Balanced Cable Types: Explained! - 2.5mm, 4.4mm & XLR.

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[mdfrick]

I'm a big fan of Hart Audio cables after spending a bunch of money on cables to get various combos like all the ends you speak of to terminate into Sennheiser, ZMF's mini-XLR, DCA's Hirose, etc. I do like the Periapt cables well enough, but they were a little on the stiff side and had some annoying microphonics to which I'm sensitive. The Hart Audio cables saved the day with one set of source terminations no matter the device (desktop vs portable), and then unique cables per headphone termination that are themselves on the cheap side for the great quality - good feel, no microphonics, drapes nicely without memory... love them, never going back.

[FredBKevinn]

Only finding utility out of this video now, 5 months later, thank you Joshua for all the videos you made over the last year. Really enjoy your content. Regards Fred from South Africa

[DoingEvil]

THANK YOU for this! So may Youtubers, so many reviews, so little "how-to"!

[sleepinglysithia]

4.4 can be easily used on most gear compared to the other types. I wish 4.4 was the standard.

[MiloTheFirst]

cool video. here is my two cents, one reason to choose 3-pin XLR is that it is still the industry standard fro pro audio equipment, if you want your headphones or studio monitors to be compatible with professional tier analog equalizers, DSPs, mixing consoles etc, most of the time you can only go 3-pin XLR for balanced connection

[MrGone]

Thank you these types of videos would be wonderful for you to do, you can create a series out of this.As a beginner I’ve been looking for weeks for something like this.

[garythompson]

Finally a good interview, and an ascent I can make sense from. Thx.

[tubelab]

Thanks Josh for a great informative video. I would say though there is a strong counter argument to even using balanced equipment in the first place. To make a true balanced preamp/amp requires basically building double the circuitry. And to make your balanced signal, requires splitting the signal into a positive and negative waveform (180deg out of phase with each other), then recombining them at a later stage. IMO as a tube amp designer, this makes absolutely no (zero) sense for hime audio. Yes a balanced signal/cable has less noise (common mode rejection) and slightly higher gain and yes the connectors are more robust than unbalanced (rca/3.5/6.3mm). But and here's the Big but, unbalanced signals in home audio gear are already very quiet and by staying unbalanced you keep the signal in an orignal state as it is played back from vinyl, tape or digital. As a designer I avoid altering the phase/timing of an orignal audio signal at all costs, creating preamps and amps that run in Pure Class A. This makes for amazing clarity. Using a balanced signal interferes with the audio signal in so many ways, I'm always wondering who is pushing this? Now in a recording studio environment balanced cables make perfect sense for long runs back to the booth. This was the origins of the technology and IMO where it should stay.

[greymatterstome]

A very needed video and discussion. It's a detail that often gets overlooked. thanks Josh!

[keithjones]

Good Lord man... I have only seen you like this today, two in a row.... Hart Audio Cables for every single wire I buy.

[malek]

This is very helpful for beginners who are new to the hobby. Thank you!

[TheSHNGAM]

Just ordered a 2.5 balanced cable that fits with the amp I’m using. Wanted to learn more about them in general, thanks for a good introduction!

[manikdesilva]

Was hoping for more of an education on balanced output .

[rustyshackleford]

Awesome thank you for the great video! I’m familiar with using XLR for hifi speakers but just got into the world of hifi phones and was insanely confused by all the different connector options. This all makes so much more sense now!

[kiasohc]

Awesome videos you have especially this one... quick to the point, concise and very well explained. Definitely helps viewers seeking information on these topics. Hats off to you!

[aceofspades]

I like that way Hart Audio builds their setup.. you can basically get a kit that has all customer inputs to the headphone, then a 3-5 foot cable extension then a standard adapter terminated in whatever your amp provides.

[ThayneHardy]

I’ve really enjoyed my custom made Periapt Cables (purple) with Amphenol Audio XLR connectors. Both for Sennheiser and Audeze headphones inputs. I’m also using a Schiit Jotunheim Dac/Amp.

[BoBo_huh]

Can never forget the ifi 3.5mm balanced. 4.4mm is actually a bit different from all the other balanced plugs on paper, it's a 5 pole connection which is L+, L-, R+, R-, Ground*. It has a extra connection for a separate grounding. Im not sure how it works and how it's wired internally inside a amp, tho not all amps or plugs supports the actual extra grounding pole so there's that

[fisch]

Thanks Josh for the info.Just getting into this hobby and it can be a little overwhelming at times.Your videos are extremely helpful.

[nickpelayo]

I want everything to be 4.4. My fiio m11 and m15 both have 4.4 and my Daart yulong aquilla 2 dac amp has a xlr and 4.4 and it is easier to just have everything be 4.4