# What is the difference of gold and nickel plated jacks when it comes to sound quality?



## dragonguy23

I'm kind of wondering what's the difference when it comes to sound quality, does it affect the frequencies in music? Does it help prevent distortion? :confused_face_2:
Does it even affect quality?


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## bangraman

Gold is for corrosion resistance. Nickel corrodes over time which is why you get crackling on old plugs when you move them around. No other real benefit.


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## labcoat

Nickel corrosion resistance is highly dependent on how the Nickel is applied( eletro plate vs electrode-less).  Gold is soft and very corrosion resistance as well as being very conductive.
   
  Strictly from a materials stand point Gold will be better. will you notice only your ears will tell you.
   
  R-


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## wink

Nickel plated connectors are a real pain to solder to.
  You have to scrape off the nickel to get a good connection.
  They're cheap and nasty, and cost less to produce.


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## proton007

Gold plated because gold is inert, and doesn't corrode or form an oxide upon exposure to the environment/humidity etc.
   
  No difference in sound.


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## PleasantNoise

my god. thought I'd open this thread to see some wonderous bs about gold being magically better than nickel, but I'm very pleasantly surprised to see sensible responses from people for once.
 well done head-fi. some faith restored in audiophiles understanding metal and physics, rather than working on the idea of magic cables and interconnects.


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## labcoat

Quote: 





pleasantnoise said:


> my god. thought I'd open this thread to see some wonderous bs about gold being magically better than nickel, but I'm very pleasantly surprised to see sensible responses from people for once.
> well done head-fi. some faith restored in audiophiles understanding metal and physics, rather than working on the idea of magic cables and interconnects.


 

 also gold is made from unicorn bones that is why lepricons and the Mayans covet so greatly. so yea magically delicious,and all of that attributes to its warmer sound.
   
  R-


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## dragonguy23

One more thing, how will I prevent the gold from fading? It seems to be fading after my headphones are used for some time.


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## proton007

Quote: 





dragonguy23 said:


> One more thing, how will I prevent the gold from fading? It seems to be fading after my headphones are used for some time.


 

 I don't think there's any way around that, its a general wear and tear thing. Still, the lifetime of gold plated plugs is in years, so it shouldn't wear off that easily.


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## Kwangsun

Is it possible to have jacks re-plated? my Sennheiser IE7 originally came with nickel plated jack and the tip has corroded and is now brownish. Actually, feels like the nickel came off. I have no interest in having it gold plated, but would like to know if it matters if the plating comes off. It looks ugly but still works fine methinks. 
  
 I'd like to have it replated in nickel if possible just to get it back to looking the way it was when new.


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## krismusic

kwangsun said:


> Is it possible to have jacks re-plated? my Sennheiser IE7 originally came with nickel plated jack and the tip has corroded and is now brownish. Actually, feels like the nickel came off. I have no interest in having it gold plated, but would like to know if it matters if the plating comes off. It looks ugly but still works fine methinks.
> 
> I'd like to have it replated in nickel if possible just to get it back to looking the way it was when new.



Probably cheaper and certainly easier to replace the cable.


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## prollyNOT

krismusic said:


> Probably cheaper and certainly easier to replace the cable.


 

 and what about changing just the jack thing for a new one? Can't that be done? Or you want to tell me that I have to buy a new Cardas just b/c the head of the jack is a bit worn and can't be replaced???


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## serman005

prollynot said:


> and what about changing just the jack thing for a new one? Can't that be done? Or you want to tell me that I have to buy a new Cardas just b/c the head of the jack is a bit worn and can't be replaced???


 

 No, it can be done. It just may cost more than getting a new Cardas (depending on which one you have).


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