[Bob Parish]

When you connect the DAP to the Diablo with a 4.4 to 4.4mm Pentacon cable, does the Diablo work purely as an amplifier or is the signal first processed through the DAC Burr Brown, that is, the signal does not bypass the internal Diablo DAC?

The Diablo works purely as an amplifier, you will listen another DAC!

 

[BryceS]

When you connect the DAP to the Diablo with a 4.4 to 4.4mm Pentacon cable, does the Diablo work purely as an amplifier or is the signal first processed through the DAC Burr Brown, that is, the signal does not bypass the internal Diablo DAC?

As Bob said, the Diablo in that set up is purely the amplifier, the DAP provides the DAC duties entirely.

 

[CH23]

To help y'all a bit, I made a (hopefully) informative image in regards to the input and output from the Diablo:

 

[mekap]

To help y'all a bit, I made a (hopefully) informative image in regards to the input and output from the Diablo:

Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[mekap]

Just a brief follow up.

I made a 4.4mm Pentaconn to 2 x RCA cable from an unused headphone cable and an unused RCA cable.

I unsoldered the negatives and connected them to the ground of the Pentaconn then soldered the two positives (signals) to the respective RCA pins and the two grounds to the RCA grounding sleeves. The negatives are NOT connected making a single ended 4.4mm to RCA as Thorsten had advised was appropriate. I wrapped the split and the RCAs in heat shrink for that “custom audiophile” look .

I did a quick test with my Modi multibit into the Diablo and it works a treat !

Bonus is the same cable can be used for the Diablo line out as a DAC to an amp, plugged it into my Schiit Heresy and it works perfectly.

Also works just the same with the Gryphon although that already has a 3.5mm SE in/out so that was of technical interest only.

I also just received the iFi 4.4mm to 4.4mm and yes all five terminals are used so it is grounded and worked perfectly line out from M11 Plus to line in to the Diablo.

I have iFi and ddhifi 4.4mm male to 3.5mm female balanced to single ended adapters due next week and all thing being equal they should duplicate that 4.4mm to RCA cable I made using the adapter and a much more common 3.5mm to dual RCA cable.

I’ll report back.

Help me please. I need the same cable 4.4mm to 2 RCA. Can you schematically draw how you connected 4.4mm to 2 RCAs? What conductors are connected to what in the connectors?

 

[BryceS]

Help me please. I need the same cable 4.4mm to 2 RCA. Can you schematically draw how you connected 4.4mm to 2 RCAs? What conductors are connected to what in the connectors?

I can’t readily do a schematic but it is very easy to explain. I’ll add some images to help.

The 4.4mm Pentaconn plug has five terminals which, starting top down, are known as TRRRS which is Tip, Ring, Ring, Ring, Sleeve. Obviously Ring three times because there are three Rings between the Tip terminal and the Sleeve terminal at the bottom.

The tip is the left channel positive, the first ring is the left channel negative, the next ring is the right channel positive, the next ring is the right channel negative and the sleeve at the base is the ground.

On a headphone cable the ground isn’t used, on a balanced interconnect cable all five should be used. In this single ended application only the left and right positives and the ground are used, the negatives from both channels are not connected at all.

The RCA plugs also have a Tip and a Sleeve each, the red coded plug being the right channel. The central Tip of each plug will connect to the positive of each channel on the 4.4mm and the sleeves of the RCA will both connect to the ground of the 4.4mm.

AGAIN ….. the negatives of the 4.4mm ARE NOT connected to anything in this application.

All you need to do is solder the 4 wires as described above. You need to know what soldering points on the 4.4mm plug relate to the tip, rings and sleeve. The RCA are pretty obvious just looking st them which soldering point is which.

You really need to have a continuing tester to check what goes where and to check the final cable is correct and has no shorts. You can make one with some lengths of wire, a battery and a light bulb.

Beware that most 4.4mm to 2 x RCA cables advertised on line are not wired this way and are not suitable in this application.



I SHOULD PROBABLY HAVE SKIPPED THE ABOVE AND JUST WRITTEN THE BELOW :

It is a lot simpler to buy a common 3.5mm to 2 x RCA cable and an iFi or ddHiFi 3.5mm female to 4.4mm male adapter. That achieves exactly the same wiring set up. The adapter also allows a 3.5mm single ended source to be used with a common 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable.

Adapter and 3.5mm in photos below:

 

[mekap]

I can’t readily do a schematic but it is very easy to explain. I’ll add some images to help.

The 4.4mm Pentaconn plug has five terminals which, starting top down, are known as TRRRS which is Tip, Ring, Ring, Ring, Sleeve. Obviously Ring three times because there are three Rings between the Tip terminal and the Sleeve terminal at the bottom.

The tip is the left channel positive, the first ring is the left channel negative, the next ring is the right channel positive, the next ring is the right channel negative and the sleeve at the base is the ground.

On a headphone cable the ground isn’t used, on a balanced interconnect cable all five should be used. In this single ended application only the left and right positives and the ground are used, the negatives from both channels are not connected at all.



The RCA plugs also have a Tip and a Sleeve each, the red coded plug being the right channel. The central Tip of each plug will connect to the positive of each channel on the 4.4mm and the sleeves of the RCA will both connect to the ground of the 4.4mm.

AGAIN ….. the negatives of the 4.4mm ARE NOT connected to anything in this application.



All you need to do is solder the 4 wires as described above. You need to know what soldering points on the 4.4mm plug relate to the tip, rings and sleeve. The RCA are pretty obvious just looking st them which soldering point is which.

You really need to have a continuing tester to check what goes where and to check the final cable is correct and has no shorts. You can make one with some lengths of wire, a battery and a light bulb.

Beware that most 4.4mm to 2 x RCA cables advertised on line are not wired this way and are not suitable in this application.



I SHOULD PROBABLY HAVE SKIPPED THE ABOVE AND JUST WRITTEN THE BELOW :

It is a lot simpler to buy a common 3.5mm to 2 x RCA cable and an iFi or ddHiFi 3.5mm female to 4.4mm male adapter. That achieves exactly the same wiring set up. The adapter also allows a 3.5mm single ended source to be used with a common 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable.

Adapter and 3.5mm in photos below:

Thanks for your help!
I will take your advice and solder such a cable, I do not want to use additional adapters 3.5 to 4.4mm

 

[BryceS]

Thanks for your help!
I will take your advice and solder such a cable, I do not want to use additional adapters 3.5 to 4.4mm

Cool ......... just one quick note.

I see on the RCA image that I used above it shows TIP and a RED wire - that might be misleading.

In our application you want the TIP of the 4.4mm going to the TIP of the LEFT channel RCA.

The MIDDLE RING of the 4.4mm will go to the TIP of the RED/RIGHT channel RCA.

The SLEEVE of the 4.4mm will go to the SLEEVES of the BOTH LEFT AND RIGHT RCA.

The 4.4mm plugs are a pain in the ..... to solder as they are so small inside. I started with a headphone cable which meant only unsoldering the negatives and soldering both of those to the sleeve and using the existing soldered positives. You might be handier with a soldering iron and have a better set up for fiddly work than I do.

Good luck ...... let us know how you get on.

 

[mekap]

Cool ......... just one quick note.

I see on the RCA image that I used above it shows TIP and a RED wire - that might be misleading.

In our application you want the TIP of the 4.4mm going to the TIP of the LEFT channel RCA.

The MIDDLE RING of the 4.4mm will go to the TIP of the RED/RIGHT channel RCA.

The SLEEVE of the 4.4mm will go to the SLEEVES of the BOTH LEFT AND RIGHT RCA.

The 4.4mm plugs are a pain in the ..... to solder as they are so small inside. I started with a headphone cable which meant only unsoldering the negatives and soldering both of those to the sleeve and using the existing soldered positives. You might be handier with a soldering iron and have a better set up for fiddly work than I do.

Good luck ...... let us know how you get on.

I will try to do this as soon as I buy everything necessary, like a cable and RCA plugs. I thought about another option, maybe I’ll buy a ready-made cable and check it with a tester, and if it doesn’t match, then solder the wires as required according to your drawings.

https://aliexpress.ru/item/1005003821187654.html?_evo_buckets=165609,165598,188872,194275,299287,224373,176818&_t=gps-id:aerPdpSubstituteRcmd,scm-url:1007.34525.289819.0,pvid:978671ba-c36a-4dcc-bcda-be75a65d716c,tpp_buckets:24525#0#289819#12_21387#0#233228#4_21387#9507#434559#4&gps-id=aerPdpSubstituteRcmd&item_id=1005003821187654&pvid=978671ba-c36a-4dcc-bcda-be75a65d716c&scenario=aerPdpSubstituteRcmd&scm=1007.34525.289819.0&scm-url=1007.34525.289819.0&scm_id=1007.34525.289819.0&sku_id=12000027272098569&spm=a2g2w.detail.1000060.1.73b070bbWRkL6H&tpp_rcmd_bucket_id=289819


https://aliexpress.ru/item/10050033...25486942256&spm=a2g2w.cart.0.0.7c664aa6P9LHG3

 

[BryceS]

I will try to do this as soon as I buy everything necessary, like a cable and RCA plugs. I thought about another option, maybe I’ll buy a ready-made cable and check it with a tester, and if it doesn’t match, then solder the wires as required according to your drawings.

That would be a simple fix so long as the Pentaconn end isn’t glued shut as some are.

 

[mekap]

That would be a simple fix so long as the Pentaconn end isn’t glued shut as some are.

if it's sealed, I'll have to solder a new Pentacon

 

[BryceS]

if it's sealed, I'll have to solder a new Pentacon

Of course, either way it is a head start at one end at least.

 

[mekap]

Of course, either way it is a head start at one end at least.

thanks for explaining how to connect Pentacon to RCA
I'll try to connect Diablo to a stationary amplifier

 

[BryceS]

thanks for explaining how to connect Pentacon to RCA
I'll try to connect Diablo to a stationary amplifier

Cool …… the 4.4mm to 2 x RCA cable, or a 3.5mm to RCA with a 3.5mm female to 4.5mm male adapter, will work in both directions from the rear 4.4mm of the Diablo.

That is you can go from Diablo as the DAC to a single ended amplifier or the other way around being from a single ended DAC to the Diablo as the amplifier.

I’ve tested both and both work flawlessly.

Please report back how you get on with cables, I’d be keen to buy a nice 4.4mm to RCA but I have my doubts they are wired correctly for this use. The only one I’ve seen that showed the wiring set up most certainly wasn’t.

 

[mekap]

Cool …… the 4.4mm to 2 x RCA cable, or a 3.5mm to RCA with a 3.5mm female to 4.5mm male adapter, will work in both directions from the rear 4.4mm of the Diablo.

That is you can go from Diablo as the DAC to a single ended amplifier or the other way around being from a single ended DAC to the Diablo as the amplifier.

I’ve tested both and both work flawlessly.

Please report back how you get on with cables, I’d be keen to buy a nice 4.4mm to RCA but I have my doubts they are wired correctly for this use. The only one I’ve seen that showed the wiring set up most certainly wasn’t.

I found one such cable, it is written that it is a sterling silver cable.

https://aliexpress.ru/item/10050038...erPdpSubstituteRcmd&tpp_rcmd_bucket_id=289819



here is another option, but it is silver plated
https://aliexpress.ru/item/10050025...21199090541&spm=a2g2w.cart.0.0.605a4aa6iynDmp

а это из меди ОСС
https://aliexpress.ru/item/10050033...25486942256&spm=a2g2w.cart.0.0.18bc4aa6lPDVjh