Earphones with volume control on lead.

Posted by: Consciousmess on 13 September 2016

Must ask this, as I appreciate my earphones more now as I thought I lost them: AKG 1000i...

but like other expensive earphones, they have a volume control on the cable to alter iPhone, a device far inferior to the earphone capabilities...

Leading me to ask. How do they put a volume control on expensive earphones (£1000)?  Surely that diminishes the sound quality?

Or is the voltage control separate to the cable, like the music signal doesn't pass through it? Perplexing as they are supposed to be top of the line in sound.

Posted on: 13 September 2016 by Got Hi-Fi?

Any higher end headphones I have seen with that phone control, also offer another cable without it. 

Posted on: 13 September 2016 by Erich
Got Hi-Fi? posted:

Any higher end headphones I have seen with that phone control, also offer another cable without it. 

I have a pair of Senn Momentum (I don't consider them High End, but are not for phones) that were supplied with 2 cables one with volume control and one w/o.

Hopefully the Op's HP have a removable cable to change it.

Posted on: 13 September 2016 by dayjay

My headphones cost considerably less than £1000, and come with two leads, a long one and one with a volume control for IPhones etc.  I would imagine that the OP's £1000 headphones also come with similar leads, which they should for £1000 because £1000 is a lot of money for a set of headphones.

Posted on: 13 September 2016 by Got Hi-Fi?

Mine were only $300 cdn. B&W P5, even they came with both cables. 

Posted on: 13 September 2016 by Bluebeard

You sure you don't mean the AKG K3003i? The K1000 were designed as "earspeakers" and designed to be hooked up to speaker taps, so I'm not sure why they have a volume control on the cable. (Also right up there as ugliest headphones ever!)

The K3003 were released both with and without the volume control. I guess it depended in whether you wanted fidelity or iphone convenience.... Not sure what other expensive earphones, you've come across but most I'm aware of either have removeable cables (with the option of iphone/android phone capability) or do not come with a volume control if a fixed cable - certainly my own K3003, Noble Audio Savants, Canpfire Audio Lyra, Shure SE846, Final Audio F7200, Ortofons, Sonys (yes I have a problem...)

regards,

Giles

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Consciousmess

Yes Giles, spot on they are K3003i and there is no way to remove the volume control.

I thought it might be a separate connector which goes around the audio signal, thus not affecting SQ. And volume only works on iPhone, supporting my theory that it's not a variable resistor.

What do you think?

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Emre

Get a noble k10, sell akgs to a rich iphone user fast 

Posted on: 14 September 2016 by Consciousmess

I'll research... ✌

Posted on: 15 September 2016 by Eloise

If the headphone connector is 3 connector plus tip (aka TRRS) then its likely the headphones are simply an electronic connection back to the iPhone which tells it to increase or decrease the volume.  Simplest way to check ... if you connect it to your iPhone (or likely any other non-fruit based device), when you press the volume up or down, does the device indicate the volume has changed?

Posted on: 15 September 2016 by Consciousmess

Yea common sense I guess - it alters iPhone and iPad not anything else!