[Cyanide]

just finnished making my new cable for these huge suckers. WOW what a difference. I didnt think the change would be so dramatic! I was trying to explain it to my dad that there would be some change if i upgraded the cable and he didnt belive me , but i sure proved him wrong! Unfortunately i dont have a digi camera but i can say it suits these phones beautifuly with the blue cabling and silver plug combo. I measured the stock cables resistance at approx 3.7 ohm and my cable at 0.27 ohm. Suffice to say if your using a portable source , you will get much better volume and definition through the upgrade. The parts are not specialized , all you need is 1x 3.5mm stereo jack and 1x 2.5mm stereo jack with some decent cable soldered between it to maximise these beasts. These cans are being held back by the cable. You want more clarity , seperation soundstage and general airyness? you get it with a cable upgrade. Lower more convincing bass is also thrown into the equation (its frightening how low down to the "pits of hell" these phones can reach). I was a Senn HD497 fan for a while , but these persuade you into beliving the music is live much more readily with a better balance over the sound spectrum. if anyone has any questions or maybe would like a cable please PM me at your leisure.

 

[TimSchirmer]

Awesome!

I was thinking about swapping the cable when i owned the 890. It's a great headphone, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

[wallijonn]

what wire did you use? and what's it's specs?

 

[muzikk]

Yeah, can you be a bit more specific on the making and the sound difference. I have the HP890 and was always wondering if a cable change will make a noticable difference. Anyway keep up the good work

 

[GanChan]

I wonder if a similar result would be achieved with the 820....

 

[psyco1]

Hmmm...
A 2.5 & a 3.5mm. Would a Senn HD-590 Equinox cable work too?

 

[Gluegun]

*blinks*

Something's just.... wrong about that..

You can get those headphones for the equivalent of $40 USD in some countries, and we're talking about cable mods that cost 3x that..

*blinks and stumbles off*

 

[psyco1]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gluegun *blinks* Something's just.... wrong about that.. You can get those headphones for the equivalent of $40 USD in some countries, and we're talking about cable mods that cost 3x that.. *blinks and stumbles off*

40$ for HP890's? Where? I want!! Now!!

 

[Gluegun]

Uhh... Malaysia?

 

[Cyanide]

Thanx for the intrest , good to know that im not the only one crazy enough to upgrade things like cable.

Ok the cable first is Neo-Tech brand and all i know is that its braided OFC S-VHS and its covered in a translucent blue sheath.
I used S-VHS cable because it has 4 cores , 2 thick outer cores and inside them 2 thinner cores. I simply stripped the thick cores and used them as left/right channel and combined the 2 thinner cores to form a common ground. The plugs are silver Jaycar plugs and in fact they were quite difficult to find , especialy the 2.5mm one. The whole body of the plug is metal and easy to solder because there isnt any plastic to worry about melting. They then have a barrel that screws on , and the barrel inside is coated with non-conductive material to stop shorts of the channels on the inside of the barrel.

For the sound , the first thing that i noticed imediately was an increce in volume. I thought i bumped the volume controll at first but then i change the cable back to stock and they werent anywere near as loud. The bass has tightend slightly , and its seems it has moved down the Hz scale a little lower. Lower tomes are more noticeble , however the mid bass is tamed at the same time. Midrange comes into play as well , bing both more present as well as better defined. Guitars and vocals are much more nimble and the aparent slow pace of the phones is remedied slightly. Transients are much truer to the CD and are a little less coloured. Highs become more airy and less vailed. In general its as if your ears are blocked but the cable unblocks them.

While i though these and the Senn 497's were ,while being very different in there sound and design, on par price/performance wize. If the HP890's came with this cable to start with i belive i would have been of an entirely different opinion. For $10 AUD/$5 USD upgrade i belive it is easily one of the simplest and cheapest mods that can be had. And if you dont like the sound you can always go back to the stock cable , meaning its not a permanent ireversable mod wich is always nice option to have.

BTW this was all tested un-amped out of a Sony MZR-909 MD portable and using the cable with an amp could only yeild even better results.

 

[Pinkster]

nice... where did you get the cable from? or anyone else wanna see if they can find any suitable cable on www.jaycar.com.au or www.dse.com.au or direct me to a place that has them so i can see what im looking for. found the plugs though:
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.fi...ogs/CTG0001198 (does that link work?)

might just have to try that. i quite like these headphones, nice soundstage and deep bass, but really dont like the emphasized upper mids on some songs, mainly pop that has probably been mixed with emphasized upper mids in the first place... to a lesser extent i dont like the slow bass in some songs. (i probably wouldnt have noticed the slow bass except that ppl here pointed it out. damn you guys

)

edit: im right in saying that stereo cables have 3 wires? a left, a right and a ground?

 

[Cyanide]

http://www1.jaycar.com.au/productVie...=&SUBCATID=543

This looks much like the stuff i used , with a less fancy outer coating. Give it a try or i could make you one if you like , with silver solder ect.....
$7.80 for parts if you make it yourself

 

[j-curve]

Hi Cyanide, a bit off topic but I notice you don't have an amp yet, and with your DIY skills I just wanted to suggest what I call the "MSCA" amp, a kit available at Dick Smith, Jaycar, etc. I think the Dick Smith version is a bit better (MKT polyester capacitors and a short spline volume control) than the Jaycar one. Just something to think about and a bit of fun. Check the link in my .sig if you're interested.

 

[wallijonn]

you might be able to do better with Mogami #2534 cable, as it has 20pf/ft instead of 85pf/ft.

 

[j-curve]

You're right, that should improve the -3dB rolloff point from about 6MHz to about 25MHz.