Whats the diff. bet. headphones that have a gold plated 3.5mm jack and headphone with a normal jack?

Whats the difference betwen a pair of headphones that has a gold plated 3.5mm jack and headphone with a normal jack???:angry:

Thanks,

SR :smiley:

@sr_rox wrote:

Whats the difference betwen a pair of headphones that has a gold plated 3.5mm jack and headphone with a normal jack???:angry:

 

Thanks,

SR :smiley:

One of them is ‘prettier’.

Sonically, there won’t be a difference.

I remember reading about some counterfeit Sennheiser headphones, the counterfeits had the gold plugs, the real thing didn’t.

Bling… and possibly a couple of milliOhms.

Gold has the advantage of being remarkably resistant to oxidation, making it a very unique metal.

Gold electroplating is typically very thin, obviously, and very soft.

For the signal levels dealt with at the headphone jack, it isn’t a prerequisite for good sound quality.  For long term connections, the difference in electronegativity of dissimilar metals (that’s a mouthful, isn’t it?) means that you can actually promote corrosion on the “lesser” metal side.

With communications lines, and airbag connections, in the automotive industry, if one side is gold, the other side is as well, for this reason.  I would NOT, since the headphone jack always moves about, worry about oxidation at the headphone jack.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

Normally it’s a “marketing” gimmick.  Gold is natrually more conductive so the “feeling” is that gold plated contacts will allow you to pass the signal “cleaner”.

However for that to work, the headphone jack, would also have to have gold contacts, which I guarantee they do not.

But, that doesn’t stop the makers of cables of pinching you for extra $$$ to buy gold plated contacts to go in your 50 dollar player to make you feel you have a better cable.

Gold really comes into play when you are talking about higher signal levels, where signal loss would occur, and those who typically buy gold plated cables also have gold plated contacts on their other equipment (read audiophiles, and professional musicians).  But in the case of cheesy headphones on a sub 100 dollar MP3 player, the gold contacts simply are a way to lighten the load in your wallet.

Thx for the great replies guys!!Really appreciate it.

So p_opus ultimately you’re saying that there’s no point in buying a pair of headphones with a gold plated jack for this type of player? 

Ultimately, for our purposes, there is no difference, it should have exactly no effect on your buying decision.

Unless you want it to look ‘prettier’.

If you want the bling then sure!  

Or I’m sure you could convince a lot of your friends that you’re getting better sound quality because it’s gold plated.  

As for the sound quality,  like others have said, it won’t make a difference to us.  

@neutron_bob wrote:

Gold has the advantage of being remarkably resistant to oxidation, making it a very unique metal.

 

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

Indeed - I worked on military radios for a long time. We always used gold plated connectors to handle corrosive salt spray environmental testing. However, I can vouch for the fact that the sound quality of 16kb/s delta-modulated speech over a jammed hopping radio link wasn’t helped at all by the gold plating! 

And all the stuff others have said about the use of gold in one half of the connection is also true.