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Help, please: Wire type and size to make a HD650 cable?

post #1 of 5
5/11/10 at 2:34am
Thread Starter 

Hi all. I want to make a 1,5m cable for my HD650 to use it in my desktop (no portable use). I can get the audio jack and the Sennheiser connectors, but I'm quite confused about which cable and tube should I get. Reading the forums I found these shops:

 

http://www.takefiveaudio.com/
http://www.vt4c.com/
http://milianacoustics.com/
http://aphroditecu29.com/
http://homegrownaudio.com/

 

The first one (takefiveaudio) has a nice selection of cables, but:

 

  • Could anyone select a concrete cable and tube for me? I need matching sizes to pass the cable into the tube.
  • Where I could get that metallic piece some finished headphone cables have in the "Y" where the cable is splitted into two to reach the the drivers? What's the name of this piece?

 

And about copper, silver and so: I'm not a believer in these things about the SQ impact of the cable, maybe this tiny project will change my mind. But if I have to choose, I would like a cable that brings more separation of instruments and detail to the phones.

 

Thank you for your help.


Edited by mudo - 5/11/10 at 7:35am
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post #2 of 5
5/11/10 at 3:02am

1. depends on what your connectors accept on the HD650, work backwards from there.

Connector -> cables -> braid sleeving -> heat shrink.

 

2. The Y splitter is called cable pants for the soft ones, the metal ones hard quite hard by for smaller variations, they're meant for speaker cables.

or you can get just heatshrink the 2 at a desired length and it'll split out like a Y.

 

Just go with what you want to experiment with, if you have the budget try out pure silver since its just a tiny project to change your mind since most headphone cables are already copper.

And make another cable afterwards as a spare with a different material.

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post #3 of 5
5/11/10 at 3:13am

You're confusing here - you don't believe cables make any difference yet you want a cable to "do" something (specifically - "separation of instruments", etc).

 

Anyway, this is a VERY common "first time" question.  Just read what everybody else has written hundreds of times.  I'll try to help:

 

1) Pick wire, consider size, add 2mm when braiding 4x those wires for "headphone cable".

2) Heatshrink is measured by un-shrunk size

3) Sleeving is measured by un-expanded size

 

Use your head and you'll be fine, but use that head of yours - it's there for a reason. ;)

 

For cable choices, I'm generally a fan of surplus and NOS (new-old-stock) silver platted copper (SPC) wire from eBay.  It's cheap, it's high-quality - usually military spec, and available all over the place.

 

Good luck.

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post #4 of 5
5/11/10 at 3:27am
Thread Starter 

No confusion at all: I said I don't think that the cable can change SQ too much, but I need a shorter cable so this will let me to know instead of figuring out. And because I have to choose materials, that is want I would like if - to my surprise - I have any change.

 

Very useful posts. Thanks for your help.

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post #5 of 5
5/12/10 at 11:07am

If cables make a minimal change for you, buy a used pair of sennheiser cables or use the current one you have, cut it to 1.5m and just reterminate its easier and cheaper than any of the options above, especially since cardas sennheiser cables are $16+shipping each. but if you really want to make your own cable, picking anything at 24AWG would be a nice safe bet. As for the "tube" and cable type, choose your own parts, thats one of the best parts about DIY, the only real limitation you have is the cable size, 22AWG is a bit harder to work with because of the sennheiser plugs, but it can be done.

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