Headphone Heights

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This Post Has Been Edited by the Author

In Reply to: RE: 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. 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.)

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