The All Purpose Advice Thread

Thanks All

 

XLR pin outs wiriing? Is there a standard?
I ask because I just bought a balanced head amp (Drop LCX) and balanced cables for my HD6xx and HE400i.
Dusted off the manual for my 1992 B&K Pro10 MC Sonata (whose balanced out puts I've never used since it has 2 sets of unbalanced as well as the balanced set) and it has the pin outs as
1 = Gnd
2 = (-)
3 = (+).
I had read that the U.S. Pro standard wiring was the reverse for pins 2 and 3.
Is this true and does the LCX follow this standard? And other US sold balanced sources and amps.?
Sorry for all the questions but after 50 years with RCAs I'm a newb to balanced.

 

i know i'm a bit late to the party but i just bought a focal elear. will get some elex pads from massdrop once it's dropped again because of the positive reviews the elex/eclair got. i'd still change two other things besides the pads:

1. the original cable. this 3m factory cable is an abomination. something shorter (120-180 cm) and lighter would be awesome. budget: 50€.
2. my dac/amp. i currently use a centrance hifi-m8, and while it's been serving me perfectly with my nad hp50, now i feel the limitations, especially in the highs. i have a small desk, so i'd like to have a dac/amp, no separate devices. portability is not a requirement. a smoother treble response would be great. budget: 500€.

any advice would be much appreciated.

 

The industry standard is pin 2 = (+), pin 3 = (-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLR_connector#Three-pin_in_audio_use

Prior to the introduction of this standard, the wiring of pins 2 and 3 varied. The pin 2 "hot" and pin 3 "cold" convention was typically used by European and Japanese equipment manufacturers, but American companies used pin 3 "hot" and pin 2 "cold". This caused problems when interconnecting equipment with unbalanced connections. The pin 3 "hot" convention is now obsolete but is still found on vintage equipment.​

If you connect your B&K to the Drop LCX using standard balanced cables, it will reverse the polarity of the signal. However, recording and mastering equipment often flip the polarity anyway (not intentionally, but a result of the circuit design) so the end result wouldn't necessarily be "wrong". Some recordings sound different when reversing polarity and that's why the Bifrost 2 DAC has a polarity switch (on its remote).

 

Thanks, didn't think to search wiki after searching here. Easy enough to switch polarity on the output xlr, if my ears deem it neccesary.

 

Can the Schiit serial # tell me the production year. This is for Gungnir

 

Not sure if it helps in anyway but I got a new Gungnir from Schiit in July'19 and the serial number started with B

 

Thanks I did send it to Schiit info, but the guy who is selling it is in a bit of a hurry and would prefer my decision today.
EDIT: I got a response from Schiit in less then an hour and that's impressive, but, to my complete surprise, there is apparently no way to find the production year given a serial number.

 

I think The swap to B signified A2 multibit boards, and the C’s shipped as none multibit ones.
I have no idea if the numbers contiguous inside each letter prefix, or across them.

 

Hi all, I need your wisdom and help. I just bought an Auralic Taurus mkii (Christmas gift) that was used for two months in a shop but that looked pristine and in working condition.

The problem is that, with or without any other equipmentconnected through RCA there is an important amount of noise that increases with volume.

The noise starts from 9am pot position and it’s a mixture of high frequency and hum.

[The key factor]
If I touch the outer part of the RCA connectors and the chassis with my hands it becomes dead silent in the whole range.

I have tried in different houses, outlets and with all kinds of cables. No change

The only solution is to touch the input rca outer part and the chassis with my hand.la.

Any help please?

Thanks in advance

 

Sounds like a grounding issue. Bring it back to the store you bought it from and have them fix it/send it back to manufacturer to fix. It's still early enough that your limited warranty should apply.

 

Hi Elmoe, unfortunately I can’t do that as I have travelled with it 9000km... I can try and attempt the repairs myself but I would need some guidance about what I am looking for exactly. I already tried to understand the topology but this one is not easy.

Input RCAs are connected to wall ground while output RCAs are connected to chassis and internal transformer ground.
Internal ground (and output RCA ground) is not connected to wall ground.

if you connect those two “grounds” either touching with your hands or grounding the chassis with a cable to the wall ground. It becomes dead silent...

Would need someone to tell me what to do next or what I am assuming wrong.

 

Does the power cable you're using have a ground pin? Have you tried different outlets - same issue?

 

Yes it has. Different outlets and houses. Same issue.

 

Well it sounds like you found a way to ground the chassis to the wall ground, likely soldering a wire between the two is all you need to do but I don't know enough about the amp/topology to tell you for sure.

 

Thank you for answering... That is my same thought... but, if I ground the chassis everything works properly but, may I destroy a floating ground or whatever concept the designer was trying to do?

 

Ground it, do a listening test, unground it, listen again. Is there an impact on SQ? If not, there's likely no harm in it.

 

Likely pre-2018 which is when they started to sell the “B” serials aka the “A2”. Some even had the B serials in late 2017 I believe, so likely before that. My first Gungnir Multibit was a “C” and if was from 2016 I believe.

Edit: Does it have Gen 5 USB? If not, it’s pre-July 2017.

 

No it does not have USB Gen 5, and had some problems with optical input so I had to pass on this one. Instead I have new version of RME ADI-2 DAC on order from the UK.

 

You can buy some shorting plugs online, but most of them are simple shorts without a resistor. The resistor isn't strictly necessary, but it's an extra safety factor.

If you're handy with DIY, it's only a couple bucks worth of parts:
https://www.takefiveaudio.com/contents/19-rcainputshortingplugs