DIY Cable Questions and Comments Thread

[Eudis]

These the 2.5mm Jacks I used: http://www.vetco.net/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=72_90&products_id=6830

 

[Allanmarcus]

These the 2.5mm Jacks I used: http://www.vetco.net/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=72_90&products_id=6830

did you use epoxy to secure the female jacks in the cups, or did you just use the nut?

 

[rmoody]

It's from plussoundaudio. It's under diy.

I'm not liking it. I overmeasured the amount of heatshrink and it spins around too much plugged into my phone. I'm going to re-terminate to a strait 3.5mm plug.

Thanks.

 

[Eudis]

did you use epoxy to secure the female jacks in the cups, or did you just use the nut?

I used the nut when I did the 3.5mm and then used hot glue when I redid them into 2.5mm. I didnt want to do epoxy because it'll be harder to remove compared to hot glue and I'm lazy. It's very secure with hot glue+the nut.

 

[Eudis]

Can any 3.5mm L connector with extended be used for fostex t50rps?

Do they sell the locking versions that are compatible with the t50rp just?

Any suggestions?

 

[Allanmarcus]

I have some Mogami W2524 cable. I was planning on making some RCA interconnects with it, but I read some stuff on the interwebs about wanting very low capacitance for RCA interconnects. Mogami bills this cable as "guitar" cable. Can anyone chime in on the efficacy of using this cable for 5 foot (1.5m) or shorter RCA interconnects?
 
Thanks,

Alaln 

 

[Buddhasummer]

Hi there,

This is my first post sorry it's a question. I've been reading this forum for a few years with interest and have recently moved into the financial abyss, I mean hobby, that is headfi.

I own some first generation T1s and recently purchased a Phasemation EPA-007x head amp. The EPA is dual mono so I have re terminated my SE to dual 3 pin XLR. My question is what to do with the sheid wires? It seems some say insulate and leave floating i.e do not attach and some say attach to the ground lug on the XLR. I'm confused what should be done with the shield .

I have the same question regarding shield as I'm making an adaptor cable SE with dual 3 pin XLR female so I can still use the T1s with my Metrum Aurix amp, do I not attach the shield or attach? Or does it not matter either way. To add, I'm using some mogami for the adapter cable which being a single cable as opposed to the T1s twin, I only have one shield wire so if I need to connect sheid would I half the shield so one half goes to left XLR and the other to the right XLR?

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated and accepted. I have asked several cable makers but either they were not too sure or simply didn't answer.

Sorry if this is a basic question, I did read this whole thread but seem to have read conflicting answers, assuming my understanding is correct.

Thanks in advance, with respect, Simon...

 

[Allanmarcus]

Hi there,

This is my first post sorry it's a question. I've been reading this forum for a few years with interest and have recently moved into the financial abyss, I mean hobby, that is headfi.

I own some first generation T1s and recently purchased a Phasemation EPA-007x head amp. The EPA is dual mono so I have re terminated my SE to dual 3 pin XLR. My question is what to do with the sheid wires? It seems some say insulate and leave floating i.e do not attach and some say attach to the ground lug on the XLR. I'm confused what should be done with the shield .

I have the same question regarding shield as I'm making an adaptor cable SE with dual 3 pin XLR female so I can still use the T1s with my Metrum Aurix amp, do I not attach the shield or attach? Or does it not matter either way. To add, I'm using some mogami for the adapter cable which being a single cable as opposed to the T1s twin, I only have one shield wire so if I need to connect sheid would I half the shield so one half goes to left XLR and the other to the right XLR?

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated and accepted. I have asked several cable makers but either they were not too sure or simply didn't answer.

Sorry if this is a basic question, I did read this whole thread but seem to have read conflicting answers, assuming my understanding is correct.

Thanks in advance, with respect, Simon...

 
I've attached them on some, and cut 'em off on others. Unless you are in a place with massive EMI issues, it shouldn't matter for a headphone cable. One guy on the T1 thread said he likes the sound better with the sock cable an plug, but with the shield disconnected. 
 
You can alway fold them back, solder everything else, then try it. Then attache them, and try it again. If you like, keep em. If not, clip clip and your done.

 

[Buddhasummer]

Thank you very much, I will do as you suggest. Cheers.

 

[Allanmarcus]

I'm trying something that I though would be easy, and now I'm worried. I'm making a cable for an HD800 for a fellow head-fi-er. Holy crap, them pins are tiny. For those that haven't seem them:
 

 
Yes, that ridiculously tiny thing on the right. To make it worse, I think one solders to the smaller wires on that thing!
 


That's like a 2mm surface to solder, with 1mm separating them!
 
So, I'm looking for hints and suggestions on how to get this right. I hear these things melt easily too, so I don't want to do that. The pair of connectors is like $45! What the hell was Sennheiser thinking?

 

[rmoody]

  I'm trying something that I though would be easy, and now I'm worried. I'm making a cable for an HD800 for a fellow head-fi-er. Holy crap, them pins are tiny. For those that haven't seem them:
 

 
Yes, that ridiculously tiny thing on the right. To make it worse, I think one solders to the smaller wires on that thing!
 


That's like a 2mm surface to solder, with 1mm separating them!
 
So, I'm looking for hints and suggestions on how to get this right. I hear these things melt easily too, so I don't want to do that. The pair of connectors is like $45! What the hell was Sennheiser thinking?

 
Those are not any smaller than the connectors used in MrSpeaker's cables.
 
Third hands, and a lighted head magnifier and you should be good.
 
http://smile.amazon.com/SE-MH1047L-Illuminated-Multi-Power-Magnifier/dp/B003UCODIA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1460686632&sr=8-4&keywords=lighted+magnifier
 
I tin the wires, put a little flux on the connector, clean my iron, put a little bit of solder on the iron, get the wire in position, touch the iron to the solder cup/wire, done.

 

[Allanmarcus]

 

  I'm trying something that I though would be easy, and now I'm worried. I'm making a cable for an HD800 for a fellow head-fi-er. Holy crap, them pins are tiny. For those that haven't seem them:
 

 
Yes, that ridiculously tiny thing on the right. To make it worse, I think one solders to the smaller wires on that thing!
 


That's like a 2mm surface to solder, with 1mm separating them!
 
So, I'm looking for hints and suggestions on how to get this right. I hear these things melt easily too, so I don't want to do that. The pair of connectors is like $45! What the hell was Sennheiser thinking?

 
Those are not any smaller than the connectors used in MrSpeaker's cables.
 
Third hands, and a lighted head magnifier and you should be good.
 
http://smile.amazon.com/SE-MH1047L-Illuminated-Multi-Power-Magnifier/dp/B003UCODIA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1460686632&sr=8-4&keywords=lighted+magnifier
 
I tin the wires, put a little flux on the connector, clean my iron, put a little bit of solder on the iron, get the wire in position, touch the iron to the solder cup/wire, done.

Thanks for the advice. I've made two MrSpeakers cables for my Ether C, so I've soldered 4 of those connectors. This HD800 connector pins are smaller and closer together.
 
It's hard to see in the picture, but there's a little reservoir in each pin, so I will drop a tiny bit of solder in there, tin, then touch, as moody suggests. I don't have any flux, but maybe I need some.

 

[PETEREK]

I'm trying something that I though would be easy, and now I'm worried. I'm making a cable for an HD800 for a fellow head-fi-er. Holy crap, them pins are tiny. For those that haven't seem them:




Yes, that ridiculously tiny thing on the right. To make it worse, I think one solders to the smaller wires on that thing!





That's like a 2mm surface to solder, with 1mm separating them!

So, I'm looking for hints and suggestions on how to get this right. I hear these things melt easily too, so I don't want to do that. The pair of connectors is like $45! What the hell was Sennheiser thinking?

Just solder your wires onto the outside of the pins, should be pretty easy that way. Then you don't have to be afraid of bridging the pins.

 

[Benny-x]

  For anyone wondering how to make splitters like the one below, get some siphoning tube (I'm not totally sure on the diameter, 3/16" or 1/4" depending on whether they measure from the ID or OD), push the sleeves into each end of a 1-1.5" piece of that siphoning tube, then insert the tip of your hot glue gun inside an opening and fill it with hot glue. Afterwards use some 3/8" heat shrink tubing over the top of it and make sure that heat shrink tube is about 1/4" longer than the siphoning tube. Heat it. If you want to get real fancy, put some clear heat shrink over that.
 
BOOM.
 

Thanks for the little tutorial on that. 
 
Now, what kind of clear heat shrink did you put on over that to finish it off? Besides your branding on it, what's the material or how could I find that same, super clear, thick heat shrink?

 

[buke9]

Well since I pulled the trigger on a Yggdrasil I though i would give it some love. A little solid silver love. I had to cannibalize the connectors from my old interconnects so I can't tell if there is a big difference in sound but the Yggy is really good.