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4-pin XLR or 4.4mm for headphone cables?

Rantenti

Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2021
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Hello all,

I'm buying a balanced cable for my Hifiman Ananda headphones to use on the Topping A90. Nothing fancy or expensive. Is the XLR (Neutrik) a better choice for durability / better contact than the 4.4mm at the same price? Some advised 4.4mm for more flexible use (eg with DAPs), but I found that many DAPs feature the 2.5mm instead of the 4.4mm. The 4.4mm plug seems far from universal across DAPs.

On the other hand, most good desktop headphone amps feature the XLR instead of the 4.4mm plug.

What would you buy in my case? Thanks!
 

bigjacko

Addicted to Fun and Learning
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Sep 18, 2019
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Some trrs is compatible with trs, so a plus there. Xlr will not short when you insert into socket and has lower resistance lower noise. If you chase SINAD then xlr is the way to go.
 
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