headphone jack adaptor

They certainly are not all the same. I don't think the gold plating matters as long as the adaptor is good quality. I would advise against an adaptor with a recess where the miniplug goes in, especially the screw-on types that some companies issue. Get an adaptor that's flat on that end with just the hole for the miniplug. I have so many of these I just store them in a box, but if I had to buy one I would expect to pay £5 at least and get a good one.

thanks for your reply dalethorn. cos i'm a bit of a thickie, could you link me to the preferred variety of adaptor so I can see what you mean by recess etc. thanks

Try Amazon here:  http://tinyurl.com/azxew8h

Or Canford: http://tinyurl.com/b8lwxah

I'm surprised there aren't 'audiophile' adaptors costing £30+ with some loon somewhere swearing they can tell the difference.

That first link to Amazon with the £3.50 adapter looks right. Although I think the adapters are too short to introduce enough capacitance etc. to modify the sound, I have had a couple screw-on adapters supplied by Beyerdynamic and others which had loose connectivity when screwed down tight onto the 3.5 mm plugs. 

That's the one I chose some time ago. It just does what it's supposed to. Haven't used it that many times, but seems durable enough for daily use.

Thanks for all your replies. I've ordered one in the first link plus a cheaper gold 'professional' one as well, just for comparison.

I agree with Daelthorn, although I will add that if your cable has 'Apple controls' you might get issues with the channels not meeting the connectors properly. The V-Moda and default Sennheiser Momentum cables are like this. Their 3.5mm mini jack has 3 connectors rather than 2 and these require a special adaptor. The ones supplied work of course but replacing them could be a pain.

I would have thought that the 'perfect' adapter is either silver/rhodium plated for better conductivity or at least be pure copper. 

I had a quick look on Furutechs site, purveyors of all fancy connectors and couldnt find a headphone adapter which is a surprise considering their ADL line makes h/p amplifiers.

regards

Reading your post I felt sure that Oyaide must have a silver/rhodium plated one, seeing as I use Oyaide's silver/rhodium plated banana plugs, but they don't seem to make adaptors, which seems strange to me. That said, I've only ever used the adaptors that come with my headphones.

http://www.aloaudio.com/alo-audio-lariat-1-4-female-to-male-mini-adapter

There you go....

Or, even better, throw the headphones away and spend £1,300 on some active speakers!!!

A little uncomfortable strapped to either side of one's head...

Because obviously active speakers and headphones have exactly the same function...

Wow yet another product that relies on the hope that there really is one born every minute. My suggestion of £30+ just wasn't thinking big enough was it. $220 for a 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor? Yeah I'm made of tricks like that lol.