Talk me through this Cat6 job, because I've been trying to read up on Ethernet cable for audio here and found a lot of "do it" versus "buy some Starquad." I want to try this myself instead of shelling out for mic cable. And you've done it.
Is that two twisted pairs to each can?
Yes
Is a twisted pair treated as one conductor, or do you combine the darks and then the lights?
A twisted pair is treated as a single conductor. I used the colored strands to determine +/-.
Stranded copper or solid?
Stranded copper
Do you/did you experience microphonics?
Yes, I believe it to be caused by the 4-braids which might be too tight. A looser braid may not cause as much microphonics. Since I use the headphones at my computer station it doesn't really bother me.
Is that white shrink wrap?
Yes
And why is it wrapped after the split, and not before?
Purely aesthetics. I had some white shrink wrap sitting around and thought it would look neat. I also wanted to have a contrast between the main braid and the Y-split to the the cups.
It's a very well made looking cable (and some pretty headphones); I'm very much into the unsheathed look, unless a sheath were more functional or practical somehow.
The sheathed Cat6 cable was very stiff and not very manageable (pliable). I found the interior of the cable had a plastic divider for each of the four twisted pairs, it ran the whole length of the cable. It looked like a plus sign when viewed from the end. It is a real cheap way to re-cable a set of headphones. The Cat6 cable was less than 5 dollars.