[Kinyin]

 
I am not sure I can give you a complete answer but here goes. Copper shield with paracord over it should be fine, that should not hurt anything. Now comes the tricky part, if you have a ground with a shield not attached you can use shielding but there are some caveats. A shield will act as a shield when it covers wires, using it in addition to grounds may cause you to pick up 60 cycle hum on unbalanced equipment. If that happens you should try disconnecting it at different ground points till you eliminate it. See on a coaxial cable, just a center conductor and braided shield, the shield is ground. As long as you are just dealing with the ground and the shield, you can experiment without doing any damage in my opinion but I would feel a lot safer in trying this on my own cable than advising someone else to do it.

 
Would it just be safer for me to, at the split, branch off the actual ground wire with some of the excess cable I'll have? Splitting the ground at the split, so to speak.
Or is there some other cable other than W2983 that would be better to use? I'm perfectly fine with splitting the ground at the end, but if there's another easier solution I am all ears.
 
Thanks for the reply! Been following this group for years as a lurker and it's nice to see that everyone is as helpful as I remember.

 

[Paladin79]

   
Would it just be safer for me to, at the split, branch off the actual ground wire with some of the excess cable I'll have? Splitting the ground at the split, so to speak.
Or is there some other cable other than W2983 that would be better to use? I'm perfectly fine with splitting the ground at the end, but if there's another easier solution I am all ears.
 
Thanks for the reply! Been following this group for years as a lurker and it's nice to see that everyone is as helpful as I remember.

You are fine splitting it and using other wire if all you need it for is a ground.

 

[Kinyin]

  You are fine splitting it and using other wire if all you need it for is a ground.

One last question for you, as I'm pretty much stuck at the last step of my purchase.
 
I can find great quality TRRS male jacks, but when it comes to the female connector that will go in the headphones themselves, all I can find is Radioshack and cheap Chinese connectors at every online store I look.
 
However, XLR panel connectors seem to be plentiful. I'm not sure if I can find one that will fit, but assuming I can, is there any reason I couldn't use one and then split it off into TRS and TS at the opposite end?
 
Edit: Nevermind, it doesn't look like there's enough space for the size of a mini XLR. So I'll just have to try my luck with these Chinese 4 pole connectors.

 

[Paladin79]

  One last question for you, as I'm pretty much stuck at the last step of my purchase.
 
I can find great quality TRRS male jacks, but when it comes to the female connector that will go in the headphones themselves, all I can find is Radioshack and cheap Chinese connectors at every online store I look.
 
However, XLR panel connectors seem to be plentiful. I'm not sure if I can find one that will fit, but assuming I can, is there any reason I couldn't use one and then split it off into TRS and TS at the opposite end?
 
Edit: Nevermind, it doesn't look like there's enough space for the size of a mini XLR. So I'll just have to try my luck with these Chinese 4 pole connectors.

I am not much help locating TRRS connectors, I have rarely found any I would trust. If you know which ring is which on the trrs, it is feasible to split to stereo and mono, a ring would end up being a tip and the S (sleeve) is a common ground. If you keep adding connectors I am not sure I will be able to leave a good enough trail of breadcrumbs to find my way out of this conversation. Have you got any simpler cables that need help? 

 

[Kinyin]

  I am not much help locating TRRS connectors, I have rarely found any I would trust. If you know which ring is which on the trrs, it is feasible to split to stereo and mono, a ring would end up being a tip and the S (sleeve) is a common ground. If you keep adding connectors I am not sure I will be able to leave a good enough trail of breadcrumbs to find my way out of this conversation. Have you got any simpler cables that need help? 

You've been more than enough help already
 
Right now it's just a 3.5mm TRRS > TRS + TS and i'll split the ground for the two at the end. Essentially I'm just building a 10' long TRRS splitter, now that I think about it. The only problem at this point is finding quality female jacks to install into my headphones. Looks like it's going to be Chinese parts and a bit of luck.
 
Thanks for making yourself available to assist me!

 

[Paladin79]

  You've been more than enough help already
 
Right now it's just a 3.5mm TRRS > TRS + TS and i'll split the ground for the two at the end. Essentially I'm just building a 10' long TRRS splitter, now that I think about it. The only problem at this point is finding quality female jacks to install into my headphones. Looks like it's going to be Chinese parts and a bit of luck.
 
Thanks for making yourself available to assist me!

Good luck,there are plenty of small jacks out there for headphones, personally I like the little four pin Hirose connectors or 3.5 mm jacks but it depends on the room you have in the headphones. 

 

[Paladin79]

Here is a photo of what my interconnect cables will look like when completed. (connector is just stuffed onto cable for photo). Everything on a Bottlehead Crack I am building will be copper, bronze, brass or gold. This is the closest match I could get for the IC's. Switchcraft rca connector with black finish removed down to the brass underneath. Cable is OFC so I am not sacrificing quality for looks. 

 

[Kinyin]

  Good luck,there are plenty of small jacks out there for headphones, personally I like the little four pin Hirose connectors or 3.5 mm jacks but it depends on the room you have in the headphones. 

I've never heard of Hirose connectors before and just found an example of someone who installed one into the very headphones I have. Once again you may have just helped me. I was getting very upset that I was going to be buying these nice cables, connectors, etc., only to use cheap bits in the headphones.

 

[Allanmarcus]

 
Good luck,there are plenty of small jacks out there for headphones, personally I like the little four pin Hirose connectors or 3.5 mm jacks but it depends on the room you have in the headphones. 

I've never heard of Hirose connectors before and just found an example of someone who installed one into the very headphones I have. Once again you may have just helped me. I was getting very upset that I was going to be buying these nice cables, connectors, etc., only to use cheap bits in the headphones.

Hirose is what mrspeakers uses.

 

[docholliday]

Has anybody used the Amphenol KS3 series 3.5mm plugs? I'm wondering if the straint-relief system is like the Neutrik ones with chuck/gland design.

 

[Paladin79]

  Has anybody used the Amphenol KS3 series 3.5mm plugs? I'm wondering if the straint-relief system is like the Neutrik ones with chuck/gland design.

I have used a few hundred because of the extended tip. They do not have a chuck design, it is more of the metal clamp but they do have a grommet and extended tip. A lot of Neutrik 3.5's use the same system, NYS 231 etc. When you get into the quarter inch and xlrs they are more inclined to use the plastic chuck. Amphenol uses it on some of their high end 1/4 inch connectors.

 

[Paladin79]

Hirose is what mrspeakers uses.

It has been a while since I ordered those connectors directly form MrSpeakers but I believe they use another brand that looks just like the Hirose, they have gold plated pins. I will try to find that brand later today if I have time. Hirose you can buy from Markertek, just be careful they make four pin plugs that have male pins as well as female pins. Generally you want the female pins on the jacks. In RF you call the opposite gender pins in a plug or jack reverse polarity.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Hirose is what mrspeakers uses.

It has been a while since I ordered those connectors directly form MrSpeakers but I believe they use another brand that looks just like the Hirose, they have gold plated pins. I will try to find that brand later today if I have time. Hirose you can buy from Markertek, just be careful they make four pin plugs that have male pins as well as female pins. Generally you want the female pins on the jacks. In RF you call the opposite gender pins in a plug or jack reverse polarity.

I'm not 100% sure, but I thin these are the ones from markertek
http://www.markertek.com/product/hr10a7p4p/hirose-hr10a-7p-4p-4-pin-male-push-pull-connector-with-7mm-male-shell
They are $16 each. From mrspeakers they are $7 each plus 3 for shipping, so cheaper from my speakers. For the female, you can get them eBay or markertek, but they will be cheaper from eBay. They might be clones, but they are as good or good enough.

 

[docholliday]

  I have used a few hundred because of the extended tip. They do not have a chuck design, it is more of the metal clamp but they do have a grommet and extended tip. A lot of Neutrik 3.5's use the same system, NYS 231 etc. When you get into the quarter inch and xlrs they are more inclined to use the plastic chuck. Amphenol uses it on some of their high end 1/4 inch connectors.

Thanks, I was wondering about if they were "typical" Switchcraft. I have a pile of the Rean ones and Neutrik, and I don't care for how big the shell hole is in the Reans. At least the Switchcraft ones have a grommet which should do the trick.

 

[Paladin79]

  Thanks, I was wondering about if they were "typical" Switchcraft. I have a pile of the Rean ones and Neutrik, and I don't care for how big the shell hole is in the Reans. At least the Switchcraft ones have a grommet which should do the trick.

 
They are very good parts and if need be you can remove the grommet for larger cable. We use them with cable up to a quarter inch outside diameter.