No sound from cans! What am I doing wrong?

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Dear all

A few weeks ago I bought a pair of Beyerdynamic Amiron Home headphones, plus a Beyerdynamic A20 headphone amp. Until now, I had a cheapo DIN-4 x RCA cable that came free with an old tape deck going from the Tape 2 socket of my NAC 72 into the “input” and “output” sockets of the A20. It worked fine.

Then I bought a directional Chord Clearway 5pin DIN to 2 RCA in the hope that it would improve the sound. Trouble is, there is no sound now. I’ve tried feeding from both Tape 1 and Tape 2 of the 72, engaging the monitor switch, but nothing.

What am I doing wrong? Have bought the wrong cable, or just wired it up incorrectly?

Any advice from experienced Forum members would be most appreciated. Do you know @Richard.Dane?

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It sounds like the new cable is wired for play pins on the DIN rather than rec pins.

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Thanks @Richard.Dane - looks like I will have to get in touch with the supplier then. I had assumed that because it was a direction a cable (ie DIN to RCA, rather than the other way around), it would just work!

4

No, it needs to be specially wired to the REC IN/OUT rather than PLAY IN/OUT pins.

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5

Exactly the same happened to me @TheKevster!
And Richard is spot on - his same advice to me worked perfectly. Enjoy your cans!

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6

Can you solder and does the DIN end open? Swapping pins is trivial on most leads.

7

Eeek! I have a soldering iron and the DIN end appears to unscrew, but I am the world’s most cack-handed person… not sure if I dare risk it!

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Carpe Diem, as they say. :crossed_fingers:

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9

I wouldn’t if it were me… the damage or mess I could make with a soldering iron would be catastrophic!

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10

I got a cable made up by Flashback which works perfectly well. Have a look at their site or drop them an email. IIRC, turnaround was pretty quick from order to receipt

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Me too. Delivery next day.

Haven’t thought to change it…yet! :laughing:

12

Well, FutureShop, the retailer, apologised profusely and sent me a correctly-configured Clearway cable along with a pre-paid envelope to send the old one back. Very good service.

Even better, the difference in sound (even after only an hour after installation) from the old unbranded cable I had before is immense! Happy bunny!

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