[melancholy]

Well I went ahead and bought some Mogami quad mic W2893, and a 3.5mm Neutrik from Redco.
 
I think I'll go ahead and recable here pretty soon. I'd like to make the cable all deluxe like I see in the pictures, but I'll be happy with just the wire cladding and a new connector. I use a 1/4 > 3.5mm 100% of the time and it actually has gotten me in trouble a couple of times (Loose Macbook Pro connecter <//3) so this will be good. The Grado SR125 now have no y junction but just 4 spliced wires with electrical tape. So its kinda a gamble, but it'll probably be an upgrade.  

 

[lawrywild]

Made this ready to go on my Magnums. 7ft of Toxic Cables 26awg. Just need to make the y-split now.
 
This was the first time I've braided more than 3 strands. Took me about as long as do the first 2 inches as it took me to do the whole rest of the length as it was quick once I learnt the steps.
 
The mini Viablue is super fiddly to solder...
 
 

 
 

 

[FraGGleR]

Quote:

Made this ready to go on my Magnums. 7ft of Toxic Cables 26awg. Just need to make the y-split now.
 
This was the first time I've braided more than 3 strands. Took me about as long as do the first 2 inches as it took me to do the whole rest of the length as it was quick once I learnt the steps.
 
The mini Viablue is super fiddly to solder...
 
 
 
 
 

Well done!  And yeah, I used Viablue minis exactly twice before I swore them off.

 

[cute]

I am doing my first Sennheiser HD600 cable, and have used type 1 paracord sleeving and round braid to Y split, and twisted pair to the Cardas plugs.  How do I finish the wire to plug to make a neat appearance?  It is hard for me to solder the wire to the Cardas pins, and maintain the paracord up to the plugs.  Does someone have pictures showing how to do the finish work, heat shrink, glue, whatever method?
 
Thanks

 

[FraGGleR]

When cutting the paracord, carefully and quickly run the end through a lighter flame to melt the fibers together slightly.  This keeps it from fraying.  A hot knife is a much better tool for this, but I use a lighter.  Then use various sizes of heatshrink to keep it tidy.  I don't have any progress pictures, but below is a close up of what I have done.
 
 

 
You can see where the ends of my paracord hit (slight bump under the heatshrink).  I think I used 1/4" 3 to 1 heatshrink over the wire up to the base of the plug (I cut off the strain relief), and then 3/8" over the body of the plug.  I also fill the solder cup with hot glue as strain relief before heatshrinking.

 

[cute]

Quote:

When cutting the paracord, carefully and quickly run the end through a lighter flame to melt the fibers together slightly.  This keeps it from fraying.  A hot knife is a much better tool for this, but I use a lighter.  Then use various sizes of heatshrink to keep it tidy.  I don't have any progress pictures, but below is a close up of what I have done.
 
 

 
You can see where the ends of my paracord hit (slight bump under the heatshrink).  I think I used 1/4" 3 to 1 heatshrink over the wire up to the base of the plug (I cut off the strain relief), and then 3/8" over the body of the plug.  I also fill the solder cup with hot glue as strain relief before heatshrinking.

 
Thank you, this is very helpful!  One question though, do you put heatshrink on the pair, over the paracord before soldering to the plug?  I finished a couple, my first attempts, by cutting the useless strain relief off of the plug before soldering.  Makes for easier access to the pin cups, and I used 1/4" heatshring at the end of the wire, to the plug, and then 3 to 1 double wall, I like black on both plugs too,
 
If you put heatshring on the paracord before soldering, how much of the wire insulation do you leave so that you can manuever the wire into the pins?  Also, I have noticed different quality of heatshrink, my 3 to 1 black w/adhesive if very soft and looks nice.  Where to source a good quality black 1/4" heatshrink to cover the paracord?  And, do you find it neccesary to us adhesive HS over the top of the plug, as it does leave a residue when heated?

 

[FraGGleR]

Quote:

 
Thank you, this is very helpful!  One question though, do you put heatshrink on the pair, over the paracord before soldering to the plug?  I finished a couple, my first attempts, by cutting the useless strain relief off of the plug before soldering.  Makes for easier access to the pin cups, and I used 1/4" heatshring at the end of the wire, to the plug, and then 3 to 1 double wall, I like black on both plugs too,
 
If you put heatshring on the paracord before soldering, how much of the wire insulation do you leave so that you can manuever the wire into the pins?  Also, I have noticed different quality of heatshrink, my 3 to 1 black w/adhesive if very soft and looks nice.  Where to source a good quality black 1/4" heatshrink to cover the paracord?  And, do you find it neccesary to us adhesive HS over the top of the plug, as it does leave a residue when heated?

I don't use adhesive heatshrink when finishing, since it is very hard not to have the glue leak out.  I use it for structure from time to time, but then use a finishing piece of heatshrink to cover it and look clean.
 
I tend to use a touch of hot glue to keep the paracord in place while soldering, then using the heatshrink to cover up.  The hot glue used in the solder cup and on the paracord ends up reflowing when I heat the heatshrink and it effectively becomes glue shrink, but much tidier.
 
I get my heatshrink from avoutlet.com.  Great selection, can buy by the foot, and good prices.  They sell Techflex brand which is very nice.

 

[PETEREK]

Replaced the male-male 3.5mm cable that came with my Fiio E6. The stock one started cutting out.
 
 
 

 

[alfa147x]

Has anyone made power cables? I'm thinking about making a cable that has two male IEC C13. Any good sources for connectors? Any tips?

 

[kyoshiro]

Quote:

Has anyone made power cables? I'm thinking about making a cable that has two male IEC C13. Any good sources for connectors? Any tips?

As someone who has spent a bit on power cables and didnt really get any significant results, I would place this as the last thing on your list to do, go make some other cables first  

 

[liquidzoo]

Replaced the male-male 3.5mm cable that came with my Fiio E6. The stock one started cutting out.

Nice. I've been thinking about doing that too. What did you use for cable and connectors?

 

[PETEREK]

Quote:

Nice. I've been thinking about doing that too. What did you use for cable and connectors?

I can't remember what the wire is exactly. I ordered it a few months ago from a user here on head-fi on eBay. As for the connectors I went down to radio shack and bought a couple of their GoldSeries 1/8", and wrapped it in paracord This is the first cable I've made. 
 
(what the wire looks like)
 

 

[liquidzoo]

You were able to get paracord around that braid? Impressive.

 

[wje]

This has been a great thread of inspiration.
 
Here is a set of RCA interconnects that I hammered out quite quickly.  Cable was 24 gauged solid core copper, braided with 4 conductors for each cable.  The Techflex is the "SuperHero" color of red / blue stripe.
 
 

 
 
A custom HifiMAN cable with a somewhat unique (off-the-shelf) approach to building a decent yoke for transition from the one main cable to the two cables that branch off to the ear cups.  I found some small steel sleeves in the small parts selection at a hardware store.  These cost $.65 each, and fit perfectly over the Mogami Neglex cable, but if Techflex is used, a small amount of force will get the metal sleeve into position.  A small dab of hot glue can be applied at the to and bottom openings of the metal sleeve to keep it from moving.  From there, you apply the shrink tube over the material to give it a "custom" look.
 

 
 
Some 18 gauge stranded copper wire jacketed in a black insulation and then all 4 conductors were woven to give the cables a neater appearance.  A 4-pin XLR connector was used at one end, then a set of banana plugs was used at the other.  This particular cable was built as a speaker tap cable so a member could use a pair of HifiMAN headphones with a speaker amplifier for their headphone amplification.
 

 
 
Another variation of my custom "yoke" created by using a small piece of metal tubing to cover things up and then finished with shrink tube for a professional appearance.
 

 

[FraGGleR]

Quote:

This has been a great thread of inspiration.
 
Here is a set of RCA interconnects that I hammered out quite quickly.  Cable was 24 gauged solid core copper, braided with 4 conductors for each cable.  The Techflex is the "SuperHero" color of red / blue stripe.
 
 
 
 
 
A custom HifiMAN cable with a somewhat unique (off-the-shelf) approach to building a decent yoke for transition from the one main cable to the two cables that branch off to the ear cups.  I found some small steel sleeves in the small parts selection at a hardware store.  These cost $.65 each, and fit perfectly over the Mogami Neglex cable, but if Techflex is used, a small amount of force will get the metal sleeve into position.  A small dab of hot glue can be applied at the to and bottom openings of the metal sleeve to keep it from moving.  From there, you apply the shrink tube over the material to give it a "custom" look.
 
 
 
 
Some 18 gauge stranded copper wire jacketed in a black insulation and then all 4 conductors were woven to give the cables a neater appearance.  A 4-pin XLR connector was used at one end, then a set of banana plugs was used at the other.  This particular cable was built as a speaker tap cable so a member could use a pair of HifiMAN headphones with a speaker amplifier for their headphone amplification.
 
 
 
 
Another variation of my custom "yoke" created by using a small piece of metal tubing to cover things up and then finished with shrink tube for a professional appearance.
 
 

 
Great job with the metal fittings.  I use orphaned barrels from other connectors with good effect, as well.