[Oscar-HiFi]

Nice job on the adapter. Me too! Did this last night

Is there an 8 wire round braid tutorial you would recommend? I need to learn one day

 

[Allanmarcus]

Is there an 8 wire round braid tutorial you would recommend? I need to learn one day

Click on the DIY Supplies link in my sig.
In the Tips section, look at the Kumihimo Braid Patterns page.

 

[Kulgrinda]

My first attempt and results. What do you think? For IEM cable I've used 4 viablue wires, for M1060 - 8 viablue wires, 2 separate wires for each channel.

 

[Zippo1234]

I made a cable for my HE-400i.
Wire - Canare L-4E6S
1/4'' TRS connector - Rean Neutrik NYS228BG
2.5mm connectors - Switchcraft 850
Sleeving - 275 paracord (Charcoal Grey and Burgundy)
For the Y-split I just used a piece of heatshrink

Edit: fixed images

 

[ostewart]

Recabled my German Maestro GMP400 with some Toxic Cables Scorpion 24awg copper.

 

[kingkikapu]

I’ve been doing my usual diy window shopping at the more we’ll known boutique shops: DHC, Norne, Toxic, etc. It seems even more than before they’re opting to sell only their lower grade wire. I’m seeing a boatload of silver plated variants, the odd OCC copper stranded, and maybe if you’re lucky/desperate some 7$/ft low gauge OCC copper in litz form. Forget ever picking up occ silver litz from them.

So the question follows: where on earth do we pick up silver litz if dem chinese suppliers can’t be trusted.

 

[Paladin79]

Are you wanting silver plated litz for looks? Silver plating litz goes against what litz wire is made for. Litz tries to keep the signal more toward the center of the conductor. At audio frequencies it is there anyway so why bother with silver on the outside?

 

[kingkikapu]

I started writing a very long reply, but I opted to delete it. Instead I drank a very large fine single malt. All is good with the world again.

I will just say the following:
1) I do not want SPC. Because it is stupid at the frequencies used. That's why I was bitching about the DIY supplies available from the boutiques: they're deliberately don't sell the products that are actually worth upgrading.
2) I want silver litz (smaller diameter wires with insulation). Because skin and proximity effect still affects (higher) audible frequencies. See a reputable source. Also conductivity of silver vs copper.
3) Features of Silver litz that I care about in decreasing order of importance (according to the laws of physics in the context of dogged audiophilia):

1. Silver conductivity vs copper.
2. Enamel insulation of individual strands and strands with diameters on the order of magnitude or smaller than the 1/e skin depth definition. That means all of the conductor is working at efficiency vs a solid core strand that exhibits some AC resistivity gains. I'm not saying it's a huge difference, but it's a difference I can calculate on paper.
3. Litz braiding that ensures equidistant conductors against nearby conductors over the net length of run. Honestly I could give two poops about this one: by doing a simple braid you are in essence creating a solenoid which takes care of 99% of the variation in the magnetic field lines at or near the concentric axis of the conductors. Yes, you will still have eddy currents, but they're already minimalized due to the decision to do #2.

Should you spend your money elsewhere first? Totally.

If it were my money:
Transducer first
Source/Amping second
content quality third
Interconnects/Audio shielding fourth (here we are)

 

[Paladin79]

I certainly understand the laws of physics. Silver plated litz is rare because if it is woven properly, skin effect is even less so it would be an oxymoron. It is made to reduce skin effect at RF frequencies so in turn what little effect there is at 20 kilohertz (if you can hear that) is even less.
Silver is a better conductor no doubt and if you see solid silver litz, I could understand the purposes more but that drives the price even higher. Maybe someone makes that.

Regardless I meant no offense and you can buy anything you wish, if i come across any I will send you a link. In the meantime, I will stay out of this thread with this discussion since it is a DIY showcase.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Interesting conversation, but this is the gallery thread.

The DIY Cable Questions and Comments Thread is here https://www.head-fi.org/threads/diy-cable-questions-and-comments-thread.676402/

 

[Paladin79]

I do believe i already said that but thanks for your input Allan.

 

[kingkikapu]

I’ll pipe down. Thx.

 

[antdroid]

Made this balanced cable for my HE560 tonight using a neutrik 4-pin male connector, 2x 2.5mm TRS connectors from ali-express, and 2 cable creations 3.5mm male-to-male TRSS cables. Total cost was $7 + $2 + $8 = $17 USD.

I hope the Y-split holds up. It's held up by electrical tape, heat shrink and a random connector housing I found lying around.

 

[Paladin79]

I needed a 14 foot USB cable and started shopping for one specifically made for computer to DAC usage, prices ranged from $45 to $1,000 (See Audioquest), anyway parts are easy to obtain, a high end Belden cable is available, and the build is quite simple compared to many I have done. This is a poly mesh and in this case I left the hoods off each connector and used dual wall adhesive heatshrink tubing.

 

[Letmebefrank]

I needed a 14 foot USB cable and started shopping for one specifically made for computer to DAC usage, prices ranged from $45 to $1,000 (See Audioquest), anyway parts are easy to obtain, a high end Belden cable is available, and the build is quite simple compared to many I have done. This is a poly mesh and in this case I left the hoods off each connector and used dual wall adhesive heatshrink tubing.

Looks great Tom!