Brent,
To be perfectly honest, I hate locking jacks. I think they are a PITA in practice, and potentially unsafe. First, it effectively means that you need two hands in order to unplug headphones. I have never found that to be anything other than annoying, especially when trying to do quick swaps in order to compare headphones. Second, it is unnecessary. If your headphones are pulling out of your jacks when you don't want it to happen, then you have some sort of other problem. Either your headphone cable is too short, your amp is placed in the wrong place, or your headphone jack is worn out. Third, in almost every case I can think of, if there is a strong force being applied to the headphone cable, I would rather the cable pop out of the jack, than have excessive force be applied to the cable, the jack and the amp, especially if it means the amp will get pulled off a desk or out of a rack and potentially fall on the floor.
I wish there were a non-locking version of the locking Neutrik jack. I know that sounds dumb, but the non-locking Neutrik jacks somehow feel flimsy to me. The locking versions feel more substantial, so I would want one of those, but without the locking mechanism.
I'm not familiar with the Vampire non-locking jack. Can you provide a link?
Best regards,
Adam
