Why is the proprietary 4.4mm connector of portable SONY players not grounded? A standard balanced headphone cable only has four connection points - R+, R-, L+, and L-. It does not include a grounding point on the 4.4mm plug. On the other hand, if the 4.4mm headphone connector were grounded, negative feedback could occur during connection and disconnection. Perhaps for this reason, the SONY 4.4mm connector is not grounded.
Why does sound quality improve after grounding? A necessary condition is that the used 4.4mm headphone cable should be shielded and properly grounded. The casing of Sony players, specifically NW-WM1Z and NW-WM1ZM2, is made of highly pure and highly conductive oxygen-free copper with gold plating, which can provide good grounding for shielded cables. When connecting a shielded cable with a 4.4mm plug, the cable's protective layer is then grounded to the player's chassis. As a result, it can better prevent the effects of external electrostatic and electromagnetic interferences.
Features of DDHiFi DJ44S MAX Gold
- Designed for NW-WM1ZM2 / WM1AM2
- Material: Aluminum 6063
- Internal wiring: 25.5AWG 6N OCC
- Contact group: Gold-plated copper
- Weight: 38 g
Package Includes:
- Adapter for SONY NW-WM1AM2 / WM1ZM2
