He4xx Balanced Cables

[egothrasher]

I could use some help clearing up some confusion. From what I can gather, unbalanced cables are your 3.5mm or 2/3 pole cables. Balanced cables on the other hand are your xlr, 4.4mm trs, anything with 4 poles/sleeves.

Just got my he4xx in the mail, they sound amazing and burning them in. But there is no way to have balanced cables with this setup I am assuming. The headphones have 2x 3.5 mm inputs. Even if you had the other end of the cable be balanced, say the 4.4 or xlr, it wouldn't matter because the other end plugging into the headphone themselves is 3.5, correct?

If you have balanced end going into unbalanced end, I would assume that makes the whole cable unbalanced and probably cause problems, or does it cause problems the other way around?

 

[Jimbob54]

I could use some help clearing up some confusion. From what I can gather, unbalanced cables are your 3.5mm or 2/3 pole cables. Balanced cables on the other hand are your xlr, 4.4mm trs, anything with 4 poles/sleeves.

Just got my he4xx in the mail, they sound amazing and burning them in. But there is no way to have balanced cables with this setup I am assuming. The headphones have 2x 3.5 mm inputs. Even if you had the other end of the cable be balanced, say the 4.4 or xlr, it wouldn't matter because the other end plugging into the headphone themselves is 3.5, correct?

If you have balanced end going into unbalanced end, I would assume that makes the whole cable unbalanced and probably cause problems, or does it cause problems the other way around?

You can, and I have got, the 4xx and other phones running balanced. You can pretty much run any headphone balanced- if you know how to wire it up.

Separate detachable L+R make this very easy- make or buy a cable with the right terminations at the cup end and wire up the XLR/4.4mm/2.5mm plug at the amp end. All HP with balanced connections can be run into single ended amps with adapters no problems- they just share a ground connection .

Yoiu cant (or at least not easily) run single ended wired headphones into a balanced amp.

For the 4xx just search for 4xx balanced cable , or possible Beyerdynamic T1/T5 or several others- all use twin 3.5mm on ebay or amazon.

But- I would say, they dont need it and if you have a decent amp with enough power, wont matter if SE or balanced. They arent hard to drive , dont need the extra (double) voltage that balanced brings.

 

[solderdude]

Every headphone with cable entries on both cups (aside from the HP50 and maybe one or more others) can be used on balanced amps when you use/buy a balanced cable. (The HE4XX is one of those)

Headphones that have a cable entry on one side which has 4 contacts most likely can be used on balanced amps when you use/buy a balanced cable.

Headphones that has a cable entry on one side which has only 3 contacts cannot be used on balanced amplifiers unless it is taken apart, connectors are changed and it is rewired

 

[Jimbob54]

Every headphone with cable entries on both cups (aside from the HP50 and maybe one or more others) can be used on balanced amps when you use/buy a balanced cable. (The HE4XX is one of those)

Headphones that have a cable entry on one side which has 4 contacts most likely can be used on balanced amps when you use/buy a balanced cable.

Headphones that has a cable entry on one side which has only 3 contacts cannot be used on balanced amplifiers unless it is taken apart, connectors are changed and it is rewired

For once, I beat you!

 

[solderdude]

Damn you ... I will inform 'skipper'.

 

[jameswilson]

I just "made" a balanced cable for my Sundaras.... I simply searched Amazon for the cheapest 2.5/4.4 IEM replacement cable, 2-pin/mmcx/qdc, doesnt matter. I just cut the IEM connections off and soldered a 3.5mm jack to each side...

Boom. Balanced cable for Sundaras/HE400/etc. for the total price of $17 including the 3.5 jacks. I have no idea why the balanced headphone cables cost 3x as much as the IEM cables, even on Aliexpress. Clearly there is no difference, as this works perfectly.

 

[brachypelma44]

I just "made" a balanced cable for my Sundaras.... I simply searched Amazon for the cheapest 2.5/4.4 IEM replacement cable, 2-pin/mmcx/qdc, doesnt matter. I just cut the IEM connections off and soldered a 3.5mm jack to each side...

I have no idea why the balanced headphone cables cost 3x as much as the IEM cables

Because 99% of people don't possess the knowledge and/or equipment to make their own cables as you did. Their only option is to buy a pre-made cable, even if it's a bit pricey.

 

[jkmf]

I just "made" a balanced cable for my Sundaras.... I simply searched Amazon for the cheapest 2.5/4.4 IEM replacement cable, 2-pin/mmcx/qdc, doesnt matter. I just cut the IEM connections off and soldered a 3.5mm jack to each side...

Boom. Balanced cable for Sundaras/HE400/etc. for the total price of $17 including the 3.5 jacks. I have no idea why the balanced headphone cables cost 3x as much as the IEM cables, even on Aliexpress. Clearly there is no difference, as this works perfectly.

jameswilson I am planning to do the same. Do you mind sharing some diagram how you connect the wiring? thanks