I wanted a shorter cable for my Sennheiser 600s. In the process I also wanted to be able to use the balanced output on my Sabaj DA3 DAC. The Sennheisers are nominally 300 ohms so every bit of power helps!
I'd read that the stock Sennheiser cable is four conductor and folks converted it to balanced operation by cutting the 1/4 inch plug off and adding 4 pin XLR. Although I found little other detail. You can purchase either a 600 cable or a 650 cable. On Amazon the thicker and better engineered 650 cable is half the price of the thinner and more prone to breakage 600 cable. Both will work on either set of cans.
So I figured I'd give everyone the heads up. Good news - yes, the factory cable is four conductor. Bad news - it's litz wire with epoxy insulation. It's a pain in the neck to work with and you are either going to have to heat it on high with the soldering iron or use a lighter to burn off the insulation.
Neutrik 4 pin XLR conductors are about $5US each so I got an assortment of females and a male plug for the headset. I was able to get a Rean 3.5mm (get the bigger size!), but for a 2.5mm TRRS 4 conductor plug for my Sabaj DA3 I had to resort to an oddball Chinese made one on Amazon. It was not a fun to work with and it didn't want to screw together with the thick Sennheiser wire.
I gave up and used a pre-manufactured male to male 2.5mm cable and cut off one end. Problem is the pre-manufactured cables is 3 conductor + shield. So it is 4 separate insulated conductors, but not balanced. After screwing with the other connector for so long I didn't care - I cut it as short as I possibly could, about 3 inches, and soldered it together. Subjectively I can't hear any issues with the high impedance Sennheisers - no noise, interference, channel imbalance or the like. The extra power with the Sabaj DA3 is a huge help!
For anyone that wants to try this at home I'd say you need "intermediate" soldering skills and a decent iron. The connectors will soak in a lot of heat so you need to have an iron that will stay hot. The litz wire is also difficult to work with. But if you've got the need, roughly two hours to burn and about $40 you will wind up with a headphone that can plug into 2.5mm balanced, 4 pin XLR balanced, 3.5mm single ended and 1/4 inch single ended.
It was the first time I worked with Neutrik connectors. I can see why they are so popular in professional use. Nicely made, easy to work with and reasonably priced.
I'd read that the stock Sennheiser cable is four conductor and folks converted it to balanced operation by cutting the 1/4 inch plug off and adding 4 pin XLR. Although I found little other detail. You can purchase either a 600 cable or a 650 cable. On Amazon the thicker and better engineered 650 cable is half the price of the thinner and more prone to breakage 600 cable. Both will work on either set of cans.
So I figured I'd give everyone the heads up. Good news - yes, the factory cable is four conductor. Bad news - it's litz wire with epoxy insulation. It's a pain in the neck to work with and you are either going to have to heat it on high with the soldering iron or use a lighter to burn off the insulation.
Neutrik 4 pin XLR conductors are about $5US each so I got an assortment of females and a male plug for the headset. I was able to get a Rean 3.5mm (get the bigger size!), but for a 2.5mm TRRS 4 conductor plug for my Sabaj DA3 I had to resort to an oddball Chinese made one on Amazon. It was not a fun to work with and it didn't want to screw together with the thick Sennheiser wire.
I gave up and used a pre-manufactured male to male 2.5mm cable and cut off one end. Problem is the pre-manufactured cables is 3 conductor + shield. So it is 4 separate insulated conductors, but not balanced. After screwing with the other connector for so long I didn't care - I cut it as short as I possibly could, about 3 inches, and soldered it together. Subjectively I can't hear any issues with the high impedance Sennheisers - no noise, interference, channel imbalance or the like. The extra power with the Sabaj DA3 is a huge help!
For anyone that wants to try this at home I'd say you need "intermediate" soldering skills and a decent iron. The connectors will soak in a lot of heat so you need to have an iron that will stay hot. The litz wire is also difficult to work with. But if you've got the need, roughly two hours to burn and about $40 you will wind up with a headphone that can plug into 2.5mm balanced, 4 pin XLR balanced, 3.5mm single ended and 1/4 inch single ended.
It was the first time I worked with Neutrik connectors. I can see why they are so popular in professional use. Nicely made, easy to work with and reasonably priced.
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