[chinmie]

This is from Aliexpress feedback, person has had it for 2.5 months. If it has to go green, at least let it be as uniform as it's here.

It upsets me knowing that some of my cables might turn green in the future. It will totally ruin the look of them...most of mine are permanently attached.

i kinda love that "hulk mode" color.
to prevent that (or delay them, because it is inevitable) best is to keep moisture away from them, and always put silica gel inside the store cases

 

[SilverLodestar]

I don’t know how many other people are experiencing this, but I noticed my Tin Audio T2’s included MMCX cable has been turning green (oxidizing, I believe). I hate the ugly color it’s become and how tangled it is now; I’ve been looking for a replacement cable for the last month or so.


I’ve been testing replacements and I’m fairly sure that the T2 is sensitive to different cables. I wish I knew what type of cable they included with the T2 because I can’t seem to find anything that sounds remotely as good as it. I’ve tried a 4-core 5N silver-plated copper cable by OKCSC, another silver-plated copper cable from Mee Audio, and a cheap $10 one from AliExpress. I can’t seem to get the original sound from any of these cables.


Normally, I didn’t believe cables made a difference in sound, but now I’m starting to really see the differences. The cheap AliExpress cable makes the T2 sound plain and uninteresting. It completely altered and lessened the mids, getting rid of what makes the T2’s mids so beautiful. The Mee Audio cable made things worse. The mids were distant, pushed back, and thin. The treble and bass also suffered sound degradation, but not nearly as much as the mids (I blame this on Mee Audio’s terrible QC on their MMCX cables). The OKCSC cable was the closest to the T2’s original cable sound, but there are still a few major differences that didn’t sit well with me. They *mostly* convey the mids similarly to the originals, but the lower mids seem to be slightly pushed back and not nearly as present as before. The upper mids and treble seemed to noticeably distort at higher volumes, where as the originals extended a lot better. Layering and the overall airiness seemed to take a hit too. The bass took the greatest hit though with OKCSCs. It was very noticeably less in both quantity and quality compared to the original cables; it sounded thinner and considerably less impactful. I made all these observations through close comparisons using a headphone splitter, my Accessport DAC from Advanced Sound, and my iPhone 6s playing lossless audio via Tidal. I tested all kinds of genres of music for at least an hour to make sure I wasn’t going crazy.


TLDR: Green cables are ugly, I can’t find a replacement for them that sounds like the originals. Halp pls.

 

[vladstef]

I don’t know how many other people are experiencing this, but I noticed my Tin Audio T2’s included MMCX cable has been turning green (oxidizing, I believe). I hate the ugly color it’s become and how tangled it is now; I’ve been looking for a replacement cable for the last month or so.


I’ve been testing replacements and I’m fairly sure that the T2 is sensitive to different cables. I wish I knew what type of cable they included with the T2 because I can’t seem to find anything that sounds remotely as good as it. I’ve tried a 4-core 5N silver-plated copper cable by OKCSC, another silver-plated copper cable from Mee Audio, and a cheap $10 one from AliExpress. I can’t seem to get the original sound from any of these cables.


Normally, I didn’t believe cables made a difference in sound, but now I’m starting to really see the differences. The cheap AliExpress cable makes the T2 sound plain and uninteresting. It completely altered and lessened the mids, getting rid of what makes the T2’s mids so beautiful. The Mee Audio cable made things worse. The mids were distant, pushed back, and thin. The treble and bass also suffered sound degradation, but not nearly as much as the mids (I blame this on Mee Audio’s terrible QC on their MMCX cables). The OKCSC cable was the closest to the T2’s original cable sound, but there are still a few major differences that didn’t sit well with me. They *mostly* convey the mids similarly to the originals, but the lower mids seem to be slightly pushed back and not nearly as present as before. The upper mids and treble seemed to noticeably distort at higher volumes, where as the originals extended a lot better. Layering and the overall airiness seemed to take a hit too. The bass took the greatest hit though with OKCSCs. It was very noticeably less in both quantity and quality compared to the original cables; it sounded thinner and considerably less impactful. I made all these observations through close comparisons using a headphone splitter, my Accessport DAC from Advanced Sound, and my iPhone 6s playing lossless audio via Tidal. I tested all kinds of genres of music for at least an hour to make sure I wasn’t going crazy.


TLDR: Green cables are ugly, I can’t find a replacement for them that sounds like the originals. Halp pls.

Lots of reviews praise T2's cables for build and sound quality - you probably can't get this sound for realistic amount of money compared to how much T2s cost. Swallowing pride and accepting the green oxidation might be the only option unless you are willing to break the bank a bit.

 

[Otto Motor]

I don’t know how many other people are experiencing this, but I noticed my Tin Audio T2’s included MMCX cable has been turning green (oxidizing, I believe).

I’ve been testing replacements and I’m fairly sure that the T2 is sensitive to different cables.

Normally, I didn’t believe cables made a difference in sound, but now I’m starting to really see the differences. The cheap AliExpress cable makes the T2 sound plain and uninteresting.

As to different cables and sound. What this tells me is that some of the cables are not well made and/or have the wrong impedance. For example, the stock cable of my KZ ZS5 is louder than the "silver upgrade" cable. That's probably because the "upgrade cable" is poorly made and only for looks. There must be something wrong with the poor-sounding cables.

What happens if you used all these cables with different earphones?

I have tried several cheap Monoprice, BlueRigger, Sodial, and Fosmon cables with my Beyerdynamic Custom Pro and my Philips SHP9500S and there is zero difference. That's because all cables are of good quality.

In summary, a bad-sounding cable is a poorly made one. Even cheap quality cables should sound fine and you will not gain anything by spending hundreds of dollars.

Errr...did the sound change when the cable turned green or are we talking cosmetics only?

 

[Otto Motor]

I don’t know how many other people are experiencing this, but I noticed my Tin Audio T2’s included MMCX cable has been turning green (oxidizing, I believe).

My T2: ordered 11th Nov. 2017 from NiceHCK Audio Store, received 27th Nov.
Price: $42.79 CAD
Grilles: metal
Green? Yes, slightly above the splitter...but not as bad as on the picture shown here.

Reasoning for green discolouration/oxidation? Possibly too many metals with different redox potentials used? Maybe that's the reason for replacing the metal grille with plastic...which would explain the discolouration migrating from the earpieces down.

Would silica gel stop the degradation? I doubt it as Calgary is always bone dry...nothing to do with moisture IMO....UNLESS the oxidation was related to moisture back in China and has been like this right out of the box.

 

[chinmie]

Errr...did the sound change when the cable turned green or are we talking cosmetics only?

Usually no, the sound does not change. The reason for it going green is because the copper oxidation. Pure silver cable won't turn green

 

[Otto Motor]

Usually no, the sound does not change. The reason for it going green is because the copper oxidation. Pure silver cable won't turn green

OK, the cable will never completely oxidize, there will just be a green patina on the outside. "...The patina actually protects the copper below the surface from further corrosion, making it a good water-proofing material for roofs (which is why the roofs of so many old buildings are bright green)..."

No worries, it is just a cosmetic issue. I frankly don't care whether my cable is green or beige. What can be worse than beige?

 

[vladstef]

OK, the cable will never completely oxidize, there will just be a green patina on the outside. "...The patina actually protects the copper below the surface from further corrosion, making it a good water-proofing material for roofs (which is why the roofs of so many old buildings are bright green)..."

No worries, it is just a cosmetic issue. I frankly don't care whether my cable is green or beige. What can be worse than beige?

It can be worse than beige actually, when you get random green areas and cable doesn't go uniformly green.

Beautiful, magnifique...

 

[riffrafff]

It can be worse than beige actually, when you get random green areas and cable doesn't go uniformly green.

Beautiful, magnifique...

It gives it "character."

 

[SilverLodestar]

Lots of reviews praise T2's cables for build and sound quality - you probably can't get this sound for realistic amount of money compared to how much T2s cost. Swallowing pride and accepting the green oxidation might be the only option unless you are willing to break the bank a bit.

I honestly don’t know how they provide such a great cable at such a low price. At this point, I may as well buy spare T2s for the cable. I also wonder if spray painting the oxidized cable would be viable...

 

[Keshav]

Any comparison between vsd3s and t2 ? Both are around 33usd currently .

 

[SilverLodestar]

As to different cables and sound. What this tells me is that some of the cables are not well made and/or have the wrong impedance. For example, the stock cable of my KZ ZS5 is louder than the "silver upgrade" cable. That's probably because the "upgrade cable" is poorly made and only for looks. There must be something wrong with the poor-sounding cables.

What happens if you used all these cables with different earphones?

I have tried several cheap Monoprice, BlueRigger, Sodial, and Fosmon cables with my Beyerdynamic Custom Pro and my Philips SHP9500S and there is zero difference. That's because all cables are of good quality.

In summary, a bad-sounding cable is a poorly made one. Even cheap quality cables should sound fine and you will not gain anything by spending hundreds of dollars.

Errr...did the sound change when the cable turned green or are we talking cosmetics only?

That could very well be it; the generic AliExpress cable and the one from Mee Audio were poorly made, and quite obviously so. As for impedance, I have no idea how I’d match them since I know nothing about the T2’s cable specs. I’m thinking about trying something from Noble Audio, but I’m not sure which to go with.

I actually haven’t gotten to test them on different earphones since I only have one other earphone with MMCX connectors. I’ll test all of them on my Ostry KC09.

 

[vladstef]

I honestly don’t know how they provide such a great cable at such a low price. At this point, I may as well buy spare T2s for the cable. I also wonder if spray painting the oxidized cable would be viable...

A more realistic scenario might be using a thin black heat shrink, though this one requires resoldering of the jack. A very popular thing actually is wrapping of cables (fabric or nylon, maybe paracord), it can probably be done tastefully (I keep finding colorful examples):

 

[farisq]

Hmm, it seems that they are indeed making a new version of the z5000.


Seller says it will be finished in 10 days, and it will feature a better dynamic driver for low mid and highs.


Should I cancel my order and wait for the new one?

in a typical head-fi response.... get both

 

[TLDRonin]

in a typical head-fi response.... get both

I wish I could lol


I'm probably just going to stick with the current version. A little afraid they might pull a ZS5