Neutrik NTP3 RC-B

Alright. This thing is the real shit.

I mean, a was looking for a replacement connector for my headphone (sennheiser hd280pro) to use mainly with my ipod. The original flat connector was getting old, plugging it in and out made it thinner and thinner, a bit bend,...

So I decided to change it as well as the cable, bit tired of the telephone-like one. And what a change !

This little thingy is so well engineered. It's nice looking, it feels strong and long-lasting, it's easy to mount (you have instructions about the right length to cut and denude your wires !!), you have a strain relieve mechanism that prevent the tension to propagate on the soldering, this mechanism adapts to the size of the wire, you have some kind of flexible plastic that isolate the end of the connector so no dust enters it. It has a powerful aura of quality !

I'm speechless, when I look a it, I feel a deep love between us. It's the beginning of a beautiful story and I'm looking forward to the many great years we're gonna spend together.

Bless you Neutrik.

I've learnt to solder my own cables back in the days when you just could not buy them, you had to make them.

Today it seems there exist all sorts of cables, with all sorts of connectors, for any audio or music purpose. But with a common element, unfortunately: they're almost all stupidly cheap, senselessly mass-produced, and bound to fail soon.

I have used these Neutrik angled "mini-jack" connectors for a carry-around (reduced) kit of effects that's meant to connect with iPad, laptop, solid-state pocket recorder and other hand-held gizmos.

The clutch that grips the cable internally has a cleverly designed z-shaped profile that proved effective even with the infamous "back-pocket torture" of denim jeans trousers where teenagers keep their portable device.

My son's headphone connection to his iPhone lasted three years after I replaced it with this Neutrik eighth-inch plug, and I'm sure its angled design actually saved the headphone out on the iPhone from being pried-off as any run-of-the-mill, straight-out connector would have done it.

Like with all Neutrik connectors, then, soldering is made quick and easy by whatever gold-hued alloy this thing is plated with: be it the traditional solder thread, or the newest, EU-approved one, a fraction of a second does the preparation, while a fraction of a second secures the cable for good.

Given the price of these plugs, I expected much more. Yes, they did indeed look great when I took them out of the packaging, and all of the individual parts appeared to be well made, but when I soldered one such plug to a cable and assembled it, I immediately noticed the gaps between the parts, and the assembly rattled when shaken. To make matters worse, the strain relief tore when I was putting it on, even though the diameter of the cable was well within the specifications provided on the manufacturer's website. I had to de-solder the connections and use a strain relief from another plug (thankfully, I had purchased three!). My solution to the rattle and the gaps between the parts was to glue them together with cyanoacrylate adhesive (superglue). Once the glue dried, the plug looked perfect and did not rattle. Unfortunately, there is a downside: if the connection ever goes wrong, I will not be able to disassemble the plug and re-solder it. Neutrik used to be a brand I knew I could always trust, but sadly, the manufacturing tolerances on these particular plugs were way beneath of what I had expected. I hope they take note and improve...

After repairing headphones for over half my life (I don't know if I'm to blame for the breaking or if the connectors are all junk) my genius co-worker bought me one of these to try and they are amazing.

As long as you get this connected properly and your cable is thin enough to fit in the "locking mechanism" (shouldn't be a problem to fix it with a file/knife if to big) the connector is pretty much indestructible. You can jank the cable without it starting to glitch and I love the 90* angle.

The only thing (except maybe cable thickness) to think about is to not use a to hot soldering iron, I did this once with a iron that was to hot, and ended up melting the plastic isolation inside of it, but then again, maybe it was just bad luck/bad skills.