DIY Cable Extension

[malldian]

I am looking to make a right angle 1/8" (from my iAudio) to 1/4" (to my headphones) cable extension. I can't fit the 1/8" to 1/4" connector in my pocket and I dont know how many hear are familiar witht he iAudio but it's headphone plug (what is this word?) is on the left side of it so a right angle mini plug would be what I am looking for. Do I follow the Inerconnect guide on making these? If so, where will I find the female 1/4" adapter for the headphones?

Thanks for the help,

Matt

 

[malldian]

Just browsing around, would it be something like this?

headphone > 1/4" Cable Mt(f) Mono/Stereo Neutrik Connector > wire > Neutrik 3.5mm stereo slim-line cable mount > iAudio?

Then for the wiring I use the interconnect guide?

 

[ayt999]

the neutrik RA mini you linked to should do fine and is about the lowest-profile RA mini I've seen, but the cable entry can be a bit small depending on what cable / wires you use. a switchcraft RA connector (35HDRANN for the nickel/nickel type) is larger in diameter, but not too different in how much it sticks up from the socket compared to the neutrik (IIRC), so if you want to use larger diameter cables would be a better choice.

switchcraft 1/4" female inline cable connectors are much slimmer than the neutrik locking variety so you may want to check those out. SW131 or SW1238 (shorter by about 3/8" compared to the SW131, but probably a lot harder to find) would work nicely.

 

[malldian]

Awesome thanks. What about the wiring?

 

[SoundGoon]

Try Canare Star Quad (might want to consider mini quad, based on the application - same thing basically, just a little smaller for smaller applications) or Silver Plated Copper. Post pics of your finished cable!!

Edit: How long do you want this cable to be?

 

[malldian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoundGoon Try Canare Star Quad (might want to consider mini quad, based on the application - same thing basically, just a little smaller for smaller applications) or Silver Plated Copper. Post pics of your finished cable!! Edit: How long do you want this cable to be?

This one needs to be really short, just a couple inches or so. But I will need to make an interconnect later aswell.

 

[GASTAN]

where could one get good wires (along with connectors) for DIY cables in Europe/Germany ?
any suggestions ?

thx
--G

 

[SoundGoon]

both cables should be fine then if you only need a couple of inches. The start quad may be more of what you're looking for though because it is sold by teh foot where as teh silver plated copper is sold in 25' or 50' lengths

However, silver plated copper is supposed to have a slightly bright and open sound towards the higher end of things, while the star quad is supposed to have a more open mid and bottom. I can't say one way or another because I have not dealt with either, so this is just what I have heard from others. Just wanted to give you a heads up though. John'swireshop on Ebay is a great place to find the SPC - http://stores.ebay.com/Johns-Silver-Teflon-Wire-Shop , and I found markertec to have a decent deal on star quad (.42c/ft) http://www.markertek.com/Product.asp...&search=0&off=

Gastan, I know that John on ebay ships worldwide, I don't know about the other site I gave. I would imagine that they do, but don't know for sure. Hope all this helps some

Best of luck and good listening

 

[malldian]

Awesome thanks.

One more question. Would I lose sound quality if i made a input plug right where the headphone wire starts on these Senn 595's? I would love to have a few different cables (mostly because of length). Is this do-able and would any quality be lost?

 

[SoundGoon]

Technically yes, there would be signal loss. Whenever there is a deviance from the original source to the output there is loss, however, it would be so minute that it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to hear with the human ear. Hope this helps and have fun!

 

[malldian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoundGoon Technically yes, there would be signal loss. Whenever there is a deviance from the original source to teh output there is loss, however, it would be so minute that it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to hear with the human ear. Hope this helps and have fun!

I would want to do it but I am scared of cutting the wire and damaging it :/

 

[SoundGoon]

maybe I missunderstood what you're trying to do...explain it step by step if you would, and mayeb it can get figured out wihtout too much difficulty. Sorry for not quite understanding

 

[malldian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoundGoon maybe I missunderstood what you're trying to do...explain it step by step if you would, and mayeb it can get figured out wihtout too much difficulty. Sorry for not quite understanding

I want to test out different cables and use different lengths for my headphones. My headphones (Senn 595's) while they sound great, don't offer the detachable headphone feature.

My plan was to cut the wire a couple inches from the left earphone / canand make that an 1/8in input. Then use basically a bunch of different interconnects to go from them to the source / amp.

My knowledge is a bit weak in this area.. that is why I am interested in it so much. If any terms are wrong please correct me.

Thanks for your time.

 

[FallenAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by malldian I want to test out different cables and use different lengths for my headphones. My headphones (Senn 595's) while they sound great, don't offer the detachable headphone feature. My plan was to cut the wire a couple inches from the left earphone / canand make that an 1/8in input. Then use basically a bunch of different interconnects to go from them to the source / amp. My knowledge is a bit weak in this area.. that is why I am interested in it so much. If any terms are wrong please correct me. Thanks for your time.

If you follow this guide (pics in Post #17), you'll open up the left headphone, and get to the wires inside.

For what I think you're trying to do (add an input jack into the headphones), just get rid of the wire up to and including the little PCB, or better yet, get rid of all the wires period, just make sure to mark the headphone drivers to which is signal and which is ground.

Run some 24AWG SPC from the drivers to the hole in the left headphone and install a Kobiconn 3.5mm mini jack in the same hole. I'm recommending the Kobiconn jack because it's round and with some creativity it might just fit in there. Of course, don't just take my word for it and measure it yourself first.

If it doesn't fit, then you could settle for installing an inline 1/4" jack dangling down beside the headphone, but I wouldn't recommend this as you'll probably get sick of having that thing hanging by your head.

Oh and by the way, if you take the first route and decide to change all the wiring inside, make sure it's not a first time project, with a little too much heat you can kill the headphone drivers pretty damn quickly. First time I tried to recable headphones, I lost a pair of PortaPros that way.

 

[SoundGoon]

Ok, I get ya now

It sounds interesting and like a good idea, but whatever cable that you use as your main cable coming from the left phone will change the way that the other cables will sound. For example, if you use Star Quad as the "base" cable (the one coming from the headphone), it will color the sound of an interchangable silver plated copper cable. Unfortunately, the best and probably only way to do this would be to test out a bunch of different cables and see which sounds most neutral and best sounding to you. Use that one as your base and make interchangable cables after you've decided on a base

If you do do this, be sure to be careful when changing cables so that you don't pull out the cable from the 'phones (kinda of a "duh", but just want to throw it out there

). Hope that this helps some and best of luck!!