[teknorob23]

Some brief questions:
Should I use rosin free solder of something with rosin to solder bath litz wire?
How do I actually braid a 2 braid wire(4 braid when it reaches the Y split)? I tried manually twisting but my finger hurt as hell... Are there any tricks to it?
How should I get some cheap good heat shrink in US? My supplies from china are depleted.
BTW any interesting OCC silver in US? Tried neotech and failed to satisfy me.

which neotech silver did you try and what gauge was it? Could you also elaborate on what you mean by it failed to satisfy you. One other source is https://www.vhaudio.com/unicrystal-occ-silver-wire.html . I've not tried it but have heard good reports

 

[Paladin79]

Seems like It's the reason why my pot burns...tine to get some appropriate solder.

Uh huh, I generally just use Kester bar solder that is pretty close to 60/40 tin to lead ratio. You will notice some smoking when working with litz wire since the solder pot burns the enamel from the wire before you get proper coverage.

 

[koudairanger]

Uh huh, I generally just use Kester bar solder that is pretty close to 60/40 tin to lead ratio. You will notice some smoking when working with litz wire since the solder pot burns the enamel from the wire before you get proper coverage.

I also got kester, but it's sn95ag5 with rosin core, it burns like gonna explode... I'm going to get some rosin free later.

 

[koudairanger]

which neotech silver did you try and what gauge was it? Could you also elaborate on what you mean by it failed to satisfy you. One other source is https://www.vhaudio.com/unicrystal-occ-silver-wire.html . I've not tried it but have heard good reports

got some 24awg from sonic craft, and it turn out not that much clear as I expect from OCC silver, plus, too hard to braid it as IEM cable.

 

[teknorob23]

got some 24awg from sonic craft, and it turn out not that much clear as I expect from OCC silver, plus, too hard to braid it as IEM cable.

Yep it’s hook up wire so it’s not the easiest to braid and I can see being more difficult to work with iems. I’m only really making cables for full sized hp’s. Sound quality is improved the heavier you go gauge-wise. 24awg in a 4 core is on the margins where you’re not fully benefiting from what the silver upocc can do. I would normally suggest 22awg is a sweet spot, but it’s thicker still and if your finding the 24 problematic then this going to be even worse to work with. I’ve personally found the neotech silver sonically out performs everything else I’ve tried in terms of diy wire and that it competes with high end shop bought cables such as effect audio cleopatra and leonidas. Perhaps you can give us an idea of what you’ve heard and preferred before even if it’s shop bought then it will be easier to direct you towards someone who will be able to supply you with wire that might be able to give you similar performance.

 

[koudairanger]

Yep it’s hook up wire so it’s not the easiest to braid and I can see being more difficult to work with iems. I’m only really making cables for full sized hp’s. Sound quality is improved the heavier you go gauge-wise. 24awg in a 4 core is on the margins where you’re not fully benefiting from what the silver upocc can do. I would normally suggest 22awg is a sweet spot, but it’s thicker still and if your finding the 24 problematic then this going to be even worse to work with. I’ve personally found the neotech silver sonically out performs everything else I’ve tried in terms of diy wire and that it competes with high end shop bought cables such as effect audio cleopatra and leonidas. Perhaps you can give us an idea of what you’ve heard and preferred before even if it’s shop bought then it will be easier to direct you towards someone who will be able to supply you with wire that might be able to give you similar performance.

I expect something similar to DHC symbiote SE or maybe silverdragon V3 as an IEM cable, I'm not that kind of fan of replacing cables but It's out of interest to DIY something... tried some Norne DIY OCC litz and feel quite good also. I'll try again with them on headphone cables once I got my HD800S.

 

[Christoph]

I’ve personally found the neotech silver sonically out performs everything else I’ve tried in terms of diy wire and that it competes with high end shop bought cables such as effect audio cleopatra and leonidas.

Which neotech silver cable can you recommend (maybe in your preferend size 22AWG) ?

I had a look at
https://www.hificollective.co.uk/wire/neotech_hookup_wire.html
but the selection is quite confusing for me.

 

[imas69]

22 awg is the best gauge in my opinion and cheaper here https://www.cosmic-cables.co.uk/product-page/neotech-pure-silver

 

[teknorob23]

Which neotech silver cable can you recommend (maybe in your preferend size 22AWG) ?

I had a look at
https://www.hificollective.co.uk/wire/neotech_hookup_wire.html
but the selection is quite confusing for me.

Id recommend 22awg Multi-strand silver if you can stretch to it https://www.hificollective.co.uk/wire/neotech-stdst-occ-silver-wire.html. Its about about £50 per metre from here, but https://www.cosmic-cables.co.uk/product-page/neotech-pure-silver do it for about £35 per metre which incredibly good value. They also sell the 22awg copper cheaper too. The 24awg will be very good too, but seeing as it works out almost the same price to buy the 22awg from cosmic, its a bit of no brainer

 

[teknorob23]

22 awg is the best gauge in my opinion and cheaper here https://www.cosmic-cables.co.uk/product-page/neotech-pure-silver

sorry i didnt see you'd responded too

 

[imas69]

Ha, no problem, I think we both dive into action when we hear the word Neotech

 

[killaHz]

I like making stuff of my own, but partly because it’s cheap. At those kinds of per-meter prices, it starts to seem like a better idea to have somebody make me a custom cable. Five meters yields a pretty standard four foot IEM cable, so once you’ve bought the kind of connectors that belong on a pure silver cable, you’re probably looking at about 80% of the cost of one of the more affordable custom makers’ offerings. Of course, those guys have waiting lists for months, but still. If I’m going to be plunking down that kind of change, I’d rather have somebody else bearing the risk of accidentally wasting parts.

 

[imas69]

The Neotech wire would not be ideal for an iem cable anyway, it's not as flexible as a litz wire and it's a bit heavier too.

 

[Christoph]

22 awg is the best gauge in my opinion and cheaper here https://www.cosmic-cables.co.uk/product-page/neotech-pure-silver

Id recommend 22awg Multi-strand silver if you can stretch to it https://www.hificollective.co.uk/wire/neotech-stdst-occ-silver-wire.html. Its about about £50 per metre from here, but https://www.cosmic-cables.co.uk/product-page/neotech-pure-silver do it for about £35 per metre which incredibly good value. They also sell the 22awg copper cheaper too. The 24awg will be very good too, but seeing as it works out almost the same price to buy the 22awg from cosmic, its a bit of no brainer

Thank you both for your hints and links.

I've read somewhere that silver is more brittle than e.g. copper.
Could this be an issue for a solid silver headphone cable that it tends to break after a while?

 

[imas69]

The wire is stranded and excellent build quality so it would probably out live us all.