Home Stereo question....big headphone jacks?

[yg17]

I got a new home theater a couple weeks ago, and it had the large headphone jack. Today I finally got around to going to Radioshack to pick up an adapter so I could use my beloved Sony earphones with the small jack.

So my question is, what's the advantage to the larger headphone jack size? Surely there's got to be a good reason reason for them to use a larger jack when most headphones have smaller jacks

[CanadaRAM]

Young puppy... the 1/4" stereo jack IS the standard headphone jack. The 3.5 mm stereo jack wasn't brought out until Sony Walk-things made their appearance. Until then 3.5mm mono jacks were used for things like earphones for crystal radios, and those cheesy electret condenser microphones that camewith first generation cassette recorders. The mini stereo jacks are nowhere near as durable as the 1/4" variety -- you'll see the 1/4" as standard on most all non-portable stereo kit.

[calebjohnston]

Young puppy... the 1/4" stereo jack IS the standard headphone jack. The 3.5 mm stereo jack wasn't brought out until Sony Walk-things made their appearance. Until then 3.5mm mono jacks were used for things like earphones for crystal radios, and those cheesy electret condenser microphones that camewith first generation cassette recorders. The mini stereo jacks are nowhere near as durable as the 1/4" variety -- you'll see the 1/4" as standard on most all non-portable stereo kit.

I always wondered that, too. I guess I'm a youngin' too.

[lonegeek]

Yeah... but why do they still use that on stereos if its not really a standard plug for headphones anymore?

[macEfan]

Yeah... but why do they still use that on stereos if its not really a standard plug for headphones anymore?
so radioshack makes more money:D
no really, i think the connector is going out of style, especially witht the media center computers. Sooner or later, i bet everthing will either be optical out or ditial out...

[saabmp3]

so radioshack makes more money:D
Sooner or later, i bet everthing will either be optical out or ditial out...

I really hope not....

That's aking to making the argument for 64 bit computers, people will want them but really have no use for them.

Why transition headphones from analog to digital? Basically all this is doing is putting off the D/A circuitry from the receiver (or stereo component) to the headphones. Where do you think you're going to find better D/A's? In a big expensive box or a small, cheap pair of miniture speakers?

Interconnects will most likely transition to some sort of digital connection eventually, but until humans can understand native digital audio, I doubt the change will forthcoming.

Ben

[bousozoku]

Yeah... but why do they still use that on stereos if its not really a standard plug for headphones anymore?

You're talking about ear buds and mini headphones, not standard headphones, right?

As far as I know Sennheiser, Audio Technica, etc. all still sell regular size headphones with 1/4 inch plugs.

[darkwing]

I got a new home theater a couple weeks ago, and it had the large headphone jack. Today I finally got around to going to Radioshack to pick up an adapter so I could use my beloved Sony earphones with the small jack.

So my question is, what's the advantage to the larger headphone jack size? Surely there's got to be a good reason reason for them to use a larger jack when most headphones have smaller jacks

There's no difference at all for audio uses. Don't let any of the idiots who swear gold plated line plugs make your sound better fool you. Audiophiles are almost as bad as Apple kool-aid drinkers!

[yg17]

There's no difference at all for audio uses. Don't let any of the idiots who swear gold plated line plugs make your sound better fool you. Audiophiles are almost as bad as Apple kool-aid drinkers!

No, I don't get fooled when it comes to cables. I needed an optical cable, so of course the guy at Best Buy is trying to sell me Monster optical cables for god knows how much (nearing triple digit prices for the 12 feet I needed). Told him to piss off and went on eBay, got 2 12ft optical cables for $11 shipped, and they work great. It's a digital signal, it's not like my cheap eBay cable is going to transmit 0 0 0 .9 .9 0 .9 0 0 .9 .9 .9 or something :D

[bousozoku]

No, I don't get fooled when it comes to cables. I needed an optical cable, so of course the guy at Best Buy is trying to sell me Monster optical cables for god knows how much (nearing triple digit prices for the 12 feet I needed). Told him to piss off and went on eBay, got 2 12ft optical cables for $11 shipped, and they work great. It's a digital signal, it's not like my cheap eBay cable is going to transmit 0 0 0 .9 .9 0 .9 0 0 .9 .9 .9 or something :D

As long as they don't have kinks, they should be fine. There used to be a lot of debate over glass or plastic but both are acceptable for audio.

Gold-plated connections used to be more of an issue because the components inside the pre-amp/power amp/receiver used to be not so sensitive so a little deviation went a long way toward making the sound worse.

Things have gotten a lot better since the 1980s and even the 1990s, though.

[CanadaRAM]

1/4" are far more durable than 3.5mm. It's also easier to adapt down than up.