DAC & Amp to powered monitors

[shajiparemmal]

HI, I’m and an absolute newbie. So, please excuse my ignorance.

Here is my problem.

My present scenario;

iPhone -> FiiO KA3 DAC & Headphone Amp -> Headphones (through 3.5mm jack)
The DAC has a 4.4mm balanced headphone jack too.


Target scenario;

iPhone -> DAC -> Yamaha HS8 powered monitors.


Questions;

• iPhone -> FiiO KA3 -> ( 4.4mm to XLR balanced splitter Cable) -> Yamaha HS8 speakers; Will this setup work?
• If this won’t work, what would the best alternative at a newbie budget?

Any help would be highly appreciated.

Thanks, in advance.

 

[staticV3]

iPhone -> FiiO KA3 -> ( 4.4mm to XLR balanced splitter Cable) -> Yamaha HS8 speakers; Will this setup work?

Yes, if the splitter cable is built properly.

 

[NiagaraPete]

Hi,
Welcome to ASR. Ideally you should have a balanced DAC. Though you should be able to find splitter to work with the 1/4 phone plug on the monitors.

 

[staticV3]

A balanced headphone jack is not the same as a balanced signal sent to two studio monitors.

Pentaconn has all the pins that two full size XLR outputs have (±L, ±R, GND), so you can convert one to the other.

 

[shajiparemmal]

Thank you so much.

4.4mm to XLR Cable by iFi audio - Max quality balanced signal. Minimum interference.

Meet the iFi 4.4mm to XLR cable, created to give you maximum quality balanced signal transfer and minimum interference.

ifi-audio.com

Will this one work?

 

[shajiparemmal]

Yes, if the splitter cable is built properly.

Thank you so much for that response.

One more question.
Since the output signal on the 4.4mm jack of FiiO KA is already amplified, will it be suitable to be sent to the input of the Yamaha HS8 which has an internal amp?

 

[shajiparemmal]

Hi,
Welcome to ASR. Ideally you should have a balanced DAC. Though you should be able to find splitter to work with the 1/4 phone plug on the monitors.

Thank you so much.
Will the splitting mechanism cause any degradation of sound quality?

 

[staticV3]

Since the output signal on the 4.4mm jack of FiiO KA is already amplified, will it be suitable to be sent to the input of the Yamaha HS8 which has an internal amp?

Yes. That there's an amp inside the KA3 already, doesn't matter.

 

[NiagaraPete]

Thank you so much for that response.

One more question.
Since the output signal on the 4.4mm jack of FiiO KA is already amplified, will it be suitable to be sent to the input of the Yamaha HS8 which has an internal amp?

Depends on how careful you are. You could very easily overdrive the input of the speaker.

Again, ideally you should have a balanced DAC.

 

[NiagaraPete]

Yes. That there's an amp inside the KA3 already, doesn't matter.

Really??? Will there not be a big difference in gain?

 

[staticV3]

Again, ideally you should have a balanced DAC.

what would a balanced DAC provide that the KA3 can't?

 

[staticV3]

Really??? Will there not be a big difference in gain?

At 100% volume, the KA3 will output 4Vrms, just like a Desktop XLR DAC:

 

[NiagaraPete]

what would a balanced DAC provide that the KA3 can't?

I'm not arguing against you. But it seems to me that running balanced from a DAC to a balanced speaker would be ideal. I don't know anthing about this KA3 but does a headphone amp have similar enough voltage out that there won't be a mismatch?

 

[staticV3]

I'm not arguing against you. But it seems to me that running balanced from a DAC to a balanced speaker would be ideal.

the KA3 is a balanced DAC and the HS8 a balanced speaker.

I don't know anthing about this KA3 but does a headphone amp have similar enough voltage out that there won't be a mismatch?

See above

 

[shajiparemmal]

the KA3 is a balanced DAC and the HS8 a balanced speaker.

See above

Makes perfect sense to me.
One last question.
Found this 4.4mm to XLR cable on the iFi site. https://ifi-audio.com/products/4-4mm-to-xlr-cable/
Will this serve my purpose?

 

[staticV3]

One last question.
Found this 4.4mm to XLR cable on the iFi site. https://ifi-audio.com/products/4-4mm-to-xlr-cable/
Will this serve my purpose?

I don't see any wiring layout, so hard to say for sure.
there's also lots of snake oil in the marketing, which is customary for ifi. And the price is absurd.

 

[NiagaraPete]

the KA3 is a balanced DAC and the HS8 a balanced speaker.

See above

I had a look at the KA3 and HS8 specs and features. It should all be good.

 

[shajiparemmal]

Thanks everybody, for all the information and support. Much appreciated.

 

[shajiparemmal]

Found this useful video on making my own 4.4mm pentaconn to 3 pin XLR pair