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Headphone Extension Cable DIY Questions

post #1 of 6
5/20/08 at 11:52pm
Thread Starter 
So I plan on making an extension cable and have a few questions before I begin the journey.

My first thoughts of a basic cable.

Cable: Canare L-4E6S Star Quad Micophone Cable
Canare L-4E6S Star Quad Micophone Cable at Markertek.com

Plug: NP3X-BAG
Neutrik - Audio - 1/4" Prof. Phone Plugs, X-Series - NP3X-BAG

Jack: NJ3FC6-BAG
Neutrik - Audio - Locking 1/4" Phone Jacks - NJ3FC6-BAG

How will the length effect my sound? I have Grado SR-60 cans and will power out the back of a Sound Blaster Live card. I hope for ~20 feet. Am I better off going with 15' or could I push it to 25' with no difference?

Is the gauge going to help determine my cord length?

I've got some 16AWG copper speaker wire (Tsumani SW716-50) laying around... would I be crazy to use this?

I've read MANY pages of the DIY IC Guide and the gallery of all of your beautiful work. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Thanks!
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post #2 of 6
6/4/08 at 3:26pm
Thread Starter 
Stupid question?
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post #3 of 6
6/4/08 at 3:32pm
No, not a stupid question. I'm not sure how long of cable a soundblaster will drive; I would think 15' would be fine; 20-25? hard to say. Your connector choice is similar (maybe the same) as what I used for mine. I would probably recommend the Mogami star quad (2534?) over the Canare as I think it is easier to work with and possibly better cable. Check redco for a source for all (that is who I used) or Markertek, the usual suspects.
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post #4 of 6
6/6/08 at 1:20am
In all honesty, I would go for standard mic cable over starquad. Twisted pair connections have pretty high capacitance. I'm assuming you're gonna use one pair for left, one pair for right, and shield ground. If you're gonna skip using the ground and cut a wire, it'll reduce capacitance but at that point you've got overpriced standard mic cable. Mogami makes some nice stuff, as does canare. I ended up using starquad for my first pair of cables, but the capacitance levels I was getting scared me enough to clip a wire and use 3 l/r/g cables without grounding the shield - in retrospect, a poor decision, since it's not that good at rejecting interference now.

Also, yes, you would be crazy to use the speaker cable . There's really no need, even at the lengths you're talking about. I would try to keep it under 15 feet, however, if you're simply running of an SB Live.
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post #5 of 6
6/8/08 at 11:17pm
Thread Starter 
I was gonna to 1L/1R/2G and I think I'll go with some Mogami cable from Redco. Thanks for the source, Pars, and thanks both for your responses. Also, I've decided that with a little feng shui I can cut the cable down to ~10'.
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post #6 of 6
11/7/08 at 7:23pm

35' headphone extension build question

Like Juniper, I am planning to build a headphone extension cable as well. Being a noob, I'm not sure about if my expectations are a bit high though.

What I plan to spec:
35' of Canare L-4E6S Quad Mic Cable with 1L/1R/2G

Jack - Neutrik 1/4" jack NP3X-B

Plug - Neutrik 1/8" plug NYS240BG

Source:
Either an Onkyo or Marantz mid level amp/receiver.
(What happens if I plug into my iPod and CMoy?)

Headphones:
Grado SR60 or Bose IEM

Am I asking for too much in a 35' cable? I am really hoping to be able to walk around while listening to music etc, but need to have headphones.

.:..:::Jugtree
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