Ah. I suspect you are correct. That must be why Moon audio sells wire with two 1/8" amp ends. This makes total sense and sure makes it more convenient to attach and listen to headphones. Thank you, Mark.
Ayre Codex dac and headphone connections question
Wasn't sure which forum to ask this specific question. I run a Codex using the balanced outs to my preamp. My pre does not have headphone outs but the ayre Codex does. I just ordered a pair of Sennheiser hd 650 headphones. I can connect the headphones to the codex using the 1/4" jack but some say that the headphones will sound much better if used in balanced mode. Will I need to get a special cable for the phones which has left/right XLR connectors in lieu of the 1/4" jack? If so then won't I need to disconnect the cables going from the dac to the preamp so that the phones can tap those balanced outs? I have seen special cables that are designed for this as they have the Sennheiser connectors at one end and a pair of XLR plugs (3 pin) on the other. It would be good to hear from someone who has done this and can speak to whether or not the quality of sound of the phones is worth the trouble of changing cables behind the dac every time.