[sfo1972]

I got the hang of the 4 wire braid, not a big deal. But I think that I am tying it too tight, can I get some thoughts on how loose the braid should be? See picture below.
 
Thanks
 

 

[creatip]

  I got the hang of the 4 wire braid, not a big deal. But I think that I am tying it too tight, can I get some thoughts on how loose the braid should be? See picture below.
 
Thanks
 

 
I think you didn't pull it hard enough, that's why it's not uniform, skewing left and right. For small strands, don't worry about pulling it too tight. They're small, so they're flexible anyway. 
 
For big strands, it's actually easier to tune how tight the knots are, even after they have been soldered.
 

 
 
This is how I imagine it should look like, with similar cable as yours, the silvery white one:
 

 

 

[i luvmusic 2]

  I got the hang of the 4 wire braid, not a big deal. But I think that I am tying it too tight, can I get some thoughts on how loose the braid should be? See picture below.
 
Thanks
 

I'am glad to see someone is using a real VISE............

Mine is this...

 

[SonicScientist]

Hopefully this is a better place to ask a question. Copy paste from my failure of a thread:

I hope this is the right place to ask, this forum isn't exactly fluid on a tablet. Anyway, I recabled Grado sr80 a while back with Canare star quad and a straight 3.5mm Amphenol plug. I'll fetch the model numbers later if they're of importance, but they're the usual stuff recommended even here. The problem is that if I wiggle the plug or the cable near it the sound either disappears from one channel or it loses both ends and becomes distant. But this only happens with my pc. I have an extension cord of the same cable terminated with Neutrik plugs and a short one from Jays headphones and they have the same problem, but only from the pc.

The sound is fine from my Nexus 7 tablet with and without the ext. cables. For some reason the jack won't fit my Nexus 4 phone. 2 other headphones with stock cables work well with all the configurations. Grados too worked well with stock cable, but I've changed sound cards since then. The current one is Xonar DG by the way.

I don't know too much of this, but it feels like some kind of weird grounding problem. Anyone got any idea? I should probably solder in a new jack, but at the moment I don't have means to close the housings if I opened them for figuring out the channels.

 

[sfo1972]

  I'am glad to see someone is using a real VISE............

Mine is this...

Lol. Nice to see your workshop, that looks like a good setup.  My other vise, which is way too big for this is a rocker woodworking vise. I had posted a link to it earlier, that vise is used for woodworking projects.
 

 
This has some serious clamping power 

 

[sfo1972]

   
I think you didn't pull it hard enough, that's why it's not uniform, skewing left and right. For small strands, don't worry about pulling it too tight. They're small, so they're flexible anyway. 
 
For big strands, it's actually easier to tune how tight the knots are, even after they have been soldered.
 

 
 
This is how I imagine it should look like, with similar cable as yours, the silvery white one:
 

 

 
Thanks for the tips - I will try re-braid today with a looser approach and pull the braid straight to avoid the weaving right and left. I am using AWG20 though, which is a bit thicker than normal.

 

[Armaegis]

Hopefully this is a better place to ask a question. Copy paste from my failure of a thread:

I hope this is the right place to ask, this forum isn't exactly fluid on a tablet. Anyway, I recabled Grado sr80 a while back with Canare star quad and a straight 3.5mm Amphenol plug. I'll fetch the model numbers later if they're of importance, but they're the usual stuff recommended even here. The problem is that if I wiggle the plug or the cable near it the sound either disappears from one channel or it loses both ends and becomes distant. But this only happens with my pc. I have an extension cord of the same cable terminated with Neutrik plugs and a short one from Jays headphones and they have the same problem, but only from the pc.

The sound is fine from my Nexus 7 tablet with and without the ext. cables. For some reason the jack won't fit my Nexus 4 phone. 2 other headphones with stock cables work well with all the configurations. Grados too worked well with stock cable, but I've changed sound cards since then. The current one is Xonar DG by the way.

I don't know too much of this, but it feels like some kind of weird grounding problem. Anyone got any idea? I should probably solder in a new jack, but at the moment I don't have means to close the housings if I opened them for figuring out the channels.

 
Sound disappearing and becoming distant (like you're listening to an echo) is very likely a lost ground connection. It's possible the jack in your PC has a loose sleeve terminal that isn't contacting the barrel.

 

[creatip]

   
Thanks for the tips - I will try re-braid today with a looser approach and pull the braid straight to avoid the weaving right and left. I am using AWG20 though, which is a bit thicker than normal.

 
The way I do it, it's braid (twist) - pull to the side - braid - pull.
 
Also, I solder them to the 3.5mm plug first. Then I plug it to my ipad's jack, and start braiding from there. Because I'm pulling to the side, it won't come off. 

 

[SonicScientist]

   
Sound disappearing and becoming distant (like you're listening to an echo) is very likely a lost ground connection. It's possible the jack in your PC has a loose sleeve terminal that isn't contacting the barrel.

Yep, the ground pin had snapped from the female jack in my diy-extension cord as it also works as stress reliever. I doubt I did any better jobs on other plugs either.

 

[axeltow]

Hi Guys,
 
I was encouraged by scizzro to drop you a line here with some questions since there are some really experienced ppl in this thread.
 
So, recently I purchased the HD600 and I am loving it. For a long time I was thinking of doing a DIY project. I thought the Bottleahead Crack amp was a good idea but I decided that something easier would be better for a start. Plus, I spent all my money on those headphones. 
 
I read some pages but since I am a total noob, I can't seem to figure out several things.
 
1) Where can you get the needed materials if you live in Europe? This seems to ship worldwide - http://www.lunashops.com
 
I guess you need the following things:
 

1. Sennheiser Connectors
2. 6.5mm Connector
3. Wire Cable
4. Heatshrink
5. Isolation for the wire

 
2) What kind of wiring cable should I get? There are many different ones in lunashop, different pins and width (http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=2029). Are there other places I can get cables from? Cardas cables for example for EU?
 
3) How do I make the Y split?
 
4) I see different braiding done by various users. How exactly you do the braiding and incorporate it into the Y split? 
 
It seems that I need a step by step guide It kinda sux but I am really not sure where to start from. I would appreciate any help!
 
Thanks in advance

 

[sfo1972]

Here is my practice cable for braiding and y-split with heat shrink - much better braid than before...any thoughts for improvements? In the final cable, I will custom build a zebrawood y-split and finish it with a nice deep finishing oil. The y-split in this picture was just for practie and trying out the heat shrink at the y-split. But just for informational purposes, how do you use the heat shrink for a y-split and have it come out better than this?
 

 

[sfo1972]

  Hi Guys,
 
I was encouraged by scizzro to drop you a line here with some questions since there are some really experienced ppl in this thread.
 
So, recently I purchased the HD600 and I am loving it. For a long time I was thinking of doing a DIY project. I thought the Bottleahead Crack amp was a good idea but I decided that something easier would be better for a start. Plus, I spent all my money on those headphones. 
 
I read some pages but since I am a total noob, I can't seem to figure out several things.
 
1) Where can you get the needed materials if you live in Europe? This seems to ship worldwide - http://www.lunashops.com
 
I guess you need the following things:
 

1. Sennheiser Connectors
2. 6.5mm Connector
3. Wire Cable
4. Heatshrink
5. Isolation for the wire

 
2) What kind of wiring cable should I get? There are many different ones in lunashop, different pins and width (http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=2029). Are there other places I can get cables from? Cardas cables for example for EU?
 
3) How do I make the Y split?
 
4) I see different braiding done by various users. How exactly you do the braiding and incorporate it into the Y split? 
 
It seems that I need a step by step guide It kinda sux but I am really not sure where to start from. I would appreciate any help!
 
Thanks in advance

 
Welcome to the forum...I will try to answer your questions one by one, based on my experience thus far in cable building:
 
1) There are several cable suppliers on eBay that ship worldwide from Japan, China, USA, etc. They are fast, efficient and you can get the supplies fairly quickly. You also should check Amazon uk for a lot of the connectors, heat shrink suppliers, etc.
 
2) Same as number 1 above. Also, you want to stay in the range of 24AWG to 26AWG. I think 28AWG is small for your HDs, so 24 or 26 AWG should work well for you. As for the cable type, you need to skim this thread and see the different types to determine what you like. For example, do you want clear cabling (see through) or do you want to sleeve it in Parachord?
 
3) The Y-Split can be made either: 1) Heat-Shrink 2) Buy a connector such as Via-blue or DHC (Double Helix Cable)/others 3) Leave it as is without covering, or 4) get creative and make your own
 
4) The best way to learn braiding is to check youtube - Search for "3 and 4 strand braiding" videos and learn from them
 
My advice, spend a few hours on the thread. You will learn a ton and avoid costly mistakes down the road. Search the web looking for supplies, sketch out what you think you want to do, come here with questions.
 
A lot of great people here that wanna help.
 
Cheers
 
---EDIT:
I thought of one thing that might help you learn braiding:Buy cheap 20AWG-24AWG wire from your local hardware store that is 16 feet or more. Cut 4 strands at 4 feet each, practice with this cheap cabling until you crack the braiding to your liking. When you go to the actual cable, there will be less errors and better confidence to get it right on the first go.

 

[ThurstonX]

With the couple of braided cables I've made with Y-splits, I just stopped braiding and started twisting.  I used twist ties at the two ends to keep the twists relatively equal until soldering (obviously the twist is set once you've soldered the ends in place).  No need for heat shrink or splitters.  I see splitters as useful for non-braided Y-split cables (HiFiMAN, for example); basically any Y-split cable that isn't an open braid, with twisted pairs above the split.
 
One cheap way to make a split shield (I hesitate to call it a splitter, as it's not) is to cut an appropriately sized cylinder from a ballpoint pen (be sure to remove the inner ink tube first... 

 )  IIRC, I put the paracord on the three parts, then slid the pen cylinder over the lower, single paracord section, and finally the heat shrink to cover the pen plastic.  Probably don't want to shrink the heat shrink until the you're done soldering and have tested the cable (with a DMM at the very least).  It's kind of a PITA to do all the shrinking only to find a short, bad solder joint or some other problem after the fact.
 
HTH.

 

[i luvmusic 2]

  Here is my practice cable for braiding and y-split with heat shrink - much better braid than before...any thoughts for improvements? In the final cable, I will custom build a zebrawood y-split and finish it with a nice deep finishing oil. The y-split in this picture was just for practie and trying out the heat shrink at the y-split. But just for informational purposes, how do you use the heat shrink for a y-split and have it come out better than this?
 

IMO no need for the split heatshrink,For me the heatshrink on the split ruins the nice look of the braid.

 

[Arty McGhee]

  IMO no need for the split heatshrink,For me the heatshrink on the split ruins the nice look of the braid.

+1