Cosmic Cables - Impressions and Discussion Thread

[MaxD]

My experience so far:

I received my brand new DCA Eaon 2 Closed and the single ended cable was not so good. I wanted a balanced cable anyways.

So I started looking at the aftermarket cables and they were not much better from what I could see and silly expensive in the UK.

Next step look at the normal people I have used to make cables up, custom cans and toxic cables.

Toxic seems to be slowly selling off stock as the owner passed away (I was really sorry to hear this as he was a nice guy and so helpful). Custom cans seem to have only one cable and it looked ugly with its flat plat.

So I went looking for someone new, and Found Ian at Cosmic Cables. I didn't want to just trust a one man band with my money until I knew a little more about him.

So I placed a small order for a couple of connectors so I could make up a cable with some old mic wire I had laying around to test.

Then I went back to Ian asking all sorts of questions and asking for advice. He was brilliant, really helpful and interested in what I needed. After a bit of a conversation over email I realised that he is an enthusiast and a bit of a cable nut like me .

So I placed an order…. He promised me he would make it over the weekend and send it to me Monday! Man that is quick.

I am waiting with baited breath to test it out. Let you know what it is like once I have had a good listen…..

 

[MacMan31]

What do you mean with the "flat plat" of the Custom Cans cable?

 

[MaxD]

So a plat like when girls do their hair as opposed to a round one like people do with para-cord.

 

[MacMan31]

So a plat like when girls do their hair as opposed to a round one like people do with para-cord.

You mean that the cable is braided? You prefer a single cord instead of the braided look?

 

[MaxD]

No Sorry Im not being clear, there are different ways you can braid a cable with 4 wires, The one from custom cans uses a flat braid witch is wide and thin. One way is to braid the cable so it is symmetrical (round) when looked at in cross section. The difference between a circle iin cross cut and an oval.

 

[MacMan31]

No Sorry Im not being clear, there are different ways you can braid a cable with 4 wires, The one from custom cans uses a flat braid witch is wide and thin. One way is to braid the cable so it is symmetrical (round) when looked at in cross section. The difference between a circle iin cross cut and an oval.

So you want the symmetrical (round) cable instead of the flat one. Where else have you looked for cables? I've also looked here. https://www.mimic-cables.com/collections/sleeved-cables

 

[imas69]

Mimic is in the USA

 

[MaxD]

Just now I was only looking in the UK as it is a bit of a wast of money paying import and handling duties for cables.

Expecting my new cable Tuesday From Ian at Comic Cables, As I have a Questyle CMA 400 with has more power on the balanced output I am looking forward to properly driving the new Aeon 2 C's with the new cable.
I went with pure silver as I like detail. I did try my DIY copper cable but it was too base heavy for me.

 

[MaxD]

A quick review of Cosmic Cables custom headphone cable made for the DCA Aeon 2 Closed.

Made by Ian Mason at Cosmic Cables (https://www.cosmic-cables.co.uk/)

First off, I paid for this cable and I have never met or dealt with Cosmic Cables before.

I have been a micro-electronics nut and DIYer for over 35 years. I used to be a microelectronics engineer. For fun I make things with microcontrollers. I make quad copters for racing. More recently I started making my own headphones and cables for them. I only say this to indicate why I feel I can comment on someone else's work.

Ian made this cable for me based on a list of things I wanted. It is pure silver 4 strands of Litz 24 AWG. Sleeved in black paracord Terminated in Eidolic 4 pin mail XLR and connectors for Dan Clark audio Aeon 2's. It has a very light splitter by viablue.

Delivery was within 4 days of commissioning it (Ian worked over the weekend!)

Build quality is excellent. A real professional job, no unsightly heat shrink. Nice soldering nice platting.

Components, all in perfect condition and quality. The cable resistance measures the same as the pure silver cable I made of the almost same length.

Ian was really helpful with selecting parts too.

Photo: First the Cable Ian made, Then the two I made in parallel, One pure silver terminated in 2.5 mm the other just a copper test cable.

All the cables need burn in but Ians silver cable and my silver cable sound almost the same (I am using My cable for portable sources and Ians for my desktop setup).

It sounds brilliant, very detailed (which is what I was after). It will take time to get a good feel for the sound but it already sounds much better than the stock single ended cable.

Thanks Ian for the brilliant cable, It will bring me long hours of enjoyment.

 

[imas69]

Just thought I should chime in with my two pennies worth, I recently purchased the Earth cable from cosmic cables planet collection the cable arrived within
6 days of my ordering and was well packaged, I have to say that the cable was extremely well built and oozes quality, all connectors and splitter were and are
in perfect condition, I have had it for about a month and the sound keeps improving with use, it has added real weight to the sound of my HD800 and improved
them in all departments, I'm also an avid cable builder and have bought numerous parts from cc and they have always arrived very quickly, it's great to have
a place in the UK that I can finally buy everything that I want.

 

[MaxD]

Exactly my experience, I'm a DIY er too and was happy with the parts and the time it took to get them. We have so few reliable "Cable Guys" in the UK we need to support Ian to keep him going .

 

[imas69]

Just purchased another cable from cosmic cables for my Denon ah-d9200 but I stupidly didn't ask for the cable to be made for the Denons and ordered a cable for the focal thinking that the connectors
were the same but alas they're not (too wide), so I contacted Ian and without hesitation he told me to send it back to have the connectors changed, I offered to pay for his time and trouble but
he said "I wouldn't dream of charging you, we all make mistakes"
Top cables, top guy.
Highly recommended.

 

[Daroid]

Just thought I'd bump this thread by giving my warmest recommendation for Ian and Cosmic Cables.

My stock balanced CH800S cable for my HD800S decided to crack - and this seems to be the norm for many apparently. So I was looking at what my options where, when I wanted quality, name-brand, connectors at a price that doesn't skyrocket - and the cable should have as little branded heat-shrink as possible, as I'm not really a fan of that. Found Cosmic Cables through Google, and I think I stumbled upon this thread too. I'm actually surprised that the thread isn't longer, considering the quality and extremely competitive price.

I had some questions regarding the durability of the braiding versus sleeved cables, as the cable will sometimes come in contact with the floor. Ian guided me on pros and cons on this, and am completely sure I made the correct choice going for a braided cable, since it is extremely flexible and the insulation is much better than I would have expected prior to ordering.
I went for the Pluto cable with Furutech connectors, and as an 8ft option as I'm sitting facing away from the amp setup, in front of a different table. The braiding is very pretty and uniform and the sound quality is excellent, and manufacturing time was incredibly short. IMO looks really great with the TA-ZH1ES.

 

[MaxD]

Nice cable. I will use Cosmic Cables again. 8 months on and my cable is still in perfect condition and it is used daily.

 

[Daroid]

Thanks, that is comforting to hear.