Can you use 3.5 mm 4 poles balanced plug with PC front panel headphone jack?

[e22big]

*You know what I just realised that my writing is just gibberished so let me started again.

 

I wanted to buy a replacement cable for my headphone, I have an option beween 3.5 mm 4 poles balanced and the usual 3 poles. My PC has a 4 poles front panel connector so that's what I had been wanting to use it with, the problem however is that I also have a sound card with 4.4 headphone jack which is probably not balanced. If I buy a 3.5 mm 4 poles bal and use a 4.4 mm adapter with the 4.4 single end jack, will it work?

[Xolesk]

Quote

My PC has a 4 poles front panel connector so that's what I had been wanting to use it with

Most likely the 4th pole on that one is only for the microphone feed. In that case it [the 4-pole balanced cable] will likely not work at all, or you will be missing sound on one ear depending on the exact pinout/wiring of your headphones and adapter

Likely your best bet will be the 3-pole stereo option

Edited June 11, 2022 by Xolesk
clarification of cable type

[mariushm]

Get an adapter cable that converts  stereo mic + stereo headphones  to  4 pole stereo plug.

 

The microphone part in the 4 pole jack takes a chunk of the ground pole (return)  so if you insert a 3 pole plug into the 4 pole connector on the case, you simply short the mic input to ground which doesn't cause any damage, and you'll just get headphones out.

BUT, as long as the 3 pole is plugged and mic is shorted to ground, it MAY cause problems with the MIC input in the back of the computer, the sound card may be confused about the front panel mic being tied to ground by the plug.

[e22big]

3 hours ago, Xolesk said:

Most likely the 4th pole on that one is only for the microphone feed. In that case it [the 4-pole balanced cable] will likely not work at all, or you will be missing sound on one ear depending on the exact pinout/wiring of your headphones and adapter

Likely your best bet will be the 3-pole stereo option

Huh, so there's a different between 4 poles mic and balanced huh, thanks I'll keep that in mind

[e22big]

3 hours ago, mariushm said:

Get an adapter cable that converts  stereo mic + stereo headphones  to  4 pole stereo plug.

 

The microphone part in the 4 pole jack takes a chunk of the ground pole (return)  so if you insert a 3 pole plug into the 4 pole connector on the case, you simply short the mic input to ground which doesn't cause any damage, and you'll just get headphones out.

BUT, as long as the 3 pole is plugged and mic is shorted to ground, it MAY cause problems with the MIC input in the back of the computer, the sound card may be confused about the front panel mic being tied to ground by the plug.

Hmn is if it's too much of an issue, I could just get the 4.4 mm version (they have that too) and use an adapter to 3.5 mm 3 poles. I do have that around and it works perfectly (which should mean 3 poles should be working perfectly as well I guess?)

[ShearMe]

20 hours ago, e22big said:

Huh, so there's a different between 4 poles mic and balanced huh, thanks I'll keep that in mind

Balance signals require two signal conductors per audio channel. Standard non-balanced consumer audio requires one signal conductor per audio channel, plus one ground for all.

 

Thus, a 4-pole connector can carry 2 balanced signals (stereo) OR 3 unbalanced signals (stereo + mic)