[Naga]

where do I find them, or are they all custom order - considering a DAC-1 and i would like to get a cost on these so i know what im up against

 

[ayt999]

cheapest would be to get a stock HD650 cable from sennheiser (should be around $15 for the cable and shipping) or use the one you already have, then get a pair of XLR plugs of the type you need (3-pin male if you want to use it with a balanced headphone amp, 3-pin female if you want to use it straight from the dac1. you can make a convertor to switch between the two), and recable it yourself or have a friend do it for you.

otherwise you can get a balanced cable from Zu Cables (the balanced version is IIRC $25 or so more than the standard one, ask them when ordering), Moon Audio (prices listed on their site), or Cardas (they only offer one to connect to amps not sources). DIYers can also make one for you....

for costs it would be around $5 if you go with the cheapest method (use your current cable so the cost is only for the new plugs), to a few hundred (depending on length and other factors) if you go with the aftermarket cable manufacturers.

 

[TheSloth]

I was wondering about something similar. My monarchy M22C has a nice line amplifier and balanced XLR outputs, and I was wondering what it would sound like with an XLR cable straight into some 650's.

 

[grawk]

I'll put in another plug for larry at headphile. He does good work, and will make the cables to your specs...

 

[TheSloth]

How can you tell (without a voltmeter) whether the XLR output is actually balanced or not? I took a look inside my monarchy, and it seems clear that everything is a 2 channel configuration, with no sign of any inverting electronics, yet it has XLR outputs and calls them 'balanced'. Shouldn't there visibly be 4 clear amplification channels, otherwise it's just single ended with the inverted connector on the XLR cable acting as a dummy, right?