[PETEREK]

It's hurting me to see that helping hand on the connector barrel like that.

 

[Wizzard]

Could DMM mean Digital Multi Meter?

Also, I do apologies for the clamping method but in my defense, the helping hand is very old and exceptionally weak (barely holds anything and therefore didn't scratch the casing).

 

[Saeglopur]

Ok I've got a handful of questions and I'm sure theyve been answered somewhere, but I was hoping someone could help me possibly even via email with how to even start making cables. I'm new the the headphone/audiophile etc. world and I've always been technical and artistic and I have a fascination with some of these cables and I'd love to make my own. I just have no clue where to even begin. Is there anyone who has experience with it that would be interested in helping me out at all? Or at least if someone could direct me to a very intro level tutorial or something that would be great. Thanks all!

 

[scizzro]

  Ok I've got a handful of questions and I'm sure theyve been answered somewhere, but I was hoping someone could help me possibly even via email with how to even start making cables. I'm new the the headphone/audiophile etc. world and I've always been technical and artistic and I have a fascination with some of these cables and I'd love to make my own. I just have no clue where to even begin. Is there anyone who has experience with it that would be interested in helping me out at all? Or at least if someone could direct me to a very intro level tutorial or something that would be great. Thanks all!

I'm in the process of making my first cable as well. The basic idea is you want to take the signal from your amp and carry it to your headphones. To do that you need connectors for either end of the cable and wire inbetween. (Is that TOO simple? 

)
 
To connect the wire to the connectors, you use solder. There are videos out there that will teach you how to do it. 
 
You also have the option of using outer sleeving / heatshrink for aesthetic/durability reasons. 
 
I would sit down and draw a diagram of the cable, including every part you need to make the kind of cable you want. All of the parts you need can be found from places listed in the original post of this thread.

 

[creatip]

  Could DMM mean Digital Multi Meter?

Also, I do apologies for the clamping method but in my defense, the helping hand is very old and exceptionally weak (barely holds anything and therefore didn't scratch the casing).

 
Yes, a DMM is short for a Digital Multi Meter. Analog Multi Meter would work too, as long as it got ohm meter, but nowadays a DMM can be cheaper than analog, and more convenient, so yeah.
 
When you do it, solder them based on each polarities. Meaning, start with either the left or the ground first, and find which ones are the corresponding cables. Solder them right after you found them. This way it's easier to keep track which cables are which. 
 
Guitar cables are usually mono, only 2 polarities, signal and ground. You can try googling it with something like 'guitar 1/4" plug'

 

[creatip]

  Ok I've got a handful of questions and I'm sure theyve been answered somewhere, but I was hoping someone could help me possibly even via email with how to even start making cables. I'm new the the headphone/audiophile etc. world and I've always been technical and artistic and I have a fascination with some of these cables and I'd love to make my own. I just have no clue where to even begin. Is there anyone who has experience with it that would be interested in helping me out at all? Or at least if someone could direct me to a very intro level tutorial or something that would be great. Thanks all!

 
You'll need to know how to solder, mainly. Lots of tutorial articles and videos on the net. 
 
Practice with cheap stuffs first, i.e. $0.5 cable, $1 plugs. You'll most likely do mistakes, and you learn from them. 

 

[Saeglopur]

   
You'll need to know how to solder, mainly. Lots of tutorial articles and videos on the net. 
 
Practice with cheap stuffs first, i.e. $0.5 cable, $1 plugs. You'll most likely do mistakes, and you learn from them. 

I can solder, I do it as part of my job so I should be ok on that end, I'm mainly confused as to why some cables have two or even more wires. Two makes sense but on some (at least it looks like it) they have like four wires and I just get a little confused on that. I guess my biggest question is what would I need to make a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable thats about 4' long? Obvioulsy two connectors but is there a way to find out how many wires you need?

 

[Saeglopur]

  I'm in the process of making my first cable as well. The basic idea is you want to take the signal from your amp and carry it to your headphones. To do that you need connectors for either end of the cable and wire inbetween. (Is that TOO simple? 

)
 
To connect the wire to the connectors, you use solder. There are videos out there that will teach you how to do it. 
 
You also have the option of using outer sleeving / heatshrink for aesthetic/durability reasons. 
 
I would sit down and draw a diagram of the cable, including every part you need to make the kind of cable you want. All of the parts you need can be found from places listed in the original post of this thread.

 
Would you care to shoot me some emails with pics of your process?

 

[creatip]

 
I can solder, I do it as part of my job so I should be ok on that end, I'm mainly confused as to why some cables have two or even more wires. Two makes sense but on some (at least it looks like it) they have like four wires and I just get a little confused on that. I guess my biggest question is what would I need to make a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable thats about 4' long? Obvioulsy two connectors but is there a way to find out how many wires you need?

 
If you can solder, then it's 75% of the hard part gone. 
 
A basic stereo connection got 3 polarities, left channel, right, and (common) ground. A balanced connection got 4 polarities, with separate grounds (2 ground polarities). 
 
If the wire used is small/thin, it's advised to use 4 strands, with 2 strands in the common ground, to avoid current bottleneck in the ground polarity. If the wire's relatively thick, however, it shouldn't be a problem.
 
More than 4 strands are usually for aesthetic purposes only. I did 8 strands of thin wires braided for a good braid shape. 
 
I didn't use paracord sleeves in my previous projects because I like to flaunt my cables, but that's just a matter of taste entirely.

 

[scizzro]

 
I can solder, I do it as part of my job so I should be ok on that end, I'm mainly confused as to why some cables have two or even more wires. Two makes sense but on some (at least it looks like it) they have like four wires and I just get a little confused on that. I guess my biggest question is what would I need to make a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable thats about 4' long? Obvioulsy two connectors but is there a way to find out how many wires you need?

Stereo 3.5mm connectors, often reffered to as TRS (tip, ring, sleeve) have a left, right, and ground. These signals can't be crossed or combined, so you need 3 separate wires to make a 3.5mm to 3.5mm.
 
You may see some headphone cables have 4 wires. There may be three reasons for this: 
 
1) If your headphone has two connectors, one for each cup, then the ground from the amp has to go to each cup. Some people choose to run 1 ground wire from the amp-side connector to the Y-Split in the cable, then solder two wires and branch off to each cup. Others simply run a 4th conductor, also a ground, that goes straight through instead of branching.
 
2) They are using a balanced amp. Balanced amp cables require 4 wires.
 
3) Aesthetics. They want their cable to look different. In the end, the connections are the same. +,-,Gnd
 
For the 3.5mm to 3.5mm, there are many options for wiring. You could use a single 3 conductor cable and just be done with it. If you wanted to get fancy, you could get single conductor cabling, sheath it with paracord, then braid each strand. It accomplishes the same thing, but requires more cable length. I.E. if you want a 5 foot cable and are buying single conductor cable, you would need 5 foot x 3 conductors = 15 feet of cable. (Plus a bit more to make up for braiding)
 
For sleeving, you have 2 options, generally: Techflex and Paracord.
 
I'm still waiting for all of the parts to come in, so I haven't gotten started yet. I was unsure of myself and took 2-3 days to research everything before ordering parts.

 

[ThurstonX]

I can solder, I do it as part of my job so I should be ok on that end, I'm mainly confused as to why some cables have two or even more wires. Two makes sense but on some (at least it looks like it) they have like four wires and I just get a little confused on that. I guess my biggest question is what would I need to make a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable thats about 4' long? Obvioulsy two connectors but is there a way to find out how many wires you need?

 
For a simple cable like you describe, you need at least two wires for the signals, and something to complete the ground (Sleeve in TRS: Tip Ring Sleeve).  People often use a third wire, or a third and fourth wires, esp. if they plan to braid them (i.e., just the wires, perhaps bought plain, perhaps removed from a cable, and finally perhaps sleeved in paracord or something else).  If you buy two conductor cable that has a copper shield built in, you can use the shield for the ground connections.
 
A lot of people prefer just the wires, without the stiff, heavy outer sheath and inner shielding.  Interference shouldn't really be a problem, which is a good thing.
 
HTH.
 
Sorry if a lot of that is a rehash of previous posts.  I'm a slow typist 

 

[Saeglopur]

  Stereo 3.5mm connectors, often reffered to as TRS (tip, ring, sleeve) have a left, right, and ground. These signals can't be crossed or combined, so you need 3 separate wires to make a 3.5mm to 3.5mm.
 
You may see some headphone cables have 4 wires. There may be three reasons for this: 
 
1) If your headphone has two connectors, one for each cup, then the ground from the amp has to go to each cup. Some people choose to run 1 ground wire from the amp-side connector to the Y-Split in the cable, then solder two wires and branch off to each cup. Others simply run a 4th conductor, also a ground, that goes straight through instead of branching.
 
2) They are using a balanced amp. Balanced amp cables require 4 wires.
 
3) Aesthetics. They want their cable to look different. In the end, the connections are the same. +,-,Gnd
 
For the 3.5mm to 3.5mm, there are many options for wiring. You could use a single 3 conductor cable and just be done with it. If you wanted to get fancy, you could get single conductor cabling, sheath it with paracord, then braid each strand. It accomplishes the same thing, but requires more cable length. I.E. if you want a 5 foot cable and are buying single conductor cable, you would need 5 foot x 3 conductors = 15 feet of cable. (Plus a bit more to make up for braiding)
 
For sleeving, you have 2 options, generally: Techflex and Paracord.
 
I'm still waiting for all of the parts to come in, so I haven't gotten started yet. I was unsure of myself and took 2-3 days to research everything before ordering parts.

What all did you search for to learn about this? Most of this is going over my head. I understand the concept of ground and all that but everything else is a little confusing since im brand new to all of this. My best headphones are V-Moda M100 and they just use a detatchable 3.5 to 3.5. So I'm wanting to build a cable for them with the braid style for practice.

 

[Saeglopur]

   
If you can solder, then it's 75% of the hard part gone. 
 
A basic stereo connection got 3 polarities, left channel, right, and (common) ground. A balanced connection got 4 polarities, with separate grounds (2 ground polarities). 
 
If the wire used is small/thin, it's advised to use 4 strands, with 2 strands in the common ground, to avoid current bottleneck in the ground polarity. If the wire's relatively thick, however, it shouldn't be a problem.
 
More than 4 strands are usually for aesthetic purposes only. I did 8 strands of thin wires braided for a good braid shape. 
 
I didn't use paracord sleeves in my previous projects because I like to flaunt my cables, but that's just a matter of taste entirely.

Would you be cool with emailing about this a bit more?

 

[scizzro]

 
What all did you search for to learn about this? Most of this is going over my head. I understand the concept of ground and all that but everything else is a little confusing since im brand new to all of this. My best headphones are V-Moda M100 and they just use a detatchable 3.5 to 3.5. So I'm wanting to build a cable for them with the braid style for practice.

For "research," I just looked through this thread, and through all the parts website, noting the differences between the parts and stuff. Above is the wiring diagram for a 3.5mm to 3.5mm. That is your goal, just straight connections like that. There are lots of different ways to change the way it looks, but that is what HAS to be in order for it to work correctly. 
 
Which style cable are you thinking of making? Are you trying to make it look like something you've seen in this thread?

 

[Saeglopur]

 
For "research," I just looked through this thread, and through all the parts website, noting the differences between the parts and stuff. Above is the wiring diagram for a 3.5mm to 3.5mm. That is your goal, just straight connections like that. There are lots of different ways to change the way it looks, but that is what HAS to be in order for it to work correctly. 
 
Which style cable are you thinking of making? Are you trying to make it look like something you've seen in this thread?

Just a simple one like this, if i can upload the picture right. so the green is ground black is - red is + right? I've seen a couple diagrams like that on here for different cable types but the lines and all that confuse me a bit, I haven't worked with this type of stuff too much so I apologize that I'm helpless. Also I know this isn't a 3.5 cable I just mean this style of the clear insulation and braiding