[Backsplash7]

Eidolic and Oyaide have them but it is hard to find in the US, I just saw Plussound has some as well. I might get the Plussound ones if I found nothing else.

Oh yeah, I've seen the eidolic one, you're paying a premium but still getting gold plated brass, so I dont see the benefit of that one. Not come across the oyaide one though, and cant find it with a quick search. But the plussound ones look good, cryo treated gold plated copper would be welcome upgrade, thanks for that!

 

[samandhi]

I saw quite a few listings on Aliexpress and have used one before which was okay, I just wanted to see if there are any offerings within the US before I buy one from Aliexpress since shipping will take a while. The stock ones were impossible to reuse though (I have tried reusing the connectors on an HD650 cable and they were glue/molded together, so I want to get a pair of 2.5mm connectors to put on my broken HD650 cable.)

I can't tell you where you might get those connectors, but I can recommend a pure copper cable that has the 2.5mm connectors you are looking for. Hartaudio cables in the US makes really nice cables and they are not overly expensive. While they can custom make the proprietary "notch" with the 2.5mm connector, I have found that it isn't necessary. I (accidentally) ordered one with just the regular 2.5mm connector (and a 3.5mm SE and 4.4mm balanced source connector) and they work fantastically, and more importantly they sound great with it. With the modular connector of your choice, I think it came out to $55 total. It shipped and arrived very quickly (I think they are based in Texas IIRC). I know this isn't what you asked for, but at least you have alternatives if you don't want to mess with it.

BTW! I think they quoted me an extra $10 or something like that to make the custom ends for the HD700.

P.S. I also did some research on this, and for the cup connector side you can actually get mono 2.5mm or stereo 2.5mm safely. The phones are wired as balanced, so you won't be shorting out any grounds with either option.

 

[iFi audio]

I can't tell you where you might get those connectors, but I can recommend a pure copper cable that has the 2.5mm connectors you are looking for. Hartaudio cables in the US makes really nice cables and they are not overly expensive. While they can custom make the proprietary "notch" with the 2.5mm connector, I have found that it isn't necessary. I (accidentally) ordered one with just the regular 2.5mm connector (and a 3.5mm SE and 4.4mm balanced source connector) and they work fantastically, and more importantly they sound great with it. With the modular connector of your choice, I think it came out to $55 total. It shipped and arrived very quickly (I think they are based in Texas IIRC). I know this isn't what you asked for, but at least you have alternatives if you don't want to mess with it.

BTW! I think they quoted me an extra $10 or something like that to make the custom ends for the HD700.

P.S. I also did some research on this, and for the cup connector side you can actually get mono 2.5mm or stereo 2.5mm safely. The phones are wired as balanced, so you won't be shorting out any grounds with either option.

Okay, just to confirm: with that cable you could easily use i.e. a 4-pin XLR pigtail instead of 4.4mm plug, right?

 

[samandhi]

Okay, just to confirm: with that cable you could easily use i.e. a 4-pin XLR pigtail instead of 4.4mm plug, right

Yep. Sure can. The cables are modular, so you can choose pretty much any connector you want (or a kit with all of them).

Edit: For my needs, I bought a 4.4mm balanced and a 3.5mm SE to cover all of my headphones and connections.

 

[iFi audio]

Edit: For my needs, I bought a 4.4mm balanced and a 3.5mm SE to cover all of my headphones and connections.

Thanks for explaining! One single-ended plug and one balanced then. Good choice!

 

[Evshrug]

Okay, just to confirm: with that cable you could easily use i.e. a 4-pin XLR pigtail instead of 4.4mm plug, right?

Yes, Hart Audio's claim to fame is that all their cables are balanced up until the 4 pin mini-XLR modular connector (just like the stock HD 700 cable is balanced right up until the connection plug), and then you can add any "ponytail" short cable adapter to connect whatever finishing piece you need. I believe it's a locking connector, which is both a pro and a con. The "ponytails" are a great idea IMO, because it shifts the strain and bulk of the adapter away from the jacks (so you don't have a ton of leverage to snap off a really long adapter inside the jack of your source) and adds to the ergonomics of laying out your cable. I also think the Hart Cables look and feel quite nice, they're good cables! The brand has also been around for several years now with positive reviews, I believe before 4.4mm was released and gaining popularity.

However, it's not what I would do. The Hart cables are all female mini-XLR4 connections, and you MUST use a ponytail to connect to a source. I wouldn't want to use a Hart cable with a portable DAP.

What I do instead is terminate all my aftermarket cables with a male 4.4mm. I can have all the same modular benefits of using ponytail adapters to connect to any single ended or balanced amp, buuuuuuuut I also have the ability to have at least one type of connection I can use without any adapter (which is compact enough to use with portable sources, like my Sony NW-ZX300 or HiBy R6 Pro, both which have 4.4mm BAL outputs), the Pentaconn 4.4mm tip is lighter and overall smaller than a female XLR4 (so it's also better for portable in that way), plus the Pentaconn doesn't need as much orientation care and very very technically (perhaps not practically) makes a better connection than XLR4. If you don't need an adapter, that's one less point of resistance in your signal chain. Last benefit (that I can think of right now), a few of my headphones came with Pentaconn 4.4mm balanced cables, so I can just reuse my ponytails without buying more aftermarket cables.

Note: Hart Audio also sells "replacement line" cables terminated in 4.4mm, so you could also use this strategy with their products!

I have one very nice 4.4mm female to 3.5mm male (Single-Ended) ponytail for portable use, and then a female 4.4mm to XLR4 male adapter that is shorter than a F6.5mm to M3.2mm adapter, and that covers all my current use cases and headphones. Maybe someday I'll buy a 4.4mm to 2.5mm adapter for a Qudelix 5k... but not if I decide to get an iFi GO Blu instead

 

[iFi audio]

but not if I decide to get an iFi GO Blu instead

My man

Yes, Hart Audio's claim to fame is that all their cables are balanced up until the 4 pin mini-XLR modular connector (just like the stock HD 700 cable is balanced right up until the connection plug), and then you can add any "ponytail" short cable adapter to connect whatever finishing piece you need. I believe it's a locking connector, which is both a pro and a con. The "ponytails" are a great idea IMO, because it shifts the strain and bulk of the adapter away from the jacks (so you don't have a ton of leverage to snap off a really long adapter inside the jack of your source) and adds to the ergonomics of laying out your cable. I also think the Hart Cables look and feel quite nice, they're good cables! The brand has also been around for several years now with positive reviews, I believe before 4.4mm was released and gaining popularity.

From what I can tell, those mini-XLRs are rather small and nowhere near as big as regular XLRs, so pigtails based on these minis are probably one of the most convenient ways to go about it. These are locking types indeed, which is a plus too!

 

[Backsplash7]

I have a modular cable based around mini-4 pin xlr's too, except the plug is at the Y-split, so the idea being that I only need to get a short bit of cable for each additional headphone connector type, then the main body of the cable is terminated with full sized 4-pin xlr, with an optional xlr to quarter inch jack pigtail. So if plugs are going to degrade the signal transfer in a cable, they're definitely going to be doing that in mine! One odd thing though, is that better-than-gold plated brass male mini 4-pin xlr's seem to be non existant, whilst there are some better options around for the female connectors

 

[iFi audio]

I have a modular cable based around mini-4 pin xlr's too, except the plug is at the Y-split,

Come to think of it, by having a plug just next to a splitter you can control how long you want your cable, right?

 

[Backsplash7]

I mean, if I wanted to, I could have several different lengths for the main cable body, for use in different scenarios, and just plug the headphone section into whichever body I wanted at the time. Likewise I could have several different cable bodies with different termination on the end, with different adapters as well. So I could have one cable with a 4-pin xlr termination going into a 6.35 pigtail, and one cable terminated in 4.4, adapted into to 3.5, and I'd still be using the same 30cm Y-split section for all of them

 

[samandhi]

However, it's not what I would do. The Hart cables are all female mini-XLR4 connections, and you MUST use a ponytail to connect to a source. I wouldn't want to use a Hart cable with a portable DAP.

I do this all the time with a portable setup (either the iBasso DX160 or the DX300). Like @iFi audio said, they are very small. They are no bigger in diameter than the jack housing is. I was skeptical in the beginning when I was first looking at them, but now I have no worries. Also, for the headphones I use these on, they really aren't portable anyhow (other than around the house or outside in my own yard).

I bought the 4.4mm balanced connector as well as the 3.5mm SE. Most of my headphones I use with the 4.4mm balanced, but there is a couple that aren't wired (internally) as balanced so I need the 3.5 (I.E. Marshall Monitor OG).

My man



From what I can tell, those mini-XLRs are rather small and nowhere near as big as regular XLRs, so pigtails based on these minis are probably one of the most convenient ways to go about it. These are locking types indeed, which is a plus too!

You are absolutely correct about the size. They really look bigger (on their site) than they actually are, and I have found that they don't get in the way at all.

 

[iFi audio]

You are absolutely correct about the size. They really look bigger (on their site) than they actually are, and I have found that they don't get in the way at all.

Thanks for confirming, some headphone manufacturers (AKG, Audeze etc.) use mini-XLRs on earcups of their cans and their size never was a problem for us here at iFi. They're also super-reliable!

 

[samandhi]

Thanks for confirming, some headphone manufacturers (AKG, Audeze etc.) use mini-XLRs on earcups of their cans and their size never was a problem for us here at iFi. They're also super-reliable!

You are most welcome!

A friend of mine just bought one for a set of AKGs (K702 to be exact), and the mini-XLR for the source side is about the same size as the cup connector. It is a 3 pin connector though, so if you needed the standard 4 pin you would need to order the standard XLR interconned that hooks into the mini XLR (to put a point on it all)....

 

[iFi audio]

You are most welcome!

A friend of mine just bought one for a set of AKGs (K702 to be exact), and the mini-XLR for the source side is about the same size as the cup connector. It is a 3 pin connector though, so if you needed the standard 4 pin you would need to order the standard XLR interconned that hooks into the mini XLR (to put a point on it all)....

Sure, understood and thanks

 

[Hsiu]

After 8 years of daily usage, I still love hd700. 3 set of headbands and earpads. It is still a amazing headphone. Although it is a pain in the beginning because of the crappy SPC cable and the need of long run in time. I believe it is the real reason why it was less appreciated at the time of release. Really sad that sennheiser discontinued it's production.