[MadDane]

Squished to make the 2 pins narrower?
Or, spread to to make the 2 pins wider?

I was told by John at Noble, that he and other manufacturers do not like to bend the 2 pin prongs, that it can lead to premature failure or even cause issues with iem plugs. Therefore the "Crimp" with pliers is the recommended solution.

YMMV.

 

[fokta]

Just sharing...
Local Custom cable using SPC UP-OCC Litz 25 AWG...


what interesting is... the double jack 2.5 TRRS and 3.5 SE.. to get better Black background...


above pic, I taken from someone else (Sorry and thank you).

Quite unique sound Impression... yes it really make The background become black.
But, in my combo (Solaris & DX221mk2), it gave long decay effect... its clear and good separate, not mixed with other freq...

 

[Cevisi]

Just sharing...
Local Custom cable using SPC UP-OCC Litz 25 AWG...


what interesting is... the double jack 2.5 TRRS and 3.5 SE.. to get better Black background...


above pic, I taken from someone else (Sorry and thank you).

Quite unique sound Impression... yes it really make The background become black.
But, in my combo (Solaris & DX221mk2), it gave long decay effect... its clear and good separate, not mixed with other freq...

interesting whit that double input

 

[kingdixon]

Just sharing...
Local Custom cable using SPC UP-OCC Litz 25 AWG...


what interesting is... the double jack 2.5 TRRS and 3.5 SE.. to get better Black background...


above pic, I taken from someone else (Sorry and thank you).

Quite unique sound Impression... yes it really make The background become black.
But, in my combo (Solaris & DX221mk2), it gave long decay effect... its clear and good separate, not mixed with other freq...

Well, thats strange .. i don't know if that would work with other Daps but on wm1a you can't use both outputs, when using them together balanced 4.4mm has the precedence and cancels the 3.5mm .. i am not sure if there is any benefit other than that the cable can be used balanced or single.

 

[fokta]

Well, thats strange .. i don't know if that would work with other Daps but on wm1a you can't use both outputs, when using them together balanced 4.4mm has the precedence and cancels the 3.5mm .. i am not sure if there is any benefit other than that the cable can be used balanced or single.

I thought so at first... the seller explain... not all Brand can do this... what he already know is AK, Hiby, and now Ibasso...

but, for me, I not to keen in long decay, so I prefer unplug the grounding jack (3.5)...

According the seller, AK and Hiby (R6 pro) have great impact especially in black background...

 

[MadDane]

interesting whit that double input

If you try to connect the balanced from an AK to your system you'll get a nasty hum. It's because there is no ground, the way to overcome this is to use both outputs, and the 3.5mm becomes the ground and removes the hum. Or you could just make life SO LESS complicated and use the 3.5 non balanced output to avoid all the complication. Though I have found that some people just love to make things more complicated!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2ue8hEGhvWXq6Ugb6

Picture borrowed from seller here on headfi, it's a:
Moon Audio Silver Dragon Portable Interconnect V3 Astell & Kern PEE11 Dual XLR

 

[pstickne]

Or you could just make life SO LESS complicated and use the 3.5 non balanced output to avoid all the complication. Though I have found that some people just love to make things more complicated!

Also, why would any “audiophile” company make balanced with MORE noise?

SE all the way

 

[Slater]

I was told by John at Noble, that he and other manufacturers do not like to bend the 2 pin prongs, that it can lead to premature failure or even cause issues with iem plugs. Therefore the "Crimp" with pliers is the recommended solution.

YMMV.

As long as it’s not bent too much, I’ve never had a failure or any other type of problem.

I actually don’t like crimping the pins because it compromises gold plating. It can also cause additional wear on the female socket.

However, for those worried about bending or crimping, a 3rd alternative is to tin the pins with a very thin coating of quality solder.

Compared to bending or crimping the pins, tinning the pins is the best/safest option of the 3.

 

[PhonoPhi]

As long as it’s not bent too much, I’ve never had a failure or any other type of problem.

I actually don’t like crimping the pins because it compromises gold plating. It can also cause additional wear on the female socket.

However, for those worried about bending or crimping, a 3rd alternative is to tin the pins with a very thin coating of quality solder.

Compared to bending or crimping the pins, tinning the pins is the best/safest option of the 3.

For those worrying about the signal noise, tin-gold junction may be problematic:
https://www.microcontrollertips.com/gold-tin-contacts-just-dont-mate-together/

 

[pstickne]

For those worrying about the signal noise, tin-gold junction may be problematic:
https://www.microcontrollertips.com/gold-tin-contacts-just-dont-mate-together/

Out of all the arguments against tin (vs. gold) on that page..

 

[PhonoPhi]

Out of all the arguments against tin (vs. gold) on that page..

There are several arguments to be cautious: a hetero metal-metal junction, thermocouple effect, potential formation of intermetalic compounds.

 

[pstickne]

There are several arguments to be cautious: a hetero metal-metal junction, thermocouple effect, potential formation of intermetalic compounds.

Which is why: “Why select that one?”

 

[Slater]

For those worrying about the signal noise, tin-gold junction may be problematic:
https://www.microcontrollertips.com/gold-tin-contacts-just-dont-mate-together/

Eh, I’m not worried about it:

1. I use 60/40 lead solder (or silver solder), not pure tin solder. That article seemed to refer exclusively to pure tin being bad (not alloys).
2. The vast majority of female and male interfaces (2-pin socket, mmcx, AT, banana, XLR, 3.5mm, 2.5mm, 1/4”, etc) are gold plated. Well, those are then soldered to the copper conducting wires to make cables and plugs. And those connections are just fine (even 50+ years later in the case of some vintage audio gear and lead solder). I would think if it was so bad it would have ‘eaten through’ after 50 years, right? Even if so, I won’t even be alive in 50 years haha

 

[PhonoPhi]

Eh, I’m not worried about it:

1. I use 60/40 lead solder (or silver solder), not pure tin solder. That article seemed to refer exclusively to pure tin being bad (not alloys).
2. The vast majority of female and male interfaces (2-pin socket, mmcx, AT, banana, XLR, 3.5mm, 2.5mm, 1/4”, etc) are gold plated. Well, those are then soldered to the copper conducting wires to make cables and plugs. And those connections are just fine (even 50+ years later in the case of some vintage audio gear and lead solder). I would think if it was so bad it would have ‘eaten through’ after 50 years, right? Even if so, I won’t even be alive in 50 years haha

1. Alloys are even worse - more possible scenarios for different phases, intermetallics that create differences in potentials.
Some alloys are the worst misnomers of the audiophile world, such as gold-silver. Alloy conductivity is always higher (can be more than 3 times higher for silver-gold) than pure components.

2. Of different things, the durability is only one issue (and may be less of a problem, I agree).
The main problem again is the junction between two different metals that introduce signal distortions.
The best soldering connection is to join the wires in a direct contact and then to keep them together with the solder.

 

[zombywoof]

1. Alloys are even worse - more possible scenarios for different phases, intermetallics that create differences in potentials.
Some alloys are the worst misnomers of the audiophile world, such as gold-silver. Alloy conductivity is always higher (can be more than 3 times higher for silver-gold) than pure components.

2. Of different things, the durability is only one issue (and may be less of a problem, I agree).
The main problem again is the junction between two different metals that introduce signal distortions.
The best soldering connection is to join the wires in a direct contact and then to keep them together with the solder.

Sorry, but the above information in point #1 is nonsense. Look it up. Of all metals, pure silver (unalloyed) has the highest electrical conductivity. Anything that goes into silver for the purposes of alloying reduces the electrical conductivity. Pure copper is very close to silver in electrical conductivity. Copper has about 95% of the conductivity of silver. Anything that goes into copper for the purposes of alloy reduces the conductivity. Gold is the least desirable of the three for conducting electricity as it only has about 75% of the conductivity of copper and silver. Regarding point #2: ALL common solder materials (alloys or otherwise) have lower conductivity that copper. The electrical conductivity for common solder alloys is much less than 20% of the conductivity of copper...most are about 10%.