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Complete beginner looking to recable AKG 518's

post #1 of 16
7/5/10 at 3:43pm
Thread Starter 

Basically the stock cable has become damaged so now I am getting very intermittent sound from the left side, having a look around I have seen similar threads on recableing these headphones but there are a few things I can't work out... Firstly does the job just involve soldering new wires onto the drivers and jack? Also what parts would you recommend for someone on a low budget (£10-15)? Finally do i only need new wires and a jack or do i need covering for the wiring etc? Sorry if im being annoying but i really have only a vague idea on how to do this so any help is much appreciated

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post #2 of 16
7/6/10 at 6:23am

You'll need a new jack. Search through this forum for an example of recabled AKG K81s.

Jack: $2

Wire (you'll need 4x your length): $5

Equipment (experience): Priceless

 

Search.

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post #3 of 16
7/6/10 at 8:43am
Thread Starter 

Hey Trysaeder thanks for the reply, I was just wondering what type of wire/ jack would I need, and also I see a lot of headphones with nylon covering, is this necessary?

 

EDIT: I have some idea of the materials I would like to use...

Cable-MOGAMI STARQUAD MICROPHONE CABLE

Jack Plug-NEUTRIK JACK PLUGS: RX series

Sleeving-BRAIDED SLEEVING

Heat Shrink-HEAT SHRINK SLEEVING - ADHESIVE LINED

 

Can anyone give me a hand with what lengths to buy? I would like the cable when finished to measure about 1.2metres and are all the widths I am using compatible with eachother?


Edited by gabz - 7/6/10 at 11:37am
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post #4 of 16
7/6/10 at 9:41pm

The quad cable you only need whatever length you want, as it includes 4 wires already.

 

I recommend straight 6.3mm plugs for convenience as they do not suffer the same weaknesses as 3.5mm.

 

Sleeving you'll need whatever length your cable is, plus ONE length of your Y split.

 

Go cheap with your first one, as you probably won't meet your own expectations with it.

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post #5 of 16
7/6/10 at 11:51pm
Thread Starter 

The only problem for me is that these are used primarily with my mp3 player so a 6.3mm isnt really an option because even if i use an adapter it will be much too bulky. Also why do i only need one length of my y-split surely you sleeve both sides? Finally have i got all the thicknesses correct e.g. is the wire gonna fit in the sleeve etc?

 

EDIT: Sorry i forgot to ask, do i need equiptment to test for the left and right channel and if i do can this be done without any special equiptment?


Edited by gabz - 7/6/10 at 11:54pm
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post #6 of 16
7/7/10 at 1:02am

That's a 6.3 you've got there.

 

You only need length+one side because you're extending the cable by whatever length with a Y split. 1.2 metre cable, 30 cm Y split. You only have to add 30 cm to it. Your straight part is 90 cm, your y split is 2x 30 cm, that gives you a 1.2 meter cable.

 

Yes your mogami wil be fine, I've seen it used before.

 

Use music to find left/right. Find a piece you know.

 

also, look through the last 5 or so pages of the DIY forum, I remember seeing a reacbled K81 recently. That will help you a lot.


Edited by Trysaeder - 7/7/10 at 1:17am
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post #7 of 16
7/7/10 at 3:37am

you could probably use a continuity tester from a multimeter to decide which wire is which before soldering it in (or a battery and a bulb. Multimeters are, to me, essential tho)

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post #8 of 16
7/7/10 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 

Wow thanks for all the replies :D umm just one more thing having a look here at how other people have done it does I noticed you have to solder 2 wires to each of the drivers, does it matter which way round these go and if so how do i tell. Also with the audio jack, i did not realise that it was a 6.3mm, I would much rather a 3.5mm which I have found here do i need 2 pole or 3 pole and how do i know which wire to solder where?

 

Thanks

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post #9 of 16
7/7/10 at 1:55pm

the solder pad near the dot is always positive and it does matter

 

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post #10 of 16
7/7/10 at 3:31pm

3 pole. I'd note canare plugs are supposedly a little more tricky for beginners for some reason.

 

The polarity matters since if you wire it up a certain way, you might end up having your headphones out of phase with each other, which subtly sounds wrong

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post #11 of 16
7/8/10 at 9:01am
Thread Starter 

Can you recomend a 3.5mm jack thats easier to solder and also how do i test the polarity?

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post #12 of 16
7/11/10 at 7:34am
Thread Starter 

anyone????

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post #13 of 16
7/11/10 at 10:42am

multimeter go buy one that beeps.

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post #14 of 16
7/11/10 at 2:49pm

The easiest way is just to follow the original cabling - there's no real hard and fast way to tell which solder pad is which, and it may differ between manufacturers - the one i recabled was a sennheiser - and on that, the ground was the middle of 3 pads. 

 

I'm notoriously unpicky about my jacks, using cheapie ones that cost a dollar i get locally. people seem to use Neutrik or Switchcraft in most cases i see.

 

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/484744/crosstalk-on-audio-technica-m50 the latter part of this post may be of interest

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post #15 of 16
7/12/10 at 6:53am

Good read: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/479688/a-pic-by-pic-akg-k81dj-k518-recable-thread

 

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