[boirefish]

I'm considering making my stock LCD-2 cable balanced xlr 4-pin according to:
 
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/Phoenix/ModifyEN.htm
 
In order to use it with the NFB-10SE
 
If I have a soldering kit and tools to strip wires, is there anything else in particular I will need?
 
Is the NFB-10SE worth the trouble, or should I just get the Lyr?
 
How's  the $30 they charge on these materials, or can this be had elsewhere easily and at a lower price?
 
Anything else I should take into consideration?
 
I'm sorry if this was answered before, but I looked around and haven't found any confirmations on this specifically.

 

[Chris_Himself]

 
Quote:

I'm considering making my stock LCD-2 cable balanced xlr 4-pin according to:
 
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/Phoenix/ModifyEN.htm
 
In order to use it with the NFB-10SE
 
If I have a soldering kit and tools to strip wires, is there anything else in particular I will need?
 
Is the NFB-10SE worth the trouble, or should I just get the Lyr?
 
How's  the $30 they charge on these materials, or can this be had elsewhere easily and at a lower price?
 
Anything else I should take into consideration?
 
I'm sorry if this was answered before, but I looked around and haven't found any confirmations on this specifically.

$30 for those materials is a little steep...
 
The highest end Neutrik XLR's (XX Series) are like 5 dollars apiece, plus about 50 cents worth of solder and zip ties... although for convenience I guess you'd just be splitting hairs getting everything else separately.
 
As for the difference between balanced and not, it's there but it's not worth buying a brand new amp over.
 
 
 

 

[tim3320070]

Well, he's got to pay for shipping and where can he get a few inches of solder, it's usually sold by the roll which can be as much as $50? It's not a bargain but it's convenient. It's true going from NFB-2 to 10SE might not be worth the investment but most things aren't really worth it here for the most part (beyond an iPod).
And I prefer chicken at Chipotle to argue further! It's succulent!

 

[Chris_Himself]

Quote:

Well, he's got to pay for shipping and where can he get a few inches of solder, it's usually sold by the roll which can be as much as $50? It's not a bargain but it's convenient. It's true going from NFB-2 to 10SE might not be worth the investment but most things aren't really worth it here for the most part (beyond an iPod).
And I prefer chicken at Chipotle to argue further! It's succulent!

$50 for solder? It's like $3 here for like 50ft of it...

 

[tim3320070]

I guess that's what I see at Markertek. I think I paid $35 for a huge roll that will last me until I die.

 

[boirefish]

Quote:

I guess that's what I see at Markertek. I think I paid $35 for a huge roll that will last me until I die.

It was all good. I had solder and a soldering iron.
 
I think I ended up doing it backwards though. There's music, but when I put my headphones on back to front it sounds like before... is that possible, or am I just imagining things?

 

[tim3320070]

You might have crossed connections. If you have a multimeter, you can check (listen for a scratching sound on one side when closing the circuit for each wire).

 

[boirefish]

Quote:

You might have crossed connections. If you have a multimeter, you can check (listen for a scratching sound on one side when closing the circuit for each wire).

I'm afraid there's no multimeters around. After a third attempt at getting everything soldered in place (without a solder wick, which has proven to be quite difficult), I think it's okay now. do you happen to know which colours of the stock cable correspond to which pin (R+/R-, L+/L-)? 
 
I went:
 
Red pin 3/R+
Black pin 4
Orange pin 1
Brown pin 2

 

[tim3320070]

I don't, that's why a multimeter is needed. Check Youtube for left/right channel test.

 

[boirefish]

Quote:

I don't, that's why a multimeter is needed. Check Youtube for left/right channel test.

that makes sense. I just tried on youtube for around 2 hours, and i've noticed that it seems to have left and right going at the same time when I do the configuration correctly, despite the videos saying "right" or "left". I also took out the plugs in between and just made the colours match, wire to wire (in testing what it would be like if I had not cut the cable at all), and both left and right still play at the same time on those tests. Either that, or the right side does not respond, depending on which youtube test. There was one video that distinctly had separation between the two sides, although it did not indicate left or right when playing them. Could this lack of differentiation be because I'm currently plugging it into a single ended source?

 

[boirefish]

I got it working now. Ended up opening up my 1/4" neutrik plug to see what was connected where. now all the tests are working good.
 
After resoldering 4 times, I think the quality of connection has deteriorated considerably. Does that affect sound quality?

 

[tim3320070]

I don't think it matters but it may break on you at some point. If you're concerned, trim the wire again and start fresh.

 

[boirefish]

Quote:

I don't think it matters but it may break on you at some point. If you're concerned, trim the wire again and start fresh.

Great. The joints feel quite solid and some wires were fresh so it should hold well. I've trimmed it three times, and the last time I just went without. Everything sounds fine so I'm happy.
 
For future reference, to anyone who would be searching head-fi like I was (without success), my eventual config was:
 
pin 1/L+ = ORANGE
pin 2/L- = BROWN
pin 3/R+ = RED
pin 4/R- = BLACK
 
and thanks for all the help tim.