[_Spanky_]

I had a left-over interconnect that I thought I would recycle into a new headphone cable. It was a mini-mini with Mogami Neglex. I cut an end off, soldered it to the left ear. I was tempted to take it a bit further and replace the wire that goes over the headband. I found some solid (not stranded) Cat5e Ethernet cable and I took 4 single wires and ran them from the left to the right ear. Everything works but I'm kind of disappointed. I don't know if it's real or not but it sounds like the right ear has slightly less volume but more bass. I've sat with it for 2 days listening to various things and I keep coming back to that. I used Foobar to downmix stereo music to mono so both drivers get the same and it sounds like they're both perfectly fine, no volume or bass loss.

Is this all in my head or would 4 strands of Cat5e have that much impedance to alter it?

I'm thinking of re-doing it with some other wire or perhaps just putting the OEM one back on but that's kind of defeat in my book lol.

 

[music_man]

you should use the same wire throughout imo. mixing cat5 and neglex doesn't sound good. i guess you think so as well.

just use neglex. at least you didn't melt the posts. that is so easy to do. if it works you are doing good so far. the more times you solder it though things can degrade too.

music_man

 

[_Spanky_]

I was actually going to use Neglex through the whole thing but it's too large in diameter to fit through the holes and I didn't want to drill them out. I guess I could cut a section out and just pull 2 of the inner wires through. Is there any reason why I shouldn't do that?

Truth be told I kinda did melt the plastic that holds the soldering points lol, just a little bit though.

The Neglex is actually heavier than I thought for a headphone cable. I'll search around this forum but what would be a good cheap cable that's lighter and that would be better than the OEM one?

 

[music_man]

if you melted them to much it is trashed. very fragile. i use soldering station down to 7 watts!

pull the mogami two twisted wires through the hole without the jacket on them! they just barely fit and will be covered by the headband. i think one is translucent white and the other is blue. they even make it through the rubber grommet in the hole if you pull hard! leave them twisted and use cable grease if need be.

music_man

 

[_Spanky_]

Funny thing actually, when I finished them with the Cat5, I hooked them up and tested them out and they were fine. Then I came back a couple hours later and tested and the left driver had distortion like mad... after an hour of careful looking and checking things out I noticed that the temporary interconnect I made years back with wire and electrical tape (lol I know

) had a short. That was actually good that it happened because I saw the tiny wire and how those solder points are set in the driver plastic, now I'm MUCH more careful.

Anyway, I did as you said and JUST got back from the workbench and I gotta say it's much cleaner and sharper looking than the Cat5. I used heatshrink and zipties and it looks super professional if I say so myself

Also, since I used more of the cable, the length is shorter so it weighs less and feels just about perfect. Sound-wise I think it's better but I still feel the left driver is a pinch louder but maybe it's still in my head lol. Thanks for the idea music_man

 

[apatN]

When I have time I am going to recable my DT880s with Mogami. I plan on stripping the outer jacket and cover the whole thing in nylon. Either that or go with the smaller W2893.

P.S. Where are the pictures?

 

[_Spanky_]

Quote:

Originally Posted by apatN /img/forum/go_quote.gif When I have time I am going to recable my DT880s with Mogami. I plan on stripping the outer jacket and cover the whole thing in nylon. Either that or go with the smaller W2893. P.S. Where are the pictures?

Sweet stuff. I'm waaayyyy too tired tonight to take pics but I'll try to tomorrow

<3 Head-Fi

 

[music_man]

mogami is the best for beyers.

music_man

 

[_Spanky_]

Picture! Click on it to view a larger size.


After listening for a while, I really think that Cat5 (the cable itself or how it was arranged in the cup) really altered the sound. It wasn't bad and I may consider using it for other projects but it made it really un-even which should have been common sense

Thanks again for the help music_man.

 

[momomo6789]

i hope you put a tie wrap on the inside also

 

[_Spanky_]

Quote:

Originally Posted by momomo6789 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i hope you put a tie wrap on the inside also

2 in the left cup, 1 in the right

4 all together.

 

[music_man]

looking good. i just hope you didn't melt the voice coil wire post too much. hey, don't worry about it. they work.

music_man

 

[apatN]

Nice work! Hehe Mogami doesn't fit the Neutrik that good does it.

 

[music_man]

well it is a 1/8". is there a reason you did not want a 1/4"? 1/4" is higher quality and will do more for those good headphones. other than that there are some older switchcrafts around still that are larger. rhodium plated(the switch crafts) is actually higher quality than gold plated in this instance. because the gold is so thin anyways.

music_man