Fatmangolf
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 31, 2011
- Posts
- 28
- Likes
- 30
My headphone amp is just too far away from the sofa to get by with the stock 8 foot cable. I made up a basic extension lead about 3 metres or 10 feet long. In the spirit of DIY I decided to try making a braided cable, using the plugs I had already bought.
I used some TP (twisted pair) cables from cat-6 network cable to make a 5 metre (about 16 feet) lead. It measures at just under 0.8 Ohm return and about 300pF capacitance including all the connectors and solder junctions. By comparison the Audez'e ADZ-5 cable is 8 feet long with 0.17 Ohm resistance and 280pF capacitance.
As you can see I used 4-pin mini-XLR's to fit the LCD-2's and a Neutrik stereo jack plug to go into my headphone amp.
Method:
Strip outer sheath from Cat-6 cable using the string inside. Then separate the 4 TP's but don't untwist them. Put one aside and platt or braid the others. Clamp or tie the cables then start left over middle, right over middle, and repeat till done - probably 1/2 to 3/4 hour if you're watching TV whilst doing it. Undo the braid using one TP to tie up the weave about 50cm from one end Ithe phones) and 5 cm from the other (the amp/jack plug),
I used the white cable in each TP as ground to avoid confusion later. I am not going to detail how to strip, twist and solder and how to wire the 1/4 inch jack and mini-XLR's, you'll probably know this already. I did use some heatshrink at the yoke where the cable splits for each earpiece and inside the mini-XLR clamps to avoid the risk of the cable clamps shorting the cables. And always test with a multimeter before use!
Sound:
I think the sound is slightly clearer than the stock cable plus 10 foot extension I had been using. The cable is stranded copper, nothing exotic like silver which I would expect to sound different. Plenty of deep fast bass so the small increase is series resistance hasn't affected things. Strings, piano and percussion all sound very good so there is no smearing. I measured the existing setup at 0.4 Ohm and 450pF, I am pleasantly surprised to find the braided Cat-6 has a 1/3 less capacitance.
Cost:
Depending on parts supplier(s), £15-25 in UK for 5 metres of Cat-6 cable, a Neutrik stereo jack and 2 Switchcraft mini-XLR's. And about 2 hours work.
Handling:
Very light and flexible cable. It is ideal for moving round the room whilst wearing phones. It seems to have no microphonics and any noise from clothing contact is unubtrusive. It does look a bit DIY, just like some TP's from a network cable oddly enough!
If anyone else tries this, please let me know how you get on.
I used some TP (twisted pair) cables from cat-6 network cable to make a 5 metre (about 16 feet) lead. It measures at just under 0.8 Ohm return and about 300pF capacitance including all the connectors and solder junctions. By comparison the Audez'e ADZ-5 cable is 8 feet long with 0.17 Ohm resistance and 280pF capacitance.
As you can see I used 4-pin mini-XLR's to fit the LCD-2's and a Neutrik stereo jack plug to go into my headphone amp.
Method:
Strip outer sheath from Cat-6 cable using the string inside. Then separate the 4 TP's but don't untwist them. Put one aside and platt or braid the others. Clamp or tie the cables then start left over middle, right over middle, and repeat till done - probably 1/2 to 3/4 hour if you're watching TV whilst doing it. Undo the braid using one TP to tie up the weave about 50cm from one end Ithe phones) and 5 cm from the other (the amp/jack plug),
I used the white cable in each TP as ground to avoid confusion later. I am not going to detail how to strip, twist and solder and how to wire the 1/4 inch jack and mini-XLR's, you'll probably know this already. I did use some heatshrink at the yoke where the cable splits for each earpiece and inside the mini-XLR clamps to avoid the risk of the cable clamps shorting the cables. And always test with a multimeter before use!
Sound:
I think the sound is slightly clearer than the stock cable plus 10 foot extension I had been using. The cable is stranded copper, nothing exotic like silver which I would expect to sound different. Plenty of deep fast bass so the small increase is series resistance hasn't affected things. Strings, piano and percussion all sound very good so there is no smearing. I measured the existing setup at 0.4 Ohm and 450pF, I am pleasantly surprised to find the braided Cat-6 has a 1/3 less capacitance.
Cost:
Depending on parts supplier(s), £15-25 in UK for 5 metres of Cat-6 cable, a Neutrik stereo jack and 2 Switchcraft mini-XLR's. And about 2 hours work.
Handling:
Very light and flexible cable. It is ideal for moving round the room whilst wearing phones. It seems to have no microphonics and any noise from clothing contact is unubtrusive. It does look a bit DIY, just like some TP's from a network cable oddly enough!
If anyone else tries this, please let me know how you get on.
