What's your view on custom headphone cables? - Page 59

Is this particular cable made of silver? Or is it covered in a silver-like shining alloy? This appearance is usually responsible for this perception...

I previously didn't believe that a custom cable would change the sound on my UE TF10's... and Im actually on record as rubbishing the idea...  but embarassingly my ears are now telling me that I was completely wrong.

 

The new cable is a silver coated sunricky 'Dark Lord' item and the bass is possibly slightly reduced but the treble is more crisp.. seems to have been turned up and maybe extended slightly.

I'm not sure why but my Galaxy S 4.2/Neutron player is also clipping at a slightly lower pre-amp volume level with my favourite tunes than before.

 

It is a known fact that headphone jack ouput impedance alone can alter the frequency response on low impedance iem's. (1/8th rule) So if the lower resistance material used in the cable also reduces the combined z of the socket/jack/cable total impedance then why not?

 

I'm now a believer that with certain headphone/player combinations the sound can be altered with a cable made from a different material. Please note-  I'm not saying the sound is improved... merely altered.

Edited by Ari33 - 3/21/13 at 8:37am

Would you be willing to get a friend to help you do a controlled, double blind test?

 

My equally unsubstantiated opinion is that your brain is playing tricks on you, and that a double blind test will show that, in fact, you can't tell the two apart at all, let along prefer one to the other.

 

There is one way to prove me wrong... 

Sure. Absolutely no problem with that. I wanted to prefer the silver cable on the JH13 but did quite the opposite. I don't think expense equals goodness as a generality but I did perceive a noticeable (in this case) difference.

looking forward to the results of the ABX testing

Until someone manages to provide results of a scientifically valid nature, no. What really does my head in is the elitist club of people who allegedly hear things they refuse to prove. Sad to see so unscientific and illogical thinking on the 21st century.

For anyone who has something to say against my stance, go grab yourself a million from James Randi's cable challenge. Should be incentive enough to dig someone with golden ears out of their childish entrenchment.

 

I'd love to be able to also do an ABX test to confirm the differences I believe I hear but because one earphone side of the OEM cable is crackly & keeps shorting out it would be flawed, the results wouldn't provide any conclusive evidence. I don't want to buy another stock cable either, its too stiff and doesn't last... so I'm sorry I cant assist in the ABX test guys.

 

I'm looking forward to the results though. :)

I can't do it again as the 1+2 was a loaner but I'll have a friend help do so when I finally find a cable I like. That will be more interesting anyway since I simply want a cable that sounds like a better version of stock so differences will be much more subtle. It will still be difficult to not notice the difference in construction so hard to prove there's no bias anyway. This difference was not subtle and I would have been happy to let anyone test me on it.

That's a good point that it would be difficult to not feel the difference, unless the cables were built for the test with the exact same sheathing and just had different cables on the inside. I guess the same could be done with current cables. Just put the cables inside some garden hose (or something similar) so they all look and feel the same.

I love the idea of detachable and custom cables.  As someone who is perfectly capable of sourcing his own materials and using a soldering iron I'm happy to spend a few bucks in order to have backup cables with nice features like custom lengths, custom metals, gauge's and strand counts of my own choosing.  Also, it opens up avenues for using higher quality connectors and implementing your own creative license.  

 

Lets be honest, the first thing to go on our IEM's is almost always the cable or some component of the cable.  In my experience it is rarely the drivers that **** the bed.

 

Don't get me wrong, the idea of spending $300ish on some cables that someone else made does not appeal to me at all.  I suppose the idea of custom cables would only really be appealing and executable by someone with the DIY skills to do it themselves, for themselves or their friends.

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