headphone connectors

[herb]

My old headphones had 6.3mm connectors, with a separate convertor to 3.5mm, which seems right for a HiFi system. You do not have to use the converter.

Recent expensive Grado and Quad headphones have a 3.5mm connector with a 6.3mm converter. This is wrong, presumably convenient for iphones, laptops etc. I find that using Kontak cleaner on any 3.5mm connector improves sq to a ridiculous extent, they are too flimsy and surely not fit for purpose.

Do most high end headphones use more positive connectors? Or even the 6.3mm connectors like my old headphones? Just curious...

 

[Strictly Stereo]

Grado Professional, Statement and Reference series phones use 6.35mm connectors but are supplied with a 3.5mm adapter.

 

[herb]

Grado Professional, Statement and Reference series phones use 6.35mm connectors but are supplied with a 3.5mm adapter.

Thanks though my recently acquired Grado RS1es have 3,5mm with 6,3 adapter, like my RS2es. Perhaps I need to go higher in the food chain, my old RS1s did it correctly...

 

[Mike Reed]

My old Senn. 650s and my newer Focal Elears come with the 6.3mm jack as standard; as, I think, most upper market cans do, for obvious reasons. My Grado 60s(?), bought for my computer/wife's lap-top, have the smaller one, which again, seems sensible. Can't say that I've seen a decent amplifier with the smaller jack socket.

 

[davidsrsb]

3.5mm sockets on computers always seem to go useless after about a year, lack of contact pressure rather than dirty contacts.
I suspect that they don't use beryllium copper anymore

 

[sq225917]

Any TRS connector is junk irrespective of its size, it's a switchboard socket. If you want a decent connector start fitting Lemo.

 

[ToTo Man]

TRS is very easy to short circuit too if there is a slight mismatch in TRS jack and TRS socket length or if there isn't enough pressure to prevent slippage. I destroyed a headphone amp with an ill-fitting 6.35mm TRS extension lead. My own fault really as I left the room unattended for several hours while my new headphones were 'burning in'. I returned to an overwhelming smell of TCP and realised that instead of 'burning in' my headphones I was actually 'burning out' my headphone amp! I needed a whole new board due to the melting that was caused by the sustained shorting. I now only use 4XLR headphone extension leads.

 

[Mike Reed]

What's TRS an abbreviation for? As these larger jacks have been used for countless decades in pro audio, why are they not up to the task/or potentially dangerous. Din or XLR are not that common in amplification, certainly going back to the 60s.

 

[Julf]

What's TRS an abbreviation for?

Tip-Ring-Sleeve. The original 6.35 mm one actually goes back to something like the 1870s and the first telephone switchboards.

As these larger jacks have been used for countless decades in pro audio, why are they not up to the task/or potentially dangerous. Din or XLR are not that common in amplification, certainly going back to the 60s.

The problems are lack of positive locking, and the fact that they "hot" connection is made before ground.

 

[ToTo Man]

Tip-Ring-Sleeve. The original 6.35 mm one actually goes back to something like the 1870s and the first telephone switchboards.



The problems are lack of positive locking, and the fact that they "hot" connection is made before ground.

To be fair you do get locking TRS sockets but it's very rare to see them used on components. After destroying my amp I bought a locking TRS extension cable but the release mechanism was too bloody stiff for my arthritic hands to operate, - sometimes you just can't win! Besides, a locking mechanism isn't a guarantee against a short as you cannot actually see how the T, R and S sections of the jack are aligned inside the socket. It only takes 1mm or 2mm of tolerance difference for a short to occur.

 

[herb]

Thanks for the replies. I guess Grado made the decision to prioritise laptop or iPhone users for their Reference Series a while ago. I will add the adapter to my occasional cleaning list and hope that the 3.5mm connector remains tight. I suspect that I may not like the more expensive Grado ranges as being too bassy, the RS2e seems to be a sweet spot to my ears,

 

[Mike Reed]

Sorry to revise this but judging from the negative comments above about jack plug electrical security, it would seem sensible to turn one's amp on with the jack inserted. Somewhere recently I've read that the reverse is advisable. Can't be both, although the latter may have been in reference to having the amp volume too high on switch-on. I got a nasty thump through the speakers recently by forgetting to mute/switch inputs when I turned the h/phone amp on.

 

[ToTo Man]

Sorry to revise this but judging from the negative comments above about jack plug electrical security, it would seem sensible to turn one's amp on with the jack inserted. Somewhere recently I've read that the reverse is advisable. Can't be both, although the latter may have been in reference to having the amp volume too high on switch-on. I got a nasty thump through the speakers recently by forgetting to mute/switch inputs when I turned the h/phone amp on.

I've read reports of users destroying their headphones by plugging them in before switching their amp on. I guess it depends on how bad the 'switch-on thump' is and how resilient the headphone drive units are to it.

A headphone amp ought to be able to withstand a short that occurs for a split-second when inserting/removing a TRS jack and I suspect most are given that millions of listeners insert/remove TRS jacks every day, even when music is playing. Though I'd personally recommend muting the music before inserting/removing the jack. The SPL Phonitor 2 headphone amp manual states to mute the volume before inserting/removing the TRS jack, apparently one reviewer destroyed a loaner unit by failing to do this!

It seems bizarre that a momentary short would blow up a headphone amp given the relatively low voltages and currents involved, but I don't know enough about amp design to understand the implications. In my case, the short took several hours to destroy my headphone amp, and even then it was still playing music like a champ as it was melting down!...

 

[TonyScarlett]

What about valve amps? I thought the advice was to never power up without a load connected, presumably this advice should also apply to valve headphone amps?

 

[ToTo Man]

What about valve amps? I thought the advice was to never power up without a load connected, presumably this advice should also apply to valve headphone amps?

AFAIK valve amps tend to be 'soft start' so you shouldn't get any nasty switch on thumps if you turn it on with the 'phones already connected.
WRT your question, I think it depends on the valve amp design. My OTL Schiit Valhalla didn't seem to mind if there wasn't a load connected to it, though I obviously did not run it for long periods of time like this!

 

[TonyScarlett]

Happy to hear this, I've always turned on my Woo Audio Fireflies headphone amp with the headphones connected. Never heard any thumps on power up for the simple reason I don't put my headphones on until I've let the amp warm up for a couple of minutes, I also dial the volume down to zero 1st just to prevent any nasty surprises. Can't say in all my years of headphone listening I've had any issues with shorting, after all they have had 150 years to perfect this technology!

 

[Arkless Electronics]

There should be no problem with plugging in or unplugging headphones from a headphone amp whether it's switched on or not. Exceptions to this will be very rare!