DIY Cable Questions and Comments Thread

[SVTong]

Paladin, does that silicone wire have any "memory" to it due to the rubbery casing?  I made a cable out of some low-end rubber coated speaker wire, and it never laid out properly - it was always trying to do it's own thing and getting in the way.

 

[Paladin79]

  Paladin, does that silicone wire have any "memory" to it due to the rubbery casing?  I made a cable out of some low-end rubber coated speaker wire, and it never laid out properly - it was always trying to do it's own thing and getting in the way.

I had no issues with memory but like I said, I stuck to a braid all the way down the cable. To split off each pair and maintain twisted pair would not be real easy but I bet I could do it with clear heat shrink tubing or some other means but I would probably be giving up a lot of flexibilty. Maybe a tight paracord would maintain the twists. The color on this kind of wire was not as vibrant as i would like. I was trying for orange and navy. (School colors of the University of Illinois and later the Chicago Bears).

 

[Paladin79]

Excellent ! What do you think of PE jacketed wires ? Will it be good and no microphonic ?

I have yet to try much of the PE, more often than not I deal with PVC but I will see what is out there. I liked the silicone cause I prefer 24 awg wire and it was ofc as well. If you know of any PE ofc or OCC send me a link and I would be happy to buy some and test it out. I have settled on binaural recordings for testing (Amber Rubarth especially).

 

[Jiggybutt]

  I believe you would be all right since the microphone cable should be fairly well shielded. You might be able to experiment by looping it around your existing cable but IMHO you would be fine.

 
Yes, the mic cable is really thick, over 2mm. I tried to do the looparound but it was hard to get it tight. Rather sure that I'm gonna be ok.

  That's pretty much exactly what I did with my ModMic cable.  I used it as a core with 4 24ga wires around it.  I'd post a picture, but I ended up sleeving the whole thing in Techflex, so you can't really see it.  I get no interference through the headphones or the mic, and I've been using it for about 6 weeks now.  The only difference is that I left the mic intact rather than putting a 2.5mm connector inline.  When I remove the cable, I pull the ModMic off of the magnetic base and let the mic hang from the coil.

Thats good to know someone else has tried it. The reason I want a 2.5mm connector is that I use my headphones for other things as well and want to be able to take the mic off and use them without it.

 

[SVTong]

I do too, but I made an audio only cable and use the one with the Mic attached for gaming.

 

[buke9]

Excellent ! What do you think of PE jacketed wires ? Will it be good and no microphonic ?

PE is very soft and flexible. It don't think it is real microphonic to me but it doesn't take heat well so you need to be quick when soldering it will shrink back on you if you leave the iron on it too long.

 

[Jiggybutt]

I might have to rethink my project. I just got my headphone cables on the mail and tried to do a braid with the microphone cable. Due to the thickness of the mic cable the braid ended up beeing really thick.

Maybe it will be better to attatch it to the side of the braid instead of inside as core..

 

[Allanmarcus]

Can anyone recommend a decent 2.5mm connector, preferably mono (for use with an Oppo PM-2) that has both solder lugs and an extension on the plug so that the barrel doesn't but up against the cup?
 
Want something like this with regards to the extended plug part:

 
 
BUT I want good solder lugs to solder to. I guess I could even try 2.5 TRS plugs and figure out which combination of wires would work. Still, want good lugs and plug extension. 
 
Ideas?

 

[SVTong]

I might have to rethink my project. I just got my headphone cables on the mail and tried to do a braid with the microphone cable. Due to the thickness of the mic cable the braid ended up beeing really thick.


Maybe it will be better to attatch it to the side of the braid instead of inside as core..

mine looked just like that, which is why I covered it in tech flex. It's still flexible, but it's definitely chunky.

 

[buke9]

Can anyone recommend a decent 2.5mm connector, preferably mono (for use with an Oppo PM-2) that has both solder lugs and an extension on the plug so that the barrel doesn't but up against the cup?

Want something like this with regards to the extended plug part:




BUT I want good solder lugs to solder to. I guess I could even try 2.5 TRS plugs and figure out which combination of wires would work. Still, want good lugs and plug extension. 

Ideas?

Eidolic makes them but a bit pricey I think I paid 14 to 17 dollars for a pair. They come in tr and trs .
The one on the left I have to fix as it caught under a seat when I got up and no longer is working . It has the same barrel as the one shown without the carbon fiber the black one on the right is a lot bigger barrel to hold bigger cables.

 

[Allanmarcus]

 

Can anyone recommend a decent 2.5mm connector, preferably mono (for use with an Oppo PM-2) that has both solder lugs and an extension on the plug so that the barrel doesn't but up against the cup?

Want something like this with regards to the extended plug part:




BUT I want good solder lugs to solder to. I guess I could even try 2.5 TRS plugs and figure out which combination of wires would work. Still, want good lugs and plug extension. 

Ideas?

Eidolic makes them but a bit pricey I think I paid 14 to 17 dollars for a pair. They come in tr and trs .
The one on the left I have to fix as it caught under a seat when I got up and no longer is working . It has the same barrel as the one shown without the carbon fiber the black one on the right is a lot bigger barrel to hold bigger cables.

 
yikes, that is pricey. The ones in the picture I posted are $2/pair. Hopefully there something in the middle.

 

[buke9]

That's weird when I go to the pic it goes to the first pic in the thread weird. The TR plugs only have a lug for ground and the shaft for pos but is fine to work with. Sorry the middle one is 1/8 " just noticed it.

 

[Allanmarcus]

So here's a pic from DoubleHelix Cables
 

 
A little hard to tell. Does the shaft have a hole to fill with solder and the wire, or is it just a solid shaft? Assuming it's solid, what the best way to get a good connection?
 
This cheap ones that I posted (and have used), look like this one. Quite hard to get a good feeling connection. Also, 6.50 per pair from LunaShops or 5 pairs for $10 from eBay. Essentially the same plugs.
 

 

[Allanmarcus]

So this is a pic of the plusSound 2.5mm mono plug. Looks like a solid shaft. $14.00/pair. I wish I knew where they got the base unit as I really don't carte about the Cryo treatment or the black anodized aluminum housing (not shown here) as I will just cover it will heat shrink. 
 
What's the best way to solder to that shaft? Stip a little, tin heavily, and and just touch the two together? Strip the wire longer and wrap it around the shaft, then effetely tin the wire which should have it solidly on the shaft?
 

 

[Allanmarcus]

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