DIY Cable Questions and Comments Thread

[Feilong4]

I'm glad I asked otherwise I would have been stuck with a stiff cable haha.

What would having 4 strands per side benefit? I have the cable you sent me which is two strands per side, so I'm curious as for the differences or advantages.

Also about that listing you listed, it says 5 items per lot next to the quantity. Do you know whether that means 5 of those braided cables in one purchase?

 

[Paladin79]

It is the quantity they have available, five per lot and ten lots would be fifty cables. They are just selling one cable 5 meters long, which is 16.40 feet.

Advantages huh? Well you end up doubling the wire per side so in effect you are increasing the wire gauge size and helping conductivity a bit. I would think it is a bit more rugged if soldered properly but if you are looking for supple, four wires in a similar jacket would be more supple compared to eight. I love the looks of eight wire braids and I have had a couple people who can tell a difference in sound. Either way, you best be able to do a four wire braid at some point cause you need at least four wires for dual entry but on the single plug end it can be balanced or not..

Be sure to look around though, there are lots of choices...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Soft-Braided-PTFE-Silver-OCC-Wire-Hifi-Headphone-Earphone-Upgrade-DIY-Cable-5M/322601141459?_trkparms=aid=555018&algo=PL.SIM&ao=2&asc=44040&meid=86d7141d97554dad95a80769b270dfd9&pid=100623&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=182413412534&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1

This choice gives you copper and silver so you would be better able to keep the wires straight as you braid the dual entry end. I usually mark mine with colored heat shrink tubing when using 8 wires that all look alike but that is not exactly entry level braiding so best to practice first.

Above is an eight wire braid that I braided four per side for dual entry into some Sennheisers, they go on to a four pin xlr then to dual three pin xlrs into the amps but at least you can see four wires per side are not huge.

 

[Feilong4]

I was just about to ask about that cable you just linked since it's cheaper haha.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Paladin79]

I am going from memory but I believe there are less strands thus a smaller gauge. Pure occ copper with a high strand count would be fairly flexible depending on the gauge. I need to do some work but maybe someone else will jump into this conversation and help out as well.

later

Tom

 

[v3kt0r]

Guys,

I promised before to share whatever I found from making diy cable for jh audio v.2. Maybe it will help someone to save some time and money.

Adding 50ohm resistors to avoid using bulky and flimsy bass attenuator otherwise you'll have +15db bass without it which is way overwhelming for me. If all is right, when you use multi-meter to test, you should get 50ohm on bass pair only. Everything else should be on 0.

Created two cables:
Silver Y-splitter - Pure 30awg 999 silver, 6 strands in 26awg teflon tube (braided) with L-shape 2.4 ttrs AK balanced termination. Both resistors hidden in 2.4 jack
Black Y-splitter - Silver platted 30awg copper, 8 strands (factory braided) with straight 2.4 trrs AK balanced termination. Both resistors hidden in Y-splitter

Apologize for pretty amateur blueprint. I'm not a pro

Result

 

[Demoninja]

I'm planning on modding my pair of Senngrados into a detachable cable. Could I do something like use a TRS female, only wire tip on the left one, ring on the right one and then for the two male TRS I'll connect both tip and ring together to make a cable that doesn't care about the side it's plugged into? Is this a disaster waiting to happen?

 

[Paladin79]

I'm planning on modding my pair of Senngrados into a detachable cable. Could I do something like use a TRS female, only wire tip on the left one, ring on the right one and then for the two male TRS I'll connect both tip and ring together to make a cable that doesn't care about the side it's plugged into? Is this a disaster waiting to happen?

I am not real familiar with the Senngrados or how each side is wired but....

You will either end up combining both channels in which case you would have mono instead of stereo or best case scenario you would have the left channel on the right and right channel on the left side about half the time. If you end up with mono, then indeed it will not matter which trs male is plugged to either side. Personally I find it easier to just mark one side with say a red marker or red heat shrink tubing or red lacquer. I am pretty used to which instruments or vocals appear on the right or left side in much of my music that I prefer to keep everything marked correctly.

 

[Demoninja]

I am not real familiar with the Senngrados or how each side is wired but....

You will either end up combining both channels in which case you would have mono instead of stereo or best case scenario you would have the left channel on the right and right channel on the left side about half the time. If you end up with mono, then indeed it will not matter which trs male is plugged to either side. Personally I find it easier to just mark one side with say a red marker or red heat shrink tubing or red lacquer. I am pretty used to which instruments or vocals appear on the right or left side in much of my music that I prefer to keep everything marked correctly.

They're wired like an HD 600. Each side has a ground and a signal. I'm not sure if I clearly explained what I was imagining but I'll keep it simple and just use mono connectors and mark left and right channels. Thanks for chiming in!

 

[mgh24]

Guys,

I promised before to share whatever I found from making diy cable for jh audio v.2. Maybe it will help someone to save some time and money.

Adding 50ohm resistors to avoid using bulky and flimsy bass attenuator otherwise you'll have +15db bass without it which is way overwhelming for me. If all is right, when you use multi-meter to test, you should get 50ohm on bass pair only. Everything else should be on 0.

Created two cables:
Silver Y-splitter - Pure 30awg 999 silver, 6 strands in 26awg teflon tube (braided) with L-shape 2.4 ttrs AK balanced termination. Both resistors hidden in 2.4 jack
Black Y-splitter - Silver platted 30awg copper, 8 strands (factory braided) with straight 2.4 trrs AK balanced termination. Both resistors hidden in Y-splitter

Apologize for pretty amateur blueprint. I'm not a pro


Result

Thanks for all that! Hope I don't have to use it, but I will bookmark this just in case.

 

[rwpritchett]

Hello all,

I'm planning my first DIY cable for my HE-500. I have a mix of amps using 3.5mm and 6.35mm jacks for headphones. Ideally, I would like to construct a cable terminated in a TRS that has a twist-off adapter like the stock AKG and other OEM cables have but I'm having a very difficult time finding a source for the part. I'm not even sure what this type of TRS is called officially, that might be why my google-fu is failing me.

I'm about to just suck it up and go with a standard 6.35mm connector and deal with a separate adapter. Every single one of my other headphones has a twist off hiding a 3.5mm and I like having a secured locking adapter.

Does anybody know a source for this part? I'm planning to go with sheathed Mogami W2534, so it needs to fit the 6mm cable diameter though I could step down to W2893 4.8mm OD if needed. An example is below, although this isn't necessarily the exact TRS I'm looking for:

 

[Paladin79]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20set-Self...359803?hash=item25e87df8fb:g:LAsAAOSwxp9W25tC

Generally if it is made in China, Ebay has it. This appears to be that exact part. 20 sets is a lot but I am willing to purchase at least half of those if you want to go that route.

I did find someone in the states that has a set of two for $17 apiece but I do not mind the wait for a much better price.

 

[rwpritchett]

What about the Switchcraft 35HDLBAU? It looks like it comes with a removable threaded collar that might work with a threaded 6.35mm adapter (which are easy to find).

https://www.mouser.com/productdetail/switchcraft/35hdlbau?qs=sGAEpiMZZMv0W4pxf2HiV2B4j/k8Z2ZS%2bOJ2nxV5gcU=

Edit:

There's also a Sennheiser OEM available, the the cable OD might be too small:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&O=&Q=&ap=y&c3api=1876,{creative},{keyword}&gclid=Cj0KCQiAkNfSBRCSARIsAL-u3X-50zXRWWwRShHdVTIRIqTPlI2TTWEhe3lpHCTfscqWfO4O2GgpxbYaApCBEALw_wcB&is=REG&m=Y&sku=426819

 

[Paladin79]

It has been a while since I worked with those but I believe the male and female 3.5 mm connectors attach using those threads. I have no idea if they will fit the 6.35 but you could always buy one to try it out. I guarantee you it would have solder lugs on the inside and would be a quality connector compared to the Chinese made crap. They tend to use round cylinders separated by plastic, get them too hot and the plastic melts. I can use them but it is a pretty poor design. I know some of the pre-made beyerdynamic cables come with the threaded 3.5 and 6.35 but they are around $20 per cable or more. As far as I know, there is no set size to the threads on those connectors but I could be wrong.

 

[rwpritchett]

Well, I just ordered one of the 35HDLBAU Switchcraft plugs. Assuming the threading is correct, I guess I'll try it with a threaded 6.35mm adapter and check with a multimeter to see if it will work. If not I'm out $13 and will just go with a standard Neutrik.

For anyone looking for the same, there's very similar parts:

35HDLBAU = black plug with gold 3.5mm TRS, fits up to 0.250" (6.35mm) cable
35HDLBAUS = black plug with gold 3.5mm TRS, fits up to 0.175" (4.45mm) cable
35HDLBN = black plug with nickel 3.5mm TRS, fits up to 0.250" (6.35mm) cable
35HDLNN = nickel plug with nickel 3.5mm TRS, fits up to 0.250" (6.35mm) cable

I'm hoping the larger 0.250" model will accommodate the Mogami W2534 with some heatshrink for stress relief.

 

[Paladin79]

I may grab a couple of those myself sometime and check them out. You were wise to check the cable entry size, that can always be a factor with such connectors.