Can any headphone be turned balanced?

[SIDDHI]

Audio newbie here.

I recently bought a 1More triple driver over-ear headphone along a Fiio Q1 mkII portable dac/amp.
The headphones came with their stock cables, 2.5mm for each cup and a single 3.5mm on the other end.
The Fiio dac/amp has 2 headphone inputs, 1x3.5mm unbalanced and 1x2.5mm balanced.

Now, if i would buy a cable with the 2.5mm jack termination on both ends and plug them in their respective places, would it turn my headphones to balanced? Is it that straightforward or im missing something?

I already contacted 1More about that and they said it should work but they weren't sure... which is odd to have such an answer from the manufacturer himself!

If anyone could shed some light on that issue, is highly appreciated.

 

[B SUBASCHANDRA BOS]

It will no be a balanced connection, only thing with the 2.5mm connection is that they will have a separate ground connection each.


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[kenwstr]

Agreed, it seems most unlikely, as I don't know of any connector of that type being used for balanced audio.
However, I have to assume the OP has a reason to suspect a balanced connection.
So, it's hard to be certain without knowing more or testing, sometimes non standard connectors can be used for other things. RCA for S/PDIF coaxial for example when this clearly should be 75 ohm BNC.
If I owned this and had documentation claiming balanced, I'd do some investigation and testing.

A balanced connector requires 2 contacts for each channel (Minimum of 4 contacts)
Optionally, there may be provision for a ground shield. 1 common contact or 2 for separate channel shields.

It is very easy to change headphones from unbalanced to balanced operation.
The ends of each cup coil operate in opposite phase to each other much as dynamic mic coils or even transformer coils. In single point or unbalanced operation, the inverted phase end of these coils are simply grounded out to a common point.

To convert headphones to balanced operation:
Identify which end of the cup coil is signal (+) and which is ground (-).
Note: here, +/- denote in phase (+) and inverted phase (-), not voltage polarity.
Replace the existing cable with 4 core or dual 2 core. (Single cup cable mount or Y cable mount to each cup)
Shield is not required but you may choose to shield RF interference if the balanced headphone output supports shield grounding to the device chassis.

For each channel (cup):
Connect (solder) the in phase (+) end of the coil to that channel's in phase (+) pin of the connecting plug.
Connect (solder) the inverted (-) end of the coil to that channel's inverted (-) pin of the connecting plug.

If you have chosen shielded cable, connect the shield to the plug's chassis terminal only. Do not connect the shield to anything on the headphones but cut the shield short and insulate it from accidental shorting.

Ken

 

[TLS Guy]

Yes, you will have to modify the phones as above. To be balanced the coil connections have to float and be isolated from ground..

The issue though is that it is not necessary to do this and will not improve quality as claimed by the manufacturer. A headphone is a passive device and will not pick up interference. The point of a balanced connection is to reduce the noise picked up by cables ahead of amplification. This is as dumb as making a balanced loudspeaker. Don't waste your time with this nonsense.

I see after looking at those headphones, that they have a passive crossover in them. It has a main driver and tweeter and what it calls a bass reflector, whatever that is. So it will not be possible to modify those phones for balanced operation. As I said you don't need to.

 

[highfigh]

Speakers and headphones aren't balanced and can't be connected to two mono amplifiers because they have a single (common) ground connection at the plug, although the ground conductors could be separated if someone wants to go through the trouble. That's the only reason to separate the channels but it doesn't make them 'balanced'. Headphones use a common ground because most receivers and integrated amps use a common ground for the power amp's output. The signal is parallel to the speaker terminals and has a simple resistive network to reduce the signal going to the phones.

Headphones are speakers, not components that send and receive line level and might be separated by long distances- that would be a case where balanced would help.

 

[highfigh]

It will no be a balanced connection, only thing with the 2.5mm connection is that they will have a separate ground connection each.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Most headphones with a small plug use 3.5mm.

 

[kenwstr]

Sorry but some manufacturers claim that some of their high end headphone amps have balanced output.

If that is a true claim, how could it be provided?
If there are 2 x 2.5 mm TRS outputs, then it is possible (though I have not seen this) that they each be configured either, L or R mono as tip in phase (+),ring inverse phase (-) and sleeve chassis ground. This would be exactly the same configuration as a 2 pro audio mono balanced 1/4" TRS channels, just a smaller connector. All I'm saying is that this is not impossible though it is much more likely that balanced headphone output would be a single 4 pin mini XLR. Even though the standard configuration for such a connector includes 2 common ground pins which would exclude balanced out, it is still possible to produce a variant connection with pin out L+, L-, R+, R-, shell chassis ground.

I am not convinced of these claims. I agree that the concept of balanced headphone gets a bit silly especially with high impedance headphones. However, if true balanced output is in fact provided as claimed and people want to play with this, why the hell not? The decision to spend their own time and money on it is theirs surely.

 

[TLS Guy]

Sorry but some manufacturers claim that some of their high end headphone amps have balanced output.

If that is a true claim, how could it be provided?
If there are 2 x 2.5 mm TRS outputs, then it is possible (though I have not seen this) that they each be configured either, L or R mono as tip in phase (+),ring inverse phase (-) and sleeve chassis ground. This would be exactly the same configuration as a 2 pro audio mono balanced 1/4" TRS channels, just a smaller connector. All I'm saying is that this is not impossible though it is much more likely that balanced headphone output would be a single 4 pin mini XLR. Even though the standard configuration for such a connector includes 2 common ground pins which would exclude balanced out, it is still possible to produce a variant connection with pin out L+, L-, R+, R-, shell chassis ground.

I am not convinced of these claims. I agree that the concept of balanced headphone gets a bit silly especially with high impedance headphones. However, if true balanced output is in fact provided as claimed and people want to play with this, why the hell not? The decision to spend their own time and money on it is theirs surely.

I agree you can't stop "Stupid is as Stupid Does," but I'm still going to call it stupid, no matter how much they spend.