I have a fully balanced stack - Topping E50 → L50 - but I want to try out some older headphones as well as my balanced ones.
Is there literally zero safe adapters to use either the 4-pin XLR or the 4.4mm outputs with standard 3.5mm unbalanced headphones? i.e. without tearing apart headphone cables?
If I use a single-ended RCA out → Xduoo’s XLR, can I then safely use a 4-pin XLR or 4.4mm balanced → 3.5mm unbalanced headphones adapter? The topping stack has both balanced and unbalanced ourputs that I can switch between.
You can’t go SE to Balanced but you can go Balanced to SE…I use the 4.4mm out on my DAP to an RCA in and a 4.4mm IEM/HP cable adaptor to 1/4” however this would not work in reverse.
The general rule of thumb is if an amp has both a SE and Balanced out it will prioritise one over the other quality wise which usually ends up being the balanced one…@WaveTheory do you know of any/have any recs for hybrid tube amps with both SE and Balanced outs?
Came across this which appears to haev both balanced and se ins and outs. Sounds meh, yes, but seeing it offmarket for cheap and I’m thinking it might be a good introduction to experiment with. Loxjie P20 - Balanced Hybrid Headphone Amp
I have both a Liquid Platinum and a TA-20 hybrid tube amp and they are both great driving my 660S. Balanced all the way. That said, I do hear that OTL sounds even better. I have been looking at the TA-66, myself.
Many hybrid tube amps have both balanced and single ended outputs, but as you pointed out the single ended outputs tend to be quite compromised in comparison to the balanced output. @midimid the trick is going to be finding a tube amp that has a balanced output on it but is actually a singled ended amp that has a balanced output as a convenience. Look at the power output specs. The if the rated power output from the single ended output is less than the balanced output, that’s a balanced amp with a single ended output added for convenience but that single ended output will be significantly behind the balanced output sonically.
No, DO NOT just use cables that are XLR at one end and RCA at the other unless the manufacturers of the gear explicitly say you can do so.
No, DO NOT adapt a 4-pin XLR headphone output to a single ended cable.
However, you can adapt a 4.4mm pentaconn balanced headphone output to a single ended headphone connection. Here’s an example. The key is the 5th conductor on the pentaconn can handle the shared ground safely. 4-pin balanced connectors have no way to do that, so you’ll end up connecting the 2 balanced amp circuits together and praying you don’t blow it up.
The xDuoo TA20 Plus is a reasonably priced tube hybrid that has a 4.4mm pentaconn headphone output on it. So maybe check that out.
This is hard to import Bottlehead, well it is hard to import everything here to my country lol. Customs uncle will enjoy it more than I do.
Last time they got a hold on to my SP2KT, i bought a used unit from hongkong for 1000$, they were asking me 1700$ in customs and import taxes. Had to let go of that device
Yeah man, they called me up at the custom centre showed me a huge file on my shipment and then they literally grilled me for the next 15-20 mins. Literally saying me you had the funds to buy a music player worth 2000$(they checked online price) but no 1700$ for getting it cleared? pay up or gtfo That day gave me a fever for the next few days. And i stopped importing Music Players directly
How is the 4.4 → 1/4" adapter you’ve linked to any different from the 4-pin XLR → 1/4" TRS headphone output scenario I had originally suggested with the MT-604 (ignoring my dumber idea of single-ended source → balanced inputs)? Does it not have the 5th conductor?
In the end, for less than $100 new, it sounds like the adapting is not worth pursuing and either the Loxjie P20 (cheapest balanced + unbalanced I’m seeing) or something unbalanced like the xDuoo 602 might be a best way to introduce myself to tubes based on what I have? Is there something better for $100-ish or less?
go pick it up yourself lol.