DIY Cable Questions and Comments Thread

[photobillyli]

Is "fgg-0b-302-clad52z" still be the connector for the 2022 version of Utopia? Thanks.

 

[dstarr3]

I'm looking to get a hold of, preferably, 2.5mm TS connectors for a cable for my E-Mu Teaks. I've tried a couple off of AliExpress, but they all felt real loose in the jacks and had problems with intermittent connections. So, I'd like to branch out from the no-name manufacturers on AE and find something made by a reputable manufacturer. Problem is, 2.5mm TS seems to be pretty different to find. 2.5mm TRS could work in a pinch, but I'd prefer TS, and ideally they would have full-size soldering lugs. I don't mind a big, bulky connector.

Does anybody know where I can get a hold of some decent ones? Thanks!

 

[chezzer]

I'm looking to get a hold of, preferably, 2.5mm TS connectors for a cable for my E-Mu Teaks. I've tried a couple off of AliExpress, but they all felt real loose in the jacks and had problems with intermittent connections. So, I'd like to branch out from the no-name manufacturers on AE and find something made by a reputable manufacturer. Problem is, 2.5mm TS seems to be pretty different to find. 2.5mm TRS could work in a pinch, but I'd prefer TS, and ideally they would have full-size soldering lugs. I don't mind a big, bulky connector.

Does anybody know where I can get a hold of some decent ones? Thanks!

https://www.cosmic-cables.co.uk/product-page/eidolic-2-5mm-jacks

 

[HornetMaX]

Hi guys, cable noob here.

I wanted a balanced cable for a pair of Hifiman Sundara, with a 4.4mm TRRRS (5 poles) to 2x3.5mm TRS (or TS, doesn't matter for the Sundara apparently).
Got on on AliExpress: nice looking but my amp (Fiio K7) was going into error and yeah, checking the cable the 1st and 3nd ring of the 4.4mm (normally L- and R-) were short-circuited ... refund in progress.

So next is a DIY attempt. I need 2.0-2.5m overall. I may throw in some sleeving: Viablue stuff likely (small, 2-6mm), less hassle than paracord (and probably cheaper for a single build) and I'm debating if adding a mini-XLR male-female before the last few cm and the 4.4mm (so that I can swap the termination for something else, if needed). Will get some Neutrik / Rean jacks (or similar, nothing too fancy).

One thing I can't decide on is between these options:

1. 4-cores cable soldered into 2x 2-cores cables at the y-splitter, example Mogami 2893/2534 soldered into 2944/2552 (or something equivalent from Canare).
2. Just use 2x 2-cores cables all the way, sleeving them together (twisted) before the y-splitter and individually after. Here I may want something not too thick, like Mogami 2944.
3. Just use 4-cores cable all the way, but remove the shielding after the y-splitter and sleeve the 2 conductors together (on each side).

Solution 2 seems the easiest (no soldering at the y-splitter), but simplicity aside, what would be better ? Or anything will do anyway ?

Also, if I go for option 2, when I twist the 2x 2-cores together, do I need to do something to ensure they won't untwist ? Or they will just stay twisted ?

Any advice welcome !

 

[kenny518646]

One thing I can't decide on is between these options:

1. 4-cores cable soldered into 2x 2-cores cables at the y-splitter, example Mogami 2893/2534 soldered into 2944/2552 (or something equivalent from Canare).
2. Just use 2x 2-cores cables all the way, sleeving them together (twisted) before the y-splitter and individually after. Here I may want something not too thick, like Mogami 2944.
3. Just use 4-cores cable all the way, but remove the shielding after the y-splitter and sleeve the 2 conductors together (on each side).

Personally I'll choose option 2.
Option 1: some people think it is bad to have more solder point (similar to the adapter)
Option 3: less choice for the cable also required more work than option 2.

You can also buy single core cable and twist/braid them together.
Laziest way to do this (in my opinion) will be twist 2 cables then sleeve them, and use it as single 2-core cable for option 2.

Also, if I go for option 2, when I twist the 2x 2-cores together, do I need to do something to ensure they won't untwist ? Or they will just stay twisted ?

I think they will stay twisted if you twisted them properly but may be uneven (some part become more tight and some become loose) depend how you use/stored it.
My English is not good so may not be able to explain clearly..

 

[Cantrell]

Newbie question /help/suggestions/clarification on headphone cables DIY cables. ,y bro and I each have 20+ years soldering and electronics experience, but j9ne really with headphones we have an adjustable temp 20-30;watt weller soldering iron thatsv15+ years old and multiple types of tips for it, all sorts of soldering related goodies n tools, a good quality wire stripper that goes down to at least 30bawg, some regular can get everywhere wire stripper, some automatic type strippers where just insert wire in approximate size wire spot and squeeze handle it does the rest, several types of crimping tools cor pro audio n cable/cb radio coax a holderbstand for soldering iron and damp sponge, some Belden professional communication grade coax/cable/cb radio type shielded cable, 2 conductors of purebsilver cryo treated, sounds like double helix is willing to give me some of diy wire Whichever Ib I want(probably non litzcas requires a soldering pot, probably silver and copper hybrid or maybe pure silver conductors) might also get some of Forza audios hybrid uo occ cable and or some combo of duelund 2.0 2-4mm silver foil in silk/cotton jacket and oil or Jupiter copper or silver conductors in cotton/silk jacketing I would probably lacquer in this special stuff like parts express has, same for the additional cotton or silk weave tubing I'd use for overall cable jacket to akso protect the tin coated copper mesh I was planning on getting n using for shielding, thier all white sleeving so was thinking of dyeing them royal purple orva light tropical or baby/sky blue as well, or maybe some amtrans silver ang gold plated naked wire that I'd put silk leaving around, and same for above stuff for it, also getting some of the Tinned Copper braiding I was gonna use to shield headphone cable to shield some of of mians power cables that I'd also reterminate at both ends probably with Furutech or grcu uk ir Martin Kaiser stuff, was also gonna use some of wires etc and also sone morrowaudio ma3 interconnects, to nake some diy interconnects with KLE I/Eichman Harmony rca plugs n female rca plugs for my home audio stuff. Diy headphones cable would only be semi portable use, mainly usevat home at mybwork table in my smoking area. I already gaveb3 top ofbthe line Furutech 3.5mm trs/stereo male plugs, thinking about getting some Thie Audio hype 4s IEMs, Meze audio AlbaIEMs I have ore ordered but additional delays I'm probably getting something else n canceling my pre order, some Plunge Audio Unity IEMs, maybe some Mr Senior? Megav5vESTV7th anniversary electrostatic hybrid IEMs, somebAudezebisine10s or Euclid Planar magnetic, planar magnetic hybrid IEMs, also haveba pair of Hifiman Sundara cans, no whether I use stereo trs 3.5mm, Furutech 2 pin or Eidolic mmcx headphones end plugs is tbdt, depending on which new headphones I get. 1-2 of them come with stock balanced cable only, can I still use regular stereo /trs cable and plugs for those headphones? Hor many conductors do I need for regular stereo trs cable vs trrs/balanced cable? Can I use regular connectors on headphones end fir balanced or do I need some sort of different TRS type mmmcx ir 2 pin headphones end plugs? Obviously would need rrs/balanced likeb2.5mm plug if wanted/needed to make a balanced cable forca 2.5mm balanced output jack. Whick wires/cables should I get/yse of those with diy copper mesh rfi shielding or maybe some already shielded neaotech 4 conductors headphones cable or some Mogami or Canare star quad shielded diy cable/wire for best sound quality for limited mobility/portability, mainly stationary at home use headphones cable? Also wasn't very clear to me, whar lugs on whick endsbif cable would I terminate the already shielded headphone cables or diy copper mesh shielding? What should I absolutely not do with grounding them? The cables /wires that don't have/not gonna use silk or cotton jacketing/sleeving are in ptfe or pvc packeting. Whuch solder shoukd I use fir best sound quality and sound characteristics, audio note 6% silver solder, WBT 800 series, with ir without lead like 4-6% silver solder, Hifi Tuning 9.5% silver supreme 3 with some copper and gold, or thier 15% silver no copper, no gold supreme 3 solder no lead in either, Mundorf Supreme silver, copper, gold, copper solder ir wharpt? other suggestions or tips u can think of?I didn't that could be helpful? Thanks

 

[Ghoostknight]

Whuch solder shoukd I use fir best sound quality and sound characteristics, audio note 6% silver solder, WBT 800 series, with ir without lead like 4-6% silver solder, Hifi Tuning 9.5% silver supreme 3 with some copper and gold, or thier 15% silver no copper, no gold supreme 3 solder no lead in either, Mundorf Supreme silver, copper, gold, copper solder ir wharpt? other suggestions or tips u can think of?I didn't that could be helpful? Thanks

i just bought a 50g role of this: http://www.oyaide.com/en/products/audio_grade_solders/ss-47-06mm-20g-edit for future projects
their purity claim of the tin, the actual main component, made me kind of curious, it might be just marketing tho and other solders are on par

have to say tho, i felt like soldering is easier with this than the dynavox 4-5% silver i was using before

also the main reason why i choose this oyaide lower silver% solder is that i tried WBT 10% silver before and its quite hard to get consistently good solderpoints and i never noticed a huge difference with the WBT solder (unlike with low grade solder vs audio grade ones), tho i never did a proper A/B comparison

 

[Paladin79]

I'm looking to get a hold of, preferably, 2.5mm TS connectors for a cable for my E-Mu Teaks. I've tried a couple off of AliExpress, but they all felt real loose in the jacks and had problems with intermittent connections. So, I'd like to branch out from the no-name manufacturers on AE and find something made by a reputable manufacturer. Problem is, 2.5mm TS seems to be pretty different to find. 2.5mm TRS could work in a pinch, but I'd prefer TS, and ideally they would have full-size soldering lugs. I don't mind a big, bulky connector.

Does anybody know where I can get a hold of some decent ones? Thanks!

Look for Rean by Neutrik, Markertek is a good company to search. Using a TRS for a TS does not always work because the spacing can be slightly different.

 

[Cantrell]

i just bought a 50g role of this: http://www.oyaide.com/en/products/audio_grade_solders/ss-47-06mm-20g-edit for future projects
their purity claim of the tin, the actual main component, made me kind of curious, it might be just marketing tho and other solders are on par

have to say tho, i felt like soldering is easier with this than the dynavox 4-5% silver i was using before

also the main reason why i choose this oyaide lower silver% solder is that i tried WBT 10% silver before and its quite hard to get consistently good solderpoints and i never noticed a huge difference with the WBT solder (unlike with low grade solder vs audio grade ones), tho i never did a proper A/B comparison

I did a blind A/B/C/D/etc test between Johnson silver solder ( found to be brightest of bunch by a ways), Mundorf Supreme (had most definitions, grat warm bass but lacking treble /presence, etc, Cardas Quad Eutectic (thought was dullest sounding with no redeeming qualities other than easy to work with), WBT 800 series with lead 4-6%? Silver solder, don't recall exact amount of silver. (Found it ver easy to work with and get good, clean, shiny solder joints, etc, also found to be most balanced and musical of the bunch listed. It was for guitar stuff, but tested by tinnimg noth ends of some 3 feet long sections of 16 awg, copper speaker wires, breaking them in signals all going same direction using my Sony integrated amp to some Sony m8j floor standing speakers, akso tested using some digital recordings of my guitar playing into thos Sony speakers and some raw Eton drivers , Eton 1" silk dome 8 ohm SD 1 Tweeters, some raw Eton Orchestra 4-5" 8nohm mids and some Son6 over ear $60 headphones from around 2004, wrote down solder name and type, had my brother label a-D or whatever, so no bias or placebo effects, wrote down my thoughts and opinions of each 1 A-D or whatever, so it was as honest and unbiased of an opinion/review asbI could do. Found results to ge similar/same when redoing sone solder joints/replacing some parts on my sony MIJ .around 1992 integrated amp AV/surround sound like AV640 combo package amp and speakers. My bro and .i both have tons of soldering experience on different items, so can usually getva goid solder joint pretty easily, also have multiple tips for Weller soldering iron for different things/purposes, tip cleaner/tin, sponge for cleaning tips, an iron that easily gets up to over 600° F, and as low as like 260°F?, so difficult to work with solder and getting good solder joints/tinning isnt really a concern, just best sound quality and sound characteristics is all thar really matters to me, also have flexible arms helping hands alligator clip holdera pseudo heat sinks, cans if compressed air to cool things down, etc to keep from damaging things, a soldering iron for thise tiny surface mount on pcb type soldering set up, all sirtsbif work with sensitive chips, tuning crystals, etcvfir old school multi band cbs, linears etc. Working on old school home full size personal computers, types that ran offbearliiest Windows, MS dos etc, car audio, car electronics, boat electronics, fush finders, depth finders, radios, lights, heaters, horns, fuse panels, etc home fuse panels, outlets, gci outlets, a/v cable/satellite/etc home wiring all throughout the house, etc, how stereo stuff, guitars, guitar fx pedals, guitar cables, fx unit cables, sone internal work on guitar tube amps but limited as they're expensive and super dangerous with the V and A stored in 5hem and capacitors, etc, earlier digital mapping and gps hnits on our boats, where had to have right cd fir area you were in and manually load them, biat radar/boat weather radars, etc. Sontons if experience in other areas if soldering and electronics. Both beem doing it since around 1991, my bro prob since around 1986/1987. Sound characteristics and sound quality are really only concerns.

 

[Paladin79]

I did a blind A/B/C/D/etc test between Johnson silver solder ( found to be brightest of bunch by a ways), Mundorf Supreme (had most definitions, grat warm bass but lacking treble /presence, etc, Cardas Quad Eutectic (thought was dullest sounding with no redeeming qualities other than easy to work with), WBT 800 series with lead 4-6%? Silver solder, don't recall exact amount of silver. (Found it ver easy to work with and get good, clean, shiny solder joints, etc, also found to be most balanced and musical of the bunch listed. It was for guitar stuff, but tested by tinnimg noth ends of some 3 feet long sections of 16 awg, copper speaker wires, breaking them in signals all going same direction using my Sony integrated amp to some Sony m8j floor standing speakers, akso tested using some digital recordings of my guitar playing into thos Sony speakers and some raw Eton drivers , Eton 1" silk dome 8 ohm SD 1 Tweeters, some raw Eton Orchestra 4-5" 8nohm mids and some Son6 over ear $60 headphones from around 2004, wrote down solder name and type, had my brother label a-D or whatever, so no bias or placebo effects, wrote down my thoughts and opinions of each 1 A-D or whatever, so it was as honest and unbiased of an opinion/review asbI could do. Found results to ge similar/same when redoing sone solder joints/replacing some parts on my sony MIJ .around 1992 integrated amp AV/surround sound like AV640 combo package amp and speakers. My bro and .i both have tons of soldering experience on different items, so can usually getva goid solder joint pretty easily, also have multiple tips for Weller soldering iron for different things/purposes, tip cleaner/tin, sponge for cleaning tips, an iron that easily gets up to over 600° F, and as low as like 260°F?, so difficult to work with solder and getting good solder joints/tinning isnt really a concern, just best sound quality and sound characteristics is all thar really matters to me, also have flexible arms helping hands alligator clip holdera pseudo heat sinks, cans if compressed air to cool things down, etc to keep from damaging things, a soldering iron for thise tiny surface mount on pcb type soldering set up, all sirtsbif work with sensitive chips, tuning crystals, etcvfir old school multi band cbs, linears etc. Working on old school home full size personal computers, types that ran offbearliiest Windows, MS dos etc, car audio, car electronics, boat electronics, fush finders, depth finders, radios, lights, heaters, horns, fuse panels, etc home fuse panels, outlets, gci outlets, a/v cable/satellite/etc home wiring all throughout the house, etc, how stereo stuff, guitars, guitar fx pedals, guitar cables, fx unit cables, sone internal work on guitar tube amps but limited as they're expensive and super dangerous with the V and A stored in 5hem and capacitors, etc, earlier digital mapping and gps hnits on our boats, where had to have right cd fir area you were in and manually load them, biat radar/boat weather radars, etc. Sontons if experience in other areas if soldering and electronics. Both beem doing it since around 1991, my bro prob since around 1986/1987. Sound characteristics and sound quality are really only concerns.

 

[TrollDragon]

Holy crap, I lost points just trying to read that wall of nonsense...

I guess I've been missing out on so much buy using this old stuff.

 

[Paladin79]

Holy crap, I lost points just trying to read that wall of nonsense...

I guess I've been missing out on so much buy using this old stuff.

Some of you know my background and I will just say I have worked with most types of wire known to man and have run serious blind studies. I have found one young woman who is sight challenged and who could reliably choose between wire types. Silver compared to copper compared to silver plated copper. That type of thing. When working with solder joints oftentimes the wire is already making contact with a lug or nickel barrel so the solder is a moot point other than if it is heated properly and using decent rosin. To hear a difference in a small bit of silver even if it is 5% is interesting, to say the least.

 

[AxelCloris]

[mod comment]

Some of the discussion seems to have gotten off-topic in the thread, so let's please bring the focus back around to DIY cables. Thanks everyone.

 

[Paladin79]

I do have some extra cable and connectors if anyone needs anything. In retirement I build less cables and concentrate on other hobbies. I know I do have 3.5mm TRS Amphenols.

 

[AgentXXL]

Hello all,

It's been a while since I've posted in this thread. I'm now retired, due to health reasons. My old 'universal' cable setup is still working well for me. The main connection is a normal 4 pin XLR male to 4 pin mini-XLR female. I then use 4 pin mini-XLR male connector on my cables for various devices. I've made them for my Sennheiser HD800 (SuperDupont modded), my Hifiman HE560 v1 and recently for some IEM cables. Alas I'm finding it difficult these days to do 4.4mm or 2.5mm balanced connectors - my hands have gotten quite shaky due to the health issues.

Are there any 2.5mm and 4.4mm connectors (both jacks and plugs) that are easier to work with? My 4.4mm male plugs and female jacks are like the ones shown in the attachments and are quite difficult to work with. And the smaller sized 2.5mm variants are even more difficult.

I've been browsing connector sites and they all seem to use a minor variation of the same layout shown in the attachments. Is there another style? Or have I missed a post or two showing a decent method to use these connectors? Or is just time for me to hang up the soldering iron and let others build cables for me?