DIY Cable Questions and Comments Thread
Jun 7, 2019 at 2:44 AM Post #8,911 of 10,535
Jun 7, 2019 at 9:00 AM Post #8,912 of 10,535
Wiring "sequence" is really brand-dependent in how the internals are manufactured. Whatever is easiest usually works best. :wink: Although, for most XLRs, I find doing the four wires all at once the easiest.
 
Jun 8, 2019 at 8:50 AM Post #8,913 of 10,535
Hey all,

I am happy to join the club, of making my own headphone cables!

I just had a Bottlehead Crack, built by a professional. In the spirit of DIY, I am twisting up a cable for my Aeolus and Crack. I will be using Norne Audio's, UP - OCC SPC wire, and all Amphenol connectors. I must say the Norne DIY wire is beautiful, and looks of the highest quality.
20190607_175015_zpsismwnsto.jpg

As you can see, I have a couple spare connectors, just in case I mess up. I will post pics of the finished cable.

Happy Saturday!
 
Jun 10, 2019 at 7:13 AM Post #8,914 of 10,535
Just a quick report back on working with Neotech's UP-OCC silver/gold wire. I made an 4 core headphone cable for my Focal Stellia and wow this stuff is delicate much harder to work with than any other neotech wire i've used. At 0.1mm per strand width very easy to break one or all the strands, with a moment too long with the soldering iron or if you exert any pressure on it. Braiding the wire is also quite a frustrating process as it does not conform to the braid and will completely unravel at the drop of hat, that is until you braid the two channel braids into a single trunk and then it holds. Once i reset my patience :wink: it wasnt too much of problem, but anyone who's thinking about using it and is relatively inexperienced, my advice is take your time :wink:

The good news is the pain is all worth in terms the cables sonic performance. I cant give a full report as i'm only at about 100hrs burn and i reckon this stuff needs 150-300hrs for the presentation to completely settle down and perform consistently. BUT wow so far it's outperforming every other combination i've tried, most noticeably in depth which is astonishing, as is the level of detail retrieval and seperation. It might not be great in brighter systems as its clarity and snap in the treble is on the verge of brutal, but in tube set-up its sounding very promising.

P.s for the eagle eyed among you, yes the 3.5mm connectors are different and no i hadnt noticed until i saw this pic, but with few choice sentiments expressed they're now the same :wink:

Neotech Silver Gold 4 core 2.2m HP cable_13.JPG
Neotech Silver Gold 4 core 2.2m HP cable_11.JPG
 
Last edited:
Jun 10, 2019 at 2:31 PM Post #8,915 of 10,535
It might not be great in brighter systems as its clarity and snap in the treble is on the verge of brutal, but in tube set-up its sounding very promising.
Good to hear more positive news, I wonder if mixing UP-OCC Cooper into the mix will mellow the treble slightly, I remember reading on various custom cable makers how they claim to mix silver/copper for this reason.
 
Jun 10, 2019 at 4:24 PM Post #8,916 of 10,535
Hello everyone :)

I want to use my hd660s with a 4pin XLR balanced amplifier.
The problem is that the cables are ridiculously expensive for my taste so I'm thinking about making an adapter.

The hd660s come with a 4.4mm Pentaconn cable and I want to make an adapter for it.
The parts I wanted to use are:

- Female 4.4mm
- Male 4pin XLR

A male 4pin XLR is easy to find https://www.thomannmusic.com/neutrik_nc4_mxx_b.htm but i can't find any female 4.4mm (for europe).
Is it possible to use this https://fiio-shop.de/kabel/807/fiio-lb-4.4m, cut of the cables and solder them into the 4pin XLR ?

And why does pentaconn and 4pin XLR have ground connections but 2.5mm does not?

Thank you!!!
 
Jun 10, 2019 at 10:22 PM Post #8,917 of 10,535
So far I’ve made 2 neotech hp cables:

8 core (8 x awg 24 solid copper)
Has to be the best value vs performance I’ve ever come across in hifi because with sleeving, solder etc it cost about £60 and sounds as good if not better than any shop bought copper cable I’ve bought.

8 core (4 x 26 awg solid silver & 4 x 24 awg)
A lot more expensive, at about £245 for the wire and other parts, but considerable leap in performance. Amazing detail retrieval and extension top and and bottom. Guitars sound amazing - a real textured crunch, the bass is really nice to, deep, layered and perfectly controlled. Overall it’s added a real 3D depth to the soundstage.

I’ve experimented with so-occ acrolink multistrand from Japanese ebayer who was recommended to me. I made and 8 and 4 core versions with 23 awg/ 10 strand wire. Very good on the value front and performance is good too. The 4 core sounds slightly more defined and precise than the 8 core which was surprising. The 8 has more low end but it’s slightly less controlled than the 4. Cables cost about 60-75 each. Oh and they’re a lot more flexible than the neotech which I guess is unsurprising what with being multi-strand.

I’ve not really been tempted by the gold coated neotech copper, but I will make a short pure UP-OCC silver at some point so I have a proper reference on the silver sound, but first the silver/gold. I’m going with a 4 core of 28awg which is quite punchy at £270 for 10 metres. I have higher hopes though because so far every step up in neotech range has come with disproportionate returns vs investment, but when funds permit, i'll probably try making it up to and 8 core.

I can’t believe I’ve spent 20 years lining the cable makers pockets. I should mention the star of my set up the pure silver occ nei 1002 rca cable with eti cryo plugs, not cheap at £350 for the finished cable but wow, its a big leap up from £500 tellurium Q black ultra 2 rca which itself was a very impressive cable. I don’t know but I suspect it will give any cable up to £1k a run for its money and i think this is solely down to how far ahead Neotech are with their cable tech.. probably why they supply most high end cable makers.

Just need to try and sell some of my creations, that or work out how i can feed the family on mono crystal copper :wink:



Useful info, thanks.

Where are you sourcing your neotech wire from, UK hifi? The neotech website doestnseem to be all that up to date with official retailers as only 1 listed for USA doesn't appear to sell direct at least in consumer amounts and appear to have own spec versions. I haven't recheked PCX in Canada yet, they're usually very reputable but a couple times they received counterfeit items. There'd a couple other reputable businesses but none are listed by neotech and haven't found their CS all that helpful with language barriers.
 
Jun 10, 2019 at 10:55 PM Post #8,918 of 10,535
Over the past month, I went over all of this thread. While a lot has been answered in regards to my doubts about braiding, I am a little unsure about sourcing wire. I know that any good quality copper will do, but are there some vendors (eBay vendors or PayPal friendly vendors esp.) who are reputable sources for copper wire and silver-plated copper wire? Next, can anyone highlight any tips to ensure I do not end up with a ratty cable? I've seen some gross 4wire braid cables (the cable that comes with ZS10Pro for example) that are really clumpy and ugly on the whole. what differentiates a crappy braid from a nice one that retains its shape and beauty after hours of use?

Finally, how do I select connectors? what are the things I should look at when comparing across brands/options?
 
Jun 11, 2019 at 1:34 AM Post #8,919 of 10,535
Useful info, thanks.

Where are you sourcing your neotech wire from, UK hifi? The neotech website doestnseem to be all that up to date with official retailers as only 1 listed for USA doesn't appear to sell direct at least in consumer amounts and appear to have own spec versions. I haven't recheked PCX in Canada yet, they're usually very reputable but a couple times they received counterfeit items. There'd a couple other reputable businesses but none are listed by neotech and haven't found their CS all that helpful with language barriers.

I get most of my wire and other bits from these guys:
https://www.hificollective.co.uk/node

And
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/

:)
 
Jun 11, 2019 at 1:58 AM Post #8,920 of 10,535
Jun 11, 2019 at 2:03 AM Post #8,921 of 10,535
If you are interested, I'm having gold plated cooper 26 AWG and Gold plated Silver 24 AWG. Both is come with cryogen treatment which increase treble extension and dynamic range.

Yes sounds interesting, who is the wire made by? :)
 
Jun 11, 2019 at 4:19 AM Post #8,923 of 10,535
Yes sounds interesting, who is the wire made by? :)
You can look at my signature for the picture.
I can resell wire independently.
Sorry for missing :)) I order the cable from Neotech through the local distributor.
 
Jun 11, 2019 at 6:26 AM Post #8,924 of 10,535
Just realized that wire is the easiest part of the equation. finding matchin 4.4mm plugs, y splits cinches and 2pin connectors seems to be nearly impossible. anyone got any reccomendations

For cheaper stuff it’s a challenge. Otherwise there’s PlusSound or Eidoloc connectors from Double Helix (among others), although the Pentaconn plugs are currently backordered or something...
 
Jun 11, 2019 at 9:10 AM Post #8,925 of 10,535
Are plugs like this molded onto the cable and hardware after they are soldered together? I have been looking for basic low-profile right angle jacks on Ali. I prefer to use them to connect to devices I keep in my pocket. I have seen many plastic y-splits on Ali that come in two pieces that are sandwiched together and presumably secured with adhesive.

Screenshot 2019-06-11 09.06.38.jpg
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top