I recently bought (and returned) the premium (~$200/pr) Cardas XLR-to-RCA adapters that I had hoped would perform the same function as the OP describes. Turns out the Cardas adapters are wired internally to join Pin 2 and Pin 3 together. The result for me was no sound whatsoever. In an XLR, the two signal conductors (Pin 2 and Pin 3), when joined together, cancel the signal completely! Why Cardas does this is beyond me…
XLR to RCA plugs or cable
I need to be able to plug the output from a phono stage in balanced mode (XLR plugs) into a single ended (RCA plugs) amp. My options are:
1. Buy Neutrik converter plugs (solid and good value)
2. Buy Cardas converter plugs 6 times neutrik price
3. buy a custom XLR to rca cable?