables? Double points if it's gold plated (the eBay sourced ones were only half gold-plated, with 2 pins silver-colored). Buying an adapter and replacing the cables does not work because that defeats the purpose of buying navships's SPC cable.
 
All other components are working fine and I will have access to my balanced testing box in 3-4 weeks. It's an audio interface which offers balanced output intended for powered loudspeakers, meaning it should have the same signal magnitude as the headphone output. Also beneficial with this is that both its headphone output and balanced output use the same DAC and should eliminate the differences caused by using a balanced-only headphone source.
 
The link to the TRRS female connector that I bought is here for future reference: http://www.ebay.com/itm/251511145632

 

[Mad Max]

So you have to wiggle the connectors are something to get sound?  You soldered them up and insulated them right, right?
 
That's the only connector I've seen so far.  You could try ordering another as it may just be the one that you received that sucks.  These things don't have the tightest manufacturing tolerances ever.

 

[prodo123]

Yes, they've been soldered up and each terminal wrapped in plastic for insulation. Even tried without the outer shell in case the terminals are shorted by the metal cover.
 
I finished up my second breakout cable using the exact same connector (I ordered 2). This one shorts the left and right cold contacts to form a regular TRS jack. This shows even weirder behavior with the TRRS connector: the sleeve contact does not make contact at all.
 
I did find a secure-looking gold-plated TRRS contact on eBay but the seller only sells and ships to Australia. I wonder if someone else sells the same product worldwide.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400557883935
 
EDIT: I found the source for that specific connector. It seems to be BKL Electronic 1103058, but this distributor does not ship to NA and has ridiculous shipping fees relative to my order size of 1 pc. http://www.conrad.com/ce/en/product/730223/BKL-Electronic-1103058-Catch-Coupler-35-MM-Gold-plated-35-mm-Number-of-pins4