[Voidling]

Hi there Head-Fi!
 
I'm curious. Do aftermarket/Third-party headphone cables make a noticeable difference in SQ? I own a nice pair of Brainwavz HM5s and while I'm fairly happy with their performance thus far, I'd like to milk them for all they're worth. I'd consider spending the $$$ on new cables, but I really can't see them making THAT much of an improvement.

Am I wrong?

 

[Voidling]

Bump

 

[Headzone]

Quote:

Hi there Head-Fi!
 
I'm curious. Do aftermarket/Third-party headphone cables make a noticeable difference in SQ? I own a nice pair of Brainwavz HM5s and while I'm fairly happy with their performance thus far, I'd like to milk them for all they're worth. I'd consider spending the $$$ on new cables, but I really can't see them making THAT much of an improvement.

Am I wrong?

No, you can't upgrade your headphones SQ by changing cable, at least the difference will be so small that you won't notice it.
 
But aftermarket cabling can be stronger/more comfortable to wear/nicer looking.
 
edit: this is my opinion,

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Hi there Head-Fi!
 
I'm curious. Do aftermarket/Third-party headphone cables make a noticeable difference in SQ? I own a nice pair of Brainwavz HM5s and while I'm fairly happy with their performance thus far, I'd like to milk them for all they're worth. I'd consider spending the $$$ on new cables, but I really can't see them making THAT much of an improvement.

Am I wrong?

 
Not in my experience.
 
Some references for fun reading.
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/headphone-cable-measurements-part-one
http://en.goldenears.net/1414
http://en.goldenears.net/1301

 

[tdockweiler]

It's worth it if you want to learn how to solder. Sometimes when I recabled a headphone they actually sounded worse than stock. For example, I hate ALO SXC (silver plated copper) on the Q701. It was nice at first. Canare also was bad on the HD-650.
 
Aftermarket cables don't have to be expensive. You can often find them for under $30 and Mogami Starquad bulk wire is under $1 per foot. I use Mogami and it doesn't dramatically alter the sound of my headphones. I like it on my HD-598.
 
Right now all my headphones except for my HD-598 use stock cables.
 
BTW if you don't like the sound signature of a headphone, a recable won't help.
 
I'm a believer in them offering some sight improvements that aren't measurable, but it's never more than say a 5% difference. Sometimes very subtle.
 
It's also not worth it without a good desktop DAC/amp. Not for me anyway.

 

[zazex]

Quote:

Hi there Head-Fi!
 
I'm curious. Do aftermarket/Third-party headphone cables make a noticeable difference in SQ?

 
It's certainly one of the most controversial topics in the world of hi-fi; and has been for years.

 

[Voidling]

It's worth it if you want to learn how to solder. Sometimes when I recabled a headphone they actually sounded worse than stock. For example, I hate ALO SXC (silver plated copper) on the Q701. It was nice at first. Canare also was bad on the HD-650.
 
Aftermarket cables don't have to be expensive. You can often find them for under $30 and Mogami Starquad bulk wire is under $1 per foot. I use Mogami and it doesn't dramatically alter the sound of my headphones. I like it on my HD-598.
 
Right now all my headphones except for my HD-598 use stock cables.
 
BTW if you don't like the sound signature of a headphone, a recable won't help.
 
I'm a believer in them offering some sight improvements that aren't measurable, but it's never more than say a 5% difference. Sometimes very subtle.
 
It's also not worth it without a good desktop DAC/amp. Not for me anyway.

Hey it's tdock! I read a ton of your posts and reviews when I was headphone hunting!

Well, I'm always up for learning something new. Though if what you (and Headzone) say is true and it's mostly for cosmetic purposes, I'm not sure I want to bother. Maybe I'll try it later on though. A little pet project, maybe.

 

[Voidling]

It's certainly one of the most controversial topics in the world of hi-fi; and has been for years.

 
Seems to be the case. It's certainly an interesting topic.
 
Well thanks for the informative replies everyone! While I don't think I'll be investing in new cables anytime soon, I'll most likely look to them in the future if I run out of things to do.