[Currawong]

 

Ohh boy, I wanted to mold HD650 stock cable to have 2.5mm trrs, so that I can use it balanced with AK100 II,

I cut the wires, the there are four tiny wires inside and I am not sure how they are insulated apart. Also the 2.5 mm trrs looks so tiny, I have micro solder, even this I am not sure how to do that. 

Please suggest.

Green - left+
Gold - left-
Red - right+
Gold - right-

For the AK series, it is different:
 

 

[Armaegis]

  For the AK series, it is different:
 
 

 
Ugh... someone really needs to slap the various manufacturers upside the head and get them to agree to a standard. I know Sony has that funny 4.4mm TRRS in thhe works, but plugs that can short are such a terrible idea unless they can rejig the jacks.
 
Oh who am I kidding, the headphone market's going to be dominated by wirelss in a few years and we won't even bother with cables anymore.

 

[musicinmymind]

I wanted to wind six string wire, like below. Please share the youtube that show how to do that, I did try but could find one on youtube.
 

 

[Armaegis]

  I wanted to wind six string wire, like below. Please share the youtube that show how to do that, I did try but could find one on youtube.
 

 
There's no tutorial/video that I know of because I made it up*. It's actually an 8-strand braid, and the closest I can describe it is overlapping two 4-strand round braids. You need a jig or fixture to hold all the strands in place, and it's very time intensive. I might do a pictorial at some point.
 
*not saying that it's utterly unique to me, I'm sure someone else in all of history has come up with it before, but I didn't follow any tutorials. Just started with an idea on how I wanted the wire geometry to go and experimented from there. I've done normal 8-strand round braids before but it's not the same

 

[PETEREK]

   
There's no tutorial/video that I know of because I made it up*. It's actually an 8-strand braid, and the closest I can describe it is overlapping two 4-strand round braids. You need a jig or fixture to hold all the strands in place, and it's very time intensive. I might do a pictorial at some point.
 
*not saying that it's utterly unique to me, I'm sure someone else in all of history has come up with it before, but I didn't follow any tutorials. Just started with an idea on how I wanted the wire geometry to go and experimented from there. I've done normal 8-strand round braids before but it's not the same
 

 
You mean like this? 

 

[Armaegis]

   
 
You mean like this? 

 
I don't think so... that looks like a regular 4-strand braid except each "strand" is two wires (I'm guessing based on the pic, do correct me if I'm wrong). The one I did is 4 twisted pairs, two clockwise, two counterclockwise, and each twisting pair interweaves the other three.
 
Because I can't hold the wires in two bunches like I would with normal braiding, I set up a jig with a vice and a bunch of small clamps to hold the wires down (otherwise they flop around too much).
 

 
This pic is near the end of the braid. When I started the strands were about 7-8 feet long, which was really unwieldy and hard to control. Sometimes I'll actually tape numbers to the end to help me keep track and make sure I didn't screw up somewhere (backtracking to fix a mistake is painful). If I'm making a really long cable with a simple braid I'll do them on the stairs where I can lay the wires out, but a complex braid like this requires the jig unless I can trust myself to remember and keep track of an 8-step pattern... I tried, it's way easier on the jig even fighting with the wires. Still takes several hours though.
 
I guess if you just look at the black and red it looks like two wires are traveling together, but actually one is going cw and the other ccw.

 

[musicinmymind]

oh my god, Armaegis you had lot of tools over there and you have done awesome job with that braid.
 
I am working on balanced interconnect between AK100 II and speaker amp, the wire I am using is just OCC 26 awg wire. Not a very thick wire, but all strand are same color, looking at your pic I can also use few cloth clips to differentiate.  
 
I liked braid in below video, I will try them.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2IVYy8B5cU

 

[PETEREK]

Oh I thought that was what you were saying you did. Sorry! But, if someone absolutely wants an 8 wire braid, doing a typical 4 strand braid with 2 conductors in each strand is much easier than the vice method (it does look great though) as long as the cable isn't too long. I think something like this would always require some kind of jig setup. 

 

[Armaegis]

Thanks guys. The tools actually weren't that expensive. On sale, maybe $10 for a bag of a dozen assorted clips/clamps. The drill press vice was maybe $5 or $10 as well. They were things I already had around the house for various projects and repairs. Actually, the vice is probably my handiest tool when soldering. Much much sturdier than the cheap "helping hands" I bought (which is pretty much useless and has been relegated to paperweight duty)
 
Yeah, doing a 4-strand braid with two conductors per strand is vastly easier. You can also twist the two conductors for extra hoodoo (but twist them in the direction counter to the braiding twist, otherwise it'll try to pull itself apart). A regular 8-strand round braid isn't too hard and can be done without a jig, but I find fatigue sets in quicker holding that many strands (especially if trying to do a tight braid).

 

[Armaegis]

  I think something like this would always require some kind of jig setup. 

 
It's doable without, but it's super complex. Most simple even numbered braids hold half the strands in each hand off to the side are just 1-step repeated, or 2-steps repeated where the second is offset one strand from the first, and strands always stay on the same side.
 
Mine was 8 steps with changing sides and quite frankly looks terrible freehand because it's impossible to maintain tension in the correct places. With a jig it's... ok well it's still 8 steps but kinda really more like 4, and the latter half is just reversed from the first half so really it's a two-step two-handed procedure. Though I have to rotate myself around the jig every iteration in order to keep the tension even across all wires.
 
I tried a 16 strand braid once. Tears may have been involved.

 

[PETEREK]

   
It's doable without, but it's super complex. Most simple braids are just 1-step repeated, or 2-steps repeated where the second is offset one strand from the first.
 
Mine was 8 steps and quite frankly looks terrible freehand because it's impossible to maintain tension in the correct places. With a jig it's... ok well it's still 8 steps but kinda really more like 4, and the latter half is just reversed from the first half so really it's a two-step two-handed procedure. Though I have to rotate myself around the jig every iteration in order to keep the tension even across all wires.
 
I tried a 16 strand braid once. Tears may have been involved.

Even doing 4 strand braids over certain lengths will result in a couple conductors being shorter at the end because of uneven tension throughout the braid, I can't imagine how uneven an 8 wire braid might become.
 
HAHA

 

[Armaegis]

From experience... an 8 strand braid starting with 8 feet each, the worst offending strand was about 6 inches shorter than the longest. That's when I started rotating myself around the jig to even things out. When working freehand, I'll flip the whole thing over every few iterations and I'm usually only an inch or so off by the time I'm done.

 

[BillsonChang007]

My DIY Cable
 
I uses 24AWG Pure Copper Silver Plated cable, Neutrk Jack and Shakmod cable sleeve.
 
For each channel, I use double 24AWG Pure Copper Silver Plated cable and a total of 14 strands. 
 
Couldn't have done it without help from both offline and online! 

 

[ThurstonX]

 
My DIY Cable
 
I uses 24AWG Pure Copper Silver Plated cable, Neutrk Jack and Shakmod cable sleeve.
 
For each channel, I use double 24AWG Pure Copper Silver Plated cable and a total of 14 strands. 
 
Couldn't have done it without help from both offline and online! 

 
Looks great, esp. for your first (right?).  Congrats 

  I'm curious about the length.  Looks pretty short.  Nothing wrong with being short (said the 6' 5" man

 

[Worth]

My DIY Cable

I uses 24AWG Pure Copper Silver Plated cable, Neutrk Jack and Shakmod cable sleeve.

For each channel, I use double 24AWG Pure Copper Silver Plated cable and a total of 14 strands. 

Couldn't have done it without help from both offline and online! 

Where did you buy the shakmod sleeving?