DIY Cable Questions and Comments Thread

[kwatch]

Did you use the whole cable or just the inner conductors? I did cable with just the 4 conductors without the jacket and it is more pliable than w2893 with the jacket

I used the whole cable. Did you use any kind of outer shell like paracord?

 

[Feilong4]

I'm planning to build a balanced custom headphone cable for Hifiman HE-400i. I've build the balanced custom cable for Senn HD600 using Canare L-4E6S Star-Quad cable, but it's too bulky, stiff and heavy. Can anyone recommend me a good cable I can use?

Not to shamelessly plug, but I am currently selling 2 balanced Hifiman cables with SMC connectors if you were possibly looking to buy an already built cable.

 

[Pilotdog68]

I used the whole cable.

Canare's jackets are generally pretty stiff. I took off the black jacket and the metal whatchamacallit and just sleeved the four wires in paracord. The paracord gives some microphonics but its pretty light and flexible. If you want to keep the outer jacket, I recommend w2893. The Mogami stuff is usually more flexible.

 

[Paladin79]

If I am working with star quad I use the whole cable. If I want individual wires, I get individual wires. Depending on where you live your only option could be to strip the wires from star quad in order to get quality wire.

 

[Pilotdog68]

If I am working with star quad I use the whole cable. If I want individual wires, I get individual wires. Depending on where you live your only option could be to strip the wires from star quad in order to get quality wire.

To each his own I guess. I was doing a single-entry cable and it was nice being able to strip off the jacket and have the 4 wires already twisted together. All I had to do was slide the paracord over it and solder connectors. It also ended up perfectly round, not lumpy like I see a lot of others here.

My next cable I plan to do the same way but without any paracord. We'll see how long the twist stays together without anything holding in in shape.

 

[kwatch]

To each his own I guess. I was doing a single-entry cable and it was nice being able to strip off the jacket and have the 4 wires already twisted together. All I had to do was slide the paracord over it and solder connectors. It also ended up perfectly round, not lumpy like I see a lot of others here.

My next cable I plan to do the same way but without any paracord. We'll see how long the twist stays together without anything holding in in shape.

What paracord in size did you use sleeving to cover the 4 wires twisted together? What size did you use for the 2 wires connecting to the headphone?

 

[Pilotdog68]

I bought the only size paracord Home Depot had and it fit perfectly. It was just a single-entry cable, so no y-split

 

[Paladin79]

On most star quad there is wire braid. I was curious if you left that in place as well? To me that adds more stiffness to the cable than the outside jacket.

 

[Pilotdog68]

Braided shielding! that's the "metal whatchamacallit" I couldn't think of in post #7413. I removed it, along with the cloth/paper/string filler stuff. Just the 4 wires were left.

The cable is pictured a few pages back: https://head-fi.org/threads/diy-cable-questions-and-comments-thread.676402/page-486#post-13614795

 

[Allanmarcus]

If I am working with star quad I use the whole cable. If I want individual wires, I get individual wires. Depending on where you live your only option could be to strip the wires from star quad in order to get quality wire.

Where do you get essentially the same wire that is found inside of mogami quad for the about the same price?

cloth/paper/string filler stuff

Dielectric

 

[Paladin79]

The wire I purchase I do so at 15,000 feet at a time from a major manufacturer, ofc, 24 awg. I did not say it was essentially the same wire in those exact words; it is probably larger than some Mogami used and the strand count could well be different, I just said if I want to buy individual wire, I tend to do just that. Most anyone can approach Mogami, Belden, Canare, Carol, etc and offer to buy specific types of wire but there are usually minimum purchases required, or even special runs of wire. They will brand it any way you like, if you purchase enough but the normal DIYer does not generally need those quantities.

While cloth, paper, and string stuff are not exactly great conductors, I was unaware they were being used as dielectric materials in star quad but I guess the term could apply. I have heard of such things referred to as fillers. Fillers are used to keep the cable round and to eliminate convolution.

 

[zacrobmer]

What paracord in size did you use sleeving to cover the 4 wires twisted together? What size did you use for the 2 wires connecting to the headphone?

For the cable I made for my He400i's I used 550 cord for 4 strands (Mogami W2893 stripped, no copper sheath, just the wires) and then 275 for the two twisted wires after the split.

 

[hoskoau]

Why don't people use the shield as the ground cable in their headphone cables?

 

[Letmebefrank]

Why don't people use the shield as the ground cable in their headphone cables?

Because headphones do not use ground, they use positive and negative only.

 

[hoskoau]

Because headphones do not use ground, they use positive and negative only.

Huh, negative is ground.