Category: Audio Gear

My custom Monoprice M1570 to Audeze Balanced cable adapter:

This is the wiring diagram I used for connecting the wiring on my mini-XLR Monoprice M1570 to Audeze Balanced cable adapter:

Note: Wiring the mini-XLR connectors in this way allows the balanced cable to be used for both Audeze/ZMF headphones as well as Monoprice M1570 headphone.

The Problem: 

The Monoprice M1570 Headphones do not ship with a balanced XLR cable.  Some of us tried connecting our Audeze or ZMF balanced XLR cables to our amplifiers, but it triggered the overcurrent protection on my Massdrop THX AAA 789 for example.  Monoprice is also not planning to have a balanced XLR cable available until about another month or two.  Per Monoprice, their target price for their balanced cable is expected to be around $80 (but don’t quote me on it).  I think that will be a fair price as that is about the same price as third party balanced audio cables made by companies such as Periapt.

Problem Discussion:

Create your own balanced cable or have an aftermarket audio cable company make one for you.  You’ll need the wiring pinout schematics below in order to do this.

First let’s look at why the Audeze and ZMF balanced cables do not work on the Monoprice M1570 and why you shouldn’t use cables from other headphones with the Monoprice M1570 headphones.

Audeze LCD-2 headphones Quarter Inch Pinout Wiring Diagram:

Continue reading Monoprice M1570 Balanced Cable Guide