DIY Cable Questions and Comments Thread

[buke9]

Thanks for your reply.

I understand that more strands mean more flexibility, the wire i have an eye on is a 27 AWG consisting of 53 strands, thats why i am thinking it would be great for flexibility.

I also know that mechanically it will be weaker than a 26AWG, but i guess not by much.

The main concern is if there are any noticable sonic/electrical drawbacks

Yeah 27 not too much different than 26 depends on insulation also for flexibility. I prefer larger wire most of the time like DHC Nucleotide 24 awg is super nice stuff and very flexible a little pricey but looks great naked braided BTG audio 26 awg is also nice stuff at a third of the price (occ vs ofc). If your going to cover it Mogami is a good choice also.

 

[HirschiAUT]

Yeah 27 not too much different than 26 depends on insulation also for flexibility. I prefer larger wire most of the time like DHC Nucleotide 24 awg is super nice stuff and very flexible a little pricey but looks great naked braided BTG audio 26 awg is also nice stuff at a third of the price (occ vs ofc). If your going to cover it Mogami is a good choice also.

Thanks for your recommendations, really appretiated
I have already considered BTG Audio wires, they would be one of the least expensive options even though i am living in Europe

I guess i will just order both BTG and the 27AWG and see what i like better, since i want to build two cables (one for home and portable usage).

Oh just fyi, this is the one i am talking about all the time:
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5275

They also offer 26AWG of the same style with a bit more single strands, but that is nearly double the price, so i will just try the 27 i guess

When i get all that stuff and got to work with it i let you guys know what i think about it :-D

And for covering, at the moment i want to let them naked, so no Mogami

 

[Johnnystuff]

I was wondering whether the type of material has an audible effect at all or it's just myth and placebo. Like silver for wires and rhodium for plugs. Assuming there is an effect am I right thinking that those shinier ones should be used for headphones cables mostly while for interconnects copper is just fine?

Also, all the so called gold-plated.... not sure they're all really plated with the mighty Au or just an alloy of sort with a small percentage of Au. How can you tell the really gold-plated from the looking-like but not quite it?

 

[Vidal]

I was wondering whether the type of material has an audible effect at all or it's just myth and placebo. Like silver for wires and rhodium for plugs. Assuming there is an effect am I right thinking that those shinier ones should be used for headphones cables mostly while for interconnects copper is just fine?

Also, all the so called gold-plated.... not sure they're all really plated with the mighty Au or just an alloy of sort with a small percentage of Au. How can you tell the really gold-plated from the looking-like but not quite it?

 
That's dangerous talk in these parts, a plague of cable locust will descend upon your HiFi and strip it bare of all precious metals for such heresy.

 
My view, the only person who can judge is yourself. If you can hear a difference and you want to spend the money on cables then it'll last you a lot longer than hookers and coke. I think the benefits would be applicable, if you believe, would apply equally to both headphone cables and analogue interconnects.
 
There's also the visual appeal when it comes to headphones as they're not tucked away, which is why I think braiding is popular when it doesn't actually offer any real benefit to sound.

 

[buke9]

Litz braiding was used for interference reduction can't remember what kind but I don't think that headphones would be helped out by that unless it was a really long cable along with lots of equipment and cables running everywhere. Yes it does look good too. I hear the difference in some cables but not in all it could be in my head though. I did hear a real difference in a pair of silver plated interconnects on my two channel setup going from Monster cables but a bit of bass was lost. I don't think I'll ever buy a set of $1000 headphone cables. My mind might change after CanJam as there will be lots of stuff to try out.I like using quality connectors because most of them look good and are built very well also. Like with all audio YMMV. Just my 2 cents. 

 

[PinkyPowers]

Litz is designed to reduce the "skinning effect", which I don't exactly understand.

 

[buke9]

Litz is designed to reduce the "skinning effect", which I don't exactly understand.

That's Litz wire versus litz braid.

 

[PinkyPowers]

Ah. Never heard of Litz Braid. I thought you just meant a braid of Litz Wire.

 

[buke9]

Ah. Never heard of Litz Braid. I thought you just meant a braid of Litz Wire.

No there is litz braiding a certain sequence that reduces interference a german invention I believe and individual coated wires that is to reduce the skin effect of transmission of the signal.

 

[Vidal]

I think the Litz Braiding would be classed as 'pseudoscience', if you want to reduce interference on longer runs you'd use shielded cables or better still balanced. From what I've read twisted pair would be a better method, it's the method used in ethernet which carry huge complex traffic.
 
Doing something for aesthetics is valid enough, hell I own a pair of Aedle VK-1s, but there's no benefit to braiding from an electronics perspective. God, knows I've spent ages trying to find how it benefits.   

 

[XenHeadFi]

  I think the Litz Braiding would be classed as 'pseudoscience', if you want to reduce interference on longer runs you'd use shielded cables or better still balanced. From what I've read twisted pair would be a better method, it's the method used in ethernet which carry huge complex traffic.
 
Doing something for aesthetics is valid enough, hell I own a pair of Aedle VK-1s, but there's no benefit to braiding from an electronics perspective. God, knows I've spent ages trying to find how it benefits.   

I think Litz Braid is like a weak version of the twisted pair, except Litz Braid can handle 4 conductors. Litz braid is probably worse than twisted pair for increasing common mode rejection when used in "balanced" (differential) transmission. Unless your headphones are amplified at the cups, common-mode rejection is not something to worry about. For short runs, also not something to worry about. For long runs, I would just use shielded cable.
 
Litz braid may be better than twisted pair at reducing parasitic capacitance, which should already be pretty small and insignificant.

 

[Vidal]

.

 

[rmoody]

What's everyone's favorite source for a 2.5mm TRRS right angle plug?

Wanting to make a balanced cable for the Onkyo player for the Nashville headfi meet.

 

[PETEREK]

What's everyone's favorite source for a 2.5mm TRRS right angle plug?

Wanting to make a balanced cable for the Onkyo player for the Nashville headfi meet.

I haven't seen any right angle plugs.

 

[rmoody]

I haven't seen any right angle plugs.

 


That's what I was afraid of. meh