ddHiFi BC150B Headphone Upgrade Cable

Gears Used for Testing

• Hifiman Sundara Closed
• Hifiman Sundara
• Hifiman Ananda Nano
• Earmen Tradutto -> Earmen CH-Amp

Specifications
Conductor:
22.8AWG (Signal +)
24.3AWG (Signal-)
21.5AWG (Shielding)

Cable structure:
$0.08mm 4N Silver + $0.05mm 4N Silver + Ф0.05mm Silver-plated OCC + Ф0.05mm Furukawa Silver-Copper Alloy (Signal+)
Ф0.05mm 5N OCC (Signal-)
Ф0.06mm Silver Plated over OFC (Shielding)

Build Quality
The cable itself is very well built, it is not too stiff or soft, easy to store and brought out from storage. The dual 3.5mm jack as well as the 4.4mm jack is very solid, gold plated for the dual 3.5mm as well as on the 4.4mm, the design somehow has very good ergonomics in my opinion, where the shape of the jack somehow provides a very good grip when you want to unplug it from the headphone or your amp. Very well thought out



Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression
*The cable has been run in for approximately 20-30 hours prior to writing this sound impression.
As ddHifi advertised, the difference or rather perceived upgrade for the soundstage is true to its claim. I paired up the BC150B with Hifiman Sundara Closed, which has a rather small soundstage and a little slow bass performance on a stock cable. Let’s take a look at the breakdown below:

Bass

• The bass seems to sound a little faster, tighter and doesn’t sound as woolly as it is with stock cable, cleaner sounding overall
• Better extension to my ears

Mids

• Mids are slightly forward compared to stock cable
• Vocal for both male and female has good texture and weight to it, doesn’t sound thin at all

Treble

• Sundara Closed on stock cable, to my ears are slightly warm
• Pairing it with the BC150B seems to slightly elevate the treble, specifically the air and presence region, not a lot, but just enough for you to feel the improvement on the soundstage
• Detail retrieval is slightly improved as well

Soundstage/Imaging

• This is my favourite aspect of the cable, the soundstage is just amazing
• The Sundara Closed on stock cable, the soundstage and imaging is just average, lacking depths and height
• Pairing the Sundara Closed with BC150B, the improvement is noticeable right away, better depth, width and height perception, very holographic sound, especially when i’m listening to Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel under Ocean Blvd
• Imaging and separation does improve slightly compared to stock cable

Final Thoughts
Cable altering/improving the sound of the transducer is a very controversial topic, there are some who don’t hear any difference and there are those who are like me, who have the ability to perceive the changes/improvement. Do keep in mind that cable will not make a bad sounding headphone sound better, That aside, ddHifi’s BC150B is definitely a worthy investment if you are looking to improve or tweak a certain aspect of your headphone (soundstage,lusher mids and slightly better treble extension), this is the cable for you.


*Received the review sample from ddHifi for the purpose of this review, big thanks to them for the support as always

Head over to their official aliexpress store to purchase one if you’re interested:

ddHifi BC150B - Non affiliated
ddHifi BC150B Product Page

ddHifi BC150B​

ddHifi BC150B:
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Prelude:
There are many headphone cables on the market, ranging from a few to even several thousand dollars. They will certainly be more expensive. Manufacturers are constantly outdoing each other in providing us with better and often more expensive accessories. ddHifi, however, decided to go a completely different way, offering great quality and a decent price. The BC150B model, because that’s what I’m going to talk about in this review, is the latest headphone cable dedicated to large headphones from the stable of this manufacturer. We have many connection options and plugs from classic 3.5mm to elongated, 2.5mm or slightly more specialized. The only thing missing was the xlr or mini xlr variant. The end connector always comes in the 4.4mm option.


Unboxing and making:
The BC150B is definitely a premium cable and comes in a nice cardboard package, if I may ask for something, in the future edition I would like it to receive its own dedicated case already in the set. The cable itself is made of high-quality pure silver with two cross-sections, SPC copper, and high-purity copper, and good insulation has not been forgotten. The whole is implemented in a litz construction with a coaxial structure. In terms of length, we have 145, 195, 295 cm at our disposal, at a price of 119 to 190 USD. The cable itself is well made of high quality materials, additionally we have a nice splitter with the name of the model. The plugs fit very well and are of high quality. At this price, it’s quite a popular practice, but still deserves a mention. ddHifi took care of proper comfort by making our cable flexible and flexible. It may not be as soft as cheaper Chinese substitutes, but this is due to the solid construction and strong insulation used in this model.


Sound:
When it comes to the sonic aspect, the change was noticeable almost from the very beginning, and it only got better over time. So let’s move on to the descriptive part of the sound. I tested BC150B together with hifiman he400se, edition xs, sundara, sundara closed back, r9, deva pro.


Bass: The low end became more alive and spacious, I noticed a significant and beneficial increase in the amount of low frequencies. At the same time, the quality of low frequencies has increased significantly. The capture of the variety and amount of low frequencies has become phenomenal. The low tones gained power and the bass became deeper and more saturated, which resulted in good results with the tested headphones.

Midrange: It has become closer, fuller and livelier. The voices of singers gained in tangibility and realness of the message, which made a great impression on me. The amount of information has become huge, and the scene is organized and coherent. Despite the use of silver in the conductor, not only did I not observe heat loss, but also its slight increase. I think this is due to the complexity of the composition of the conductor and the use of different materials.

Treble: They were neutral and kept in check, they did not stand out in the foreground and instead opened beautifully, showing their natural and colorful character. In addition, the upper strands gained a delicate brightening and showed their natural character. These are very good results for the price and class of the BC150B.


Summary:
BC150B is a high-quality cable made of very good materials that combines the advantages of copper and silver, and is also comfortable and functional. I find it really impressive that ddHifi is able to sell it so cheaply. Under $300, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better value for money over-ear cable. All this makes it my basic and necessary headphone cable.




MatAudiophiles

Photo dump of the BC150B:

Mini-review:

Build Quality: 8/10. Excellent at this price. Very few machining marks observed on the y-split and pins, virtually none on the plug. Perfect braiding and uniform length. Glossy, silky smooth, soft and pliable insulation. The largest issue is probably the heat shrink strain reliefs around the pins, which are not cut perfectly. Plug and unplug feel of the 4.4mm plug is amongst the softest I've used, and the plug and unplug feel of the HD 800 S ODU pins are a bit rough (more so than the connectors on the stock cable).


Aesthetics: 9/10. Looks pretty nice with the HD 800 S, as the smoke-grey insulation and black metal parts reflect the color scheme of the said headphone (although I did customize the y-split, it is black instead of gold). Unique yet cool y-split design and elegant plugs and pins make things better. The word "generic" is not in ddHiFi's vocabulary. The 2-wire coaxial design gets to the point without being too extravagant or complicated, unlike most other cables. I wish more headphone cables are designed like this in the future.


Compatibility: 7 9/10. Has pins for many common headphones on the market. According to ddHiFi, the flat 3.5mm fits MoonDrop (Venus), HifiMan, Focal (except Utopia) headphones. The long 3.5mm fits Meze's 99 and 109 Pro (and others that have long sockets). The HD 600, HD 800 and Focal LEMO (Utopia) fit their respective headphones. Unfortunately 4-pin mini XLR is not offered as stock (maybe customizable, I'm not sure), so Audeze, ZMF, Meze (Empyrean, Elite) headphones are currently not compatible. Also wished that there were more plug options, such as 4-pin XLR.

Editor's note 9/17/2023: ddHiFi did indeed release a 4-pin XLR edition of the BC150, and it's called the BC150XLR. They also have added A2DC and 2.5mm pins for select Audio-Technica headphones. However, there are still no options for 4-pin mini XLR pins


Sound: N/A. I don't believe in cable sound, so I won't talk about this. Ask other reviewers if you're curious. To me, cables are only that cherry on the cake that makes your entire system either look more premium, or to solve usability issues (such as length, weight, thickness, pliability).

Editor's note 9/17/2023: After a long period of consulting industry professionals and listening to cables myself, I now do think cables can change sound, but it's not an apparent or night-day difference. Here are some comments on the BC150B by me and a friend who has listened to my HD 800 S with said cable: general sound signature is more reminiscent of a silver cable (even though it is technically a silver-copper hybrid). Fast and clean and gives boons to imaging performance, increasing primarily layering performance. However, the cable does make certain headphones sound thin (decreased bass, more treble, with thinner timbre in general), which might not be what people are looking for.


Comparison:

HD 800 S Stock Cable (CH 800 P):
One of the reasons I went on a quest trying to find the best headphone cable for the HD 800 S is because the stock cable was far too long (3m) for my use case, playing music off a portable source. The BC150B offers three different lengths, 1.45m, 1.95m and 2.95m, with the former being my ideal length. While Sennheiser's build quality is excellent, I think the BC150's insulation feels smoother and more premium and the finishing on the plug is also finer. Design wise, although the stock cable does look best, the BC150B still looks fantastic when paired with the HD 800 S. With the CH 800 P selling at 300 bucks retail, I think the BC150B is a steal, as it offers more customization options and a premium design and build at half the price.


Overall: 8/10 = 4/5. I am genuinely surprised by how good the BC150B is, physically. It is well built, and from the cross-section diagrams, it seems like the insulations are thick enough to take a beating. With a unique coaxial design and appearance, it brings what high-end cables such as the EA Code 23, or the Eletech Inferno bring to the table at less than a fifth of the price. It's a true bang-for-the-buck headphone upgrade cable.