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Headphone Heights

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In Reply to: Balanced Headphone outputs? posted by jedrider on January 21, 2024 at 12:53:56:

The standard 1/4" and 3.5 mm headphone jacks have a common ground. There are some amplifier circuits than cannot have a common ground between the left and right outputs. So, that requires a four pin connection instead of three. The XLR headphone jack and TRRS jacks provide for separate ground connections.
Besides the amplifier requirement noted above, the Schiit Midgard I just bought has a "Halo" circuit option which includes the headphone drivers in the feedback loop. For this to work, again separate grounds are required. The Midgard has two headphone jacks -- a standard 1/4" one with a common ground and an XLR connection with four pins for the Halo option. (The difference between the two connections is subtle, but present. Per my experience I prefer the Halo connection with my Sundara phones, but according to the reviews, depending on the headphone used, some people prefer the 1/4" jack.)

Edits: 01/23/24

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Balanced Headphone outputs? - jedrider 12:53:56 01/21/24 (5)

There are reasons... - mlsstl 14:12:08 01/21/24 (0)

RE: Balanced Headphone outputs? - Dawnrazor 13:29:41 01/21/24 (3)

"To get the benefits the chain needs to be balanced all the way through" - RhythmDevil 10:54:56 01/23/24 (2)

RE: "To get the benefits the chain needs to be balanced all the way through" - Dawnrazor 14:07:41 01/23/24 (1)

RE: "To get the benefits the chain needs to be balanced all the way through" - Tre' 14:43:04 01/23/24 (0)

Follow Ups

There are reasons... - mlsstl 14:12:08 01/21/24 (0)

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