Cable Adapters & Signal quality loss

[metasharp]

Hello,

what is the impact of using a cable adapter regarding the signal quality?

1- For example, let's say we have an AMP with 3 front outputs :
- A-XLR4 : Amp's XLR 4 pins Balanced front output
- A-J635 : Jack 6,35mm Unbalanced Single Ended front output
- A-J35 : Jack 3,5mm Unbalanced Single Ended front output

2- We have a HeadPhone with a cable's plug different from the one we want to plug it in.
- HP-XLR4 would be an HeadPhone with a XLR 4 pins cable's plug
- HP-J635 would be an HeadPhone with a Jack 6,35mm cable's plug
- HP-J35 would be an HeadPhone with a Jack 3,5mm cable's plug

3- What happens to the signal when we connect that way (and is it even possible for Jack to XLR?) in terms of signal quality :
X6- A-XLR4 to adapter to HP-J635
X3- A-XLR4 to adapter to HP-J35
6X- A-J635 to adapter to HP-XLR4
63- A-J635 to adapter to HP-J35
3X- A-J35 to adapter to HP-XLR4
36- A-J35 to adapter to HP-J635
(X6, X3, .... are adapter ids to refer to those scenarios below in the replies to this thread)

4- Are there some adapters brands better than others in terms of quality or is even the cheapest one exactly the same result as super expensive ones?
- I was advised to go for Portento Audio ones for example for X6 and X3 since I have an XP-XLR4 headphone.
- Some say to void multimaterial adapters (copper/silver for example), does that make sense regarding measures?

5- Is it perfectly acceptable to do X6+63 to replace directly an X3 which one may not have?

Thanks for enligthing me.

 

[staticV3]

X6: Not possible due to missing GND, might kill the Amp.
X3: Not possible due to missing GND, might kill the Amp.
6X: Possible, nothing happens to the sound.
63: Possible, nothing happens to the sound.
3X: Possible, nothing happens to the sound.
36: Possible, nothing happens to the sound.

There's no difference in sound between the cheapest and the most expensive, unless the cheap one is actually broken (wrong connection internally, >1Ω resistance).

However, there may be a difference in reliability.
For example, adapters with 2.5mm jacks are notorious for developing an intermittent connection.
I wouldn't worry about XLR and 6.35mm though. 3.5 should be fine too.

 

[metasharp]

There were measures of that somewhere? I couldn't find some.