[Kamakahah]

@Stillhart @cCasper TFG I agree mostly with Casper. You'll develop your own preferences over time. While I like Mogami, I think that Canare L-4E5C to be probably have the best value/cost ratio. It's the mini cable to the Canare L-4E6S. It doesn't really get much cheaper than $0.48 for 4 feet of wire quality copper wire.
If you think that's overkill, your wallet is in for a huge surprise when you start looking at boutique wire.  
One benefit of the canare is that the braided shielding is MUCH faster to remove than the wrapped in the mogami. You literally just slide it off. Takes less than 15 seconds. I've found a few tricks to make unwrapping the wire from the paper/cotton strands a bit faster. Hard to explain in words. It's basically spinning it like a jump rope while holding what you are removing and trying to avoid getting hit in the face after you unwind about 3 feet. 
You could use the redco if you want, but I'd recommend the Canare or Mogami. 
 
I like using type 1 or micro paracord for individual wire sleeving, but type 95 paracord gives you a bit more space and makes the process faster/less tedious. Naturally the twisted wire inside the Canare and Mogami will have kinks. You can get those out by sliding them over a rounded surface. Just make sure not to pull at a sharp angle. Alternatively, you can heat it up with a blow dryer and pull it straight. Just make sure to not over heat it. 
 
Always good to have more guys jumping into the DIY cable ring. It's a lot of fun to see people's work come to life in different forms than I had imagined. 
My advice is to do a quick sketch to plan out the build. Let it show which wires go to what pins, the order you plan to put things on, making sure the heat shrink and connector shell are on the cable before soldering, and things of that nature. Only takes a few minutes but can save you from serious face palm moments. 
Finally, take your time. You'll be happy you did. Each build you'll find new tricks to make things easier and faster.

 

[ThurstonX]

@Stillhart

I personally prefer Mogami over Canare. If you want the wires from inside the w2893 cable, order w2799 instead, it uses the same wires but has less to cut through.

As for the sleeving, if you want to braid 4 wires individually I recommend Type 1 paracord. When sleeving it, it's easiest to not strip the end of the wire until after you route it through the paracord. To put the wire through the paracord you should fold the beginning of the wire at about an inch or inch and a half in and put the folded end in first, it's MUCH easier to do it that way.

Neutrik XLR connectors are probably the easiest things to solder to in the headphone connector world, so you're in luck there. The smc connectors are another story. I normally use the ones Plussound sells as a pair. Solder the signal wire first and then route the ground through the connector and solder it to the OUTSIDE of the part surrounding the signals spot. Easiest way.

And finally, congrats on saving yourself a s***load of money on cables by doing it yourself. Even if you were to mess up 5 times making a cable, it will probably still cost you less than laying someone to make you a cable once. But beware, once you DIY a cable nicely once, every headphone you have will end up with a new cable. This is your warning. It's an addiction I don't mind having.

 
I agree with this so much I had to quote it all.  I do agree about the 95-lbs. paracord comment, though.  I was thinking that's the same thing as Type 1.

 

[Stillhart]

@Stillhart

I personally prefer Mogami over Canare. If you want the wires from inside the w2893 cable, order w2799 instead, it uses the same wires but has less to cut through.

As for the sleeving, if you want to braid 4 wires individually I recommend Type 1 paracord. When sleeving it, it's easiest to not strip the end of the wire until after you route it through the paracord. To put the wire through the paracord you should fold the beginning of the wire at about an inch or inch and a half in and put the folded end in first, it's MUCH easier to do it that way.

Neutrik XLR connectors are probably the easiest things to solder to in the headphone connector world, so you're in luck there. The smc connectors are another story. I normally use the ones Plussound sells as a pair. Solder the signal wire first and then route the ground through the connector and solder it to the OUTSIDE of the part surrounding the signals spot. Easiest way.

And finally, congrats on saving yourself a s***load of money on cables by doing it yourself. Even if you were to mess up 5 times making a cable, it will probably still cost you less than laying someone to make you a cable once. But beware, once you DIY a cable nicely once, every headphone you have will end up with a new cable. This is your warning. It's an addiction I don't mind having.

 
Thanks for the tips!  The Plussound connectors cost 50% more than just buying them from Head Direct.  Is there a notable difference between the two?
 

  @Stillhart @cCasper TFG I agree mostly with Casper. You'll develop your own preferences over time. While I like Mogami, I think that Canare L-4E5C to be probably have the best value/cost ratio. It's the mini cable to the Canare L-4E6S. It doesn't really get much cheaper than $0.48 for 4 feet of wire quality copper wire.
If you think that's overkill, your wallet is in for a huge surprise when you start looking at boutique wire.  
One benefit of the canare is that the braided shielding is MUCH faster to remove than the wrapped in the mogami. You literally just slide it off. Takes less than 15 seconds. I've found a few tricks to make unwrapping the wire from the paper/cotton strands a bit faster. Hard to explain in words. It's basically spinning it like a jump rope while holding what you are removing and trying to avoid getting hit in the face after you unwind about 3 feet. 
You could use the redco if you want, but I'd recommend the Canare or Mogami. 
 
I like using type 1 or micro paracord for individual wire sleeving, but type 95 paracord gives you a bit more space and makes the process faster/less tedious. Naturally the twisted wire inside the Canare and Mogami will have kinks. You can get those out by sliding them over a rounded surface. Just make sure not to pull at a sharp angle. Alternatively, you can heat it up with a blow dryer and pull it straight. Just make sure to not over heat it. 
 
Always good to have more guys jumping into the DIY cable ring. It's a lot of fun to see people's work come to life in different forms than I had imagined. 
My advice is to do a quick sketch to plan out the build. Let it show which wires go to what pins, the order you plan to put things on, making sure the heat shrink and connector shell are on the cable before soldering, and things of that nature. Only takes a few minutes but can save you from serious face palm moments. 
Finally, take your time. You'll be happy you did. Each build you'll find new tricks to make things easier and faster.

 
Thanks as well!  Re the overkill comment, I was actually looking at a website that was charging too much.  I've found it for cheaper now.  Also, after doing more research, I realize it's on the cheaper side.  Also, took a step back and realized that the wiring is going to be the cheapest part of the cable.  lol
 
Really like the idea of the build plan.  I'll probably put together a basic checklist so I don't do stuff in the wrong order... or at least I'll be able to reorder it once I realize I've made a mistake.
 

   
I agree with this so much I had to quote it all.  I do agree about the 95-lbs. paracord comment, though.  I was thinking that's the same thing as Type 1.

 
Can anyone confirm?  I'm paranoid about getting the wrong stuff.  

  I'll probably just grab some of the 95.
 
The Canare is the cheapest and I fully expect to **** up my first build so I'll probably grab that.  I think the last thing I need to figure out is what kind of shrink wrap I need.  I grabbed a "variety pack" at Radio Shack for 50% off of dirt cheap.  But I'll probably want more at some point...

 

[ThurstonX]

  Can anyone confirm?  I'm paranoid about getting the wrong stuff.  

  I'll probably just grab some of the 95.
 
The Canare is the cheapest and I fully expect to **** up my first build so I'll probably grab that.  I think the last thing I need to figure out is what kind of shrink wrap I need.  I grabbed a "variety pack" at Radio Shack for 50% off of dirt cheap.  But I'll probably want more at some point...

 
I can confirm that Paracord Planet's 95-lbs. works great with stripped out Mogami (W2799 in my case).  As for SMC connectors, I just bought the cheapest I could find on eBay (China or Hong Kong), and bought a few extras, which isn't a bad idea, esp. at those prices.  Prior to that I'd always used the ones from HiFiMAN.  The ones from eBay have a snugger fit at the cups, which I prefer.  They could hang there without screwing them on, though of course you wouldn't use them that way.  May just be a manufacturing aberration, but I'm not complaining.  FWIW, I used them on two cables, one each for HE-560s and HE-500s.
 
re: Mogami vs. Canare, I'm not familiar with the latter.  The W2799 is pretty inexpensive from Redco (cheapest I could find at $0.64/foot, which is four conductors, so divide by four).
 
HTH.

 

[Kamakahah]

Stillhart There isn't a difference in the connectors. Norne audio also sells them, but the cheapest by far is from China if you don't mind the wait.

Some 3:1 ratio heatshrink comes in very handy for covering barrel to wire spots where it really needs to shrink down. The 2:1 ratio that you picked up is good to have on hand either way.
I recommend some 3/16ths, 1/8th, and maybe some 1/4 inch just for giggles.
Canare doesn't get any cheaper than from Redco if you plan to pick up 30+ feet. You can sometimes find 10-20ft quantities on ebay at a decent price.

Paracord vendors try to stick to standards, but I've found there are minor variations occasionally. Can't really if type 1 and 95-paracord are the same,but I can assure you that micro Paracord is smaller. I like it, but it is undoubtedly more difficult to use.

 

[020Assassin]

I ordered 2x 5 meters of paracord type I, in black and in gold. Mogami and Canare is difficut to come by here, but I got Tasker C116, which seems to have the same values. I got two 3.5 mm jacks, the straight Neutrik NYS231 and the angled NTP3RC. When the paracord arrives I'm going to try my hand to make a gold and black version of the cable cCaspar made for my ZennJazzGrado:
 

 

[Stillhart]

NM, I think I got it.  I'm gonna grab a variety kit of 3:1 tubes.

 

[020Assassin]

  NM, I think I got it.  I'm gonna grab a variety kit of 3:1 tubes.

I checked out something similar, but with a variety of colours too. The main problem is that you'll probably use half of them, and find no use for the other half.
 
I think when you make your own cable, you'll probably get a preference for certain cable, and you'll find yourself using two or maybe three widths in heatshrink, which are cheaper if you buy per yard/meter, so you can snip off the required length yourself, instead of getting stuck with all pieces being 45mm...

 

[Stillhart]

 
I checked out something similar, but with a variety of colours too. The main problem is that you'll probably use half of them, and find no use for the other half.
 
I think when you make your own cable, you'll probably get a preference for certain cable, and you'll find yourself using two or maybe three widths in heatshrink, which are cheaper if you buy per yard/meter, so you can snip off the required length yourself, instead of getting stuck with all pieces being 45mm...

 
Okay, I'll stick with my Radio Shack ones for now and see which sizes I actually use.  Thanks.

 

[Stillhart]

Question unrelated to all my other questions:  I figure I'll probably want to replace the cable on my beloved HP100 (seriously, these cans are just awesome for the price!) since it comes with a coiled cable that I'm not too fond of.  The problem is that it uses a semi-proprietary connector.  It's a 3.5mm stereo jack but with a weird outer locking ring.  I emailed them directly and they don't have replacement connectors.
 
I've tried replacements with thin barrels to fit inside the locking mechanism (the kind made for cell phone cases) but they don't quite work.  The only thing I can think of right now is using a dremel tool to file off the locking thing on the cup and hope a regular 3.5mm connectors just stays in there well.  
 
Anyone have any thoughts on options?
 

 

 

 

[Worth]

Does braiding the cable reduce the length? If so, how much?

 

[scizzro]

Does braiding the cable reduce the length? If so, how much?

 
On a 5-foot cable with 4 conductors, I lost roughly 4 inches. But it depends on the diameter of the wire and how tightly you braid it.

 
Anyone have any thoughts on options?

Could you just cut that connector off a few inches below the boot and solder the stock wires to the cable you make? Some heatshrink would cover the splice.

 

[Worth]

On a 5-foot cable with 4 conductors, I lost roughly 4 inches. But it depends on the diameter of the wire and how tightly you braid it.

Thanks! How tightly did you braid?

 

[holco]

My DIY balanced cable for the HD 650
 
Finally I can use my headphone on the lounge suite 

 
Mogami W2893
4 pins XLR Neutrik NC4MXX
CARDAS HPSC Headphone Connector (very challenging to solder!!, IMHO they should use silver pins)
Lengt: 17 feet (510cm)
 
 
 

 

[Worth]

What gauge wire should I use for a Rca to 3.5mm cable?