headphone cross talk (at)

Subject: headphone cross talk
From:    at <HARTMANNPA.MSU.EDU>
Date:    Fri, 27 Sep 1996 15:25:18 -0400

        The cross talk in low impedance phones like the Sony MDR-V6
is upsetting, but in practice it may not be as bad as it first appears.
When low impedance phones are driven by a power amplifier (such as the
popular Crown amplifiers) it is usual to put a series resistance (of the
order of k ohms) in the line.

As Soren says, the cross talk is proportional to the ratio of the
resistance in the ground lead to the resistance of the phone. The good news
is that for purposes of calculating cross talk, the effective resistance of
the phone is increased by the series resistance. To reduce cross talk equal
resistors should be placed in left and right phone leads.

Bill Hartmann