[Paladin79]

  Does anyone use 22 AWG even for full sized headphones? Isn't that overkill? Sure, and Axios cable is effectively 20 AWG (4 x 26 AWG per connection), but from my limited understanding of electronics, a 24AWG wire with 30 cores should be able to handle over an amp of current. 
 
Also, I thought the rule of thumb is to divide the impedance of the headphone by 10, and them pick a cable that is lower than that number.
 
For mogami W2893, .13 Ohm/m, so assuming a 2 meter cable, the 26AWG wire should be good for any headphone > .26 Ohm.
 
Am I misunderstanding? Thanks.
 
Also, I'm gonna ask second question. Anyone have experience mixing copper and silver cable, say an 8 strand cable, 4 copper, 4 silver, one of each to each connection? Best or both worlds, or just silly?

I have not tried the mixing of copper and silver so that is the easy part to answer.
 
The .13 ohms is dc resistance and resistance goes down as the cross sectional area of wire goes up. Impedance is a combination of resistance, inductive reactance, and capacitive reactance and varies with frequency. I would have to read more about that rule of thumb to do a comparison but I would think 24 or 26 awg would be fine for the power levels supplied to most headphones. 

 

[buke9]

Does anyone use 22 AWG even for full sized headphones? Isn't that overkill? Sure, and Axios cable is effectively 20 AWG (4 x 26 AWG per connection), but from my limited understanding of electronics, a 24AWG wire with 30 cores should be able to handle over an amp of current. 

Also, I thought the rule of thumb is to divide the impedance of the headphone by 10, and them pick a cable that is lower than that number.

For mogami W2893, .13 Ohm/m, so assuming a 2 meter cable, the 26AWG wire should be good for any headphone > .26 Ohm.

Am I misunderstanding? Thanks.

Also, I'm gonna ask second question. Anyone have experience mixing copper and silver cable, say an 8 strand cable, 4 copper, 4 silver, one of each to each connection? Best or both worlds, or just silly?

Not pure silver but silver plate sure. I put the silver plate on positive and copper to negative. That was on a balanced cable for HE400S and HD 700 fine on the 400's but way to bright on the 700's. I also made a portable cable with BTG silver plate and copper ofc for my Ether C's. The dumb cable is better I think.

 

[Andreeww]

Can somebody help me? I am looking for some kind of stepped heat shrink tube. It is usually put between connectors and cable. It is just thick heat shrink with steps. However, I don't know what it is actually called and I can't find it. I hope someone can tell me.

 

[Allanmarcus]

  Can somebody help me? I am looking for some kind of stepped heat shrink tube. It is usually put between connectors and cable. It is just thick heat shrink with steps. However, I don't know what it is actually called and I can't find it. I hope someone can tell me.

Quite possibly it just layers of heatshink. 

 

[Andreeww]

Quite possibly it just layers of heatshink. 

No, it's not like that.

 

[Allanmarcus]

 

Quite possibly it just layers of heatshink. 

No, it's not like that.

OK. If you can post a picture, either one you took or one from google images, that would really help.

 

[Renka]

Anyone know how to do square 16 wire braid or link to such a tutorial?

Edit : Oh, I saw that you already know about all of that.

I don't think anything could ever be square with 16 strands unless you do a square braid with 8 strands where you double up the strands. Try "kumihimo 16 strand" on google. This is the best I can think of. I don't know how cables will hold with this though and it will definitely not look this tight, but if you can pull this off it will look amazing. The fact that you would be using a disk/loom would definitely help keeping things in place and equally tightened. I think you could probably achieve a flat braid using some kind of disk too.

http://howdidyoumakethis.com/spiral-braids-with-12-to-28-strands/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP3kyr5zZhg

 

[Allanmarcus]

well, I got my kumihimo plate and gave it a try with some mogami 26AWG wire I had left over. 16 strand braid. I haven't figured out how to do the plit yet, because I braiding too much and didn't leave any to split! I'm learning.
 
What I've learned. kumihimo aint hard, but takes patience. 1.5 hours / foot of finished product. It will be harder with longer cable too.
Also, 3 feet of wire becomes one foot of braided cable for the 16 strand section. for a 6 foot cable plus 18" from Y to connector, I will need:
main section: 6' (desired length) x 3 (braid loss) x 16 (strands)  = 288'
split Y sections: 1.5 (desired length) x 2 (braid loss) x 8 (strands) x 2 (channels) =48'
total wire: 336'
or 84' feet of quad cable! 
 
Mogami W2799 Neglex would be ~$60 from markertek
Nice Acrolink wire from lunashops is about $1/foot, so that would be $336
DoubleHelix Full spool (100m/330ft) Nucleotide 24awg OCC copper wire: $499.00
 
Damn! starting to understand how an Axios cable is $800.
 
The W2799 is 30 strand 26AWG. Effectively it's 18 cents per foot (or 60 cents per meter) for one 26 AWG wire. I'd like a more supple wire for this, but I'm don't want to spend hundreds on a cable. Any ideas? Also, I'd like at least two colors.
 
 
 
 

16 strand braid of mogami W2799 wire

 

[Paladin79]

well, I got my kumihimo plate and gave it a try with some mogami 26AWG wire I had left over. 16 strand braid. I haven't figured out how to do the plit yet, because I braiding too much and didn't leave any to split! I'm learning.

What I've learned. kumihimo aint hard, but takes patience. 1.5 hours / foot of finished product. It will be harder with longer cable too.
Also, 3 feet of wire becomes one foot of braided cable for the 16 strand section. for a 6 foot cable plus 18" from Y to connector, I will need:
main section: 6' (desired length) x 3 (braid loss) x 16 (strands)  = 288'
split Y sections: 1.5 (desired length) x 2 (braid loss) x 8 (strands) x 2 (channels) =48'
total wire: 336'
or 84' feet of quad cable! 

Mogami W2799 Neglex
 would be ~$60 from markertek
Nice Acrolink wire from lunashops is about $1/foot, so that would be $336
DoubleHelix Full spool (100m/330ft) Nucleotide 24awg OCC copper wire: $499.00
 
Damn! starting to understand how an Axios cable is $800.

The W2799 is 30 strand 26AWG. Effectively it's 18 cents per foot (or 60 cents per meter) for one 26 AWG wire. I'd like a more supple wire for this, but I'm don't want to spend hundreds on a cable. Any ideas? Also, I'd like at least two colors.

Doing the math in my head, at 26 awg you are ending up with about 17 awg per connection, supple is going to be tricky. Per a discussion about resistance, in such a circuit resistance will decrease, current will increase, and voltage will remain the same.

If I can find a wire that works well I will give it to you with one stipulation. You have to build two, I love the look of the finished result. Judging by the photo I would guess you are right at 8 mm diameter, which is not too bad for many connectors I can think of. I can have most any wire made but there has to be enough demand to justify it. 30 awg and smaller would be great for this but not so great for three wire cables IMHO.

Tom




16 strand braid of mogami W2799 wire

 

[neddoge]

 
I hope it is somewhat close, I have people building cables on a daily basis and if I do not have the technical knowledge we are in trouble lol. I will try to add some photos in the next half hour or so.
 
Here are photos showing the beginning braid, I slit down the side of it using side cutters, then twirled it together, then tinned it so it stayed together, then soldered it to ground and finished the cable. I left the braid longer than usual so you could see how it stays together. The braid that is still all the way around the dielectric is loose and not heated so much that it burns into that white area. I did this rather quickly and left it longer than normal as I said but you can see there is no chance of braid shorting out the tip of the connector. There is a gap between braid and center pin of around 1/16 inch or more when done.
 

​Nice pictures, thank you!!!  My cable in itself is SO MUCH SMALLER than that!  My dielectric is a mfer to strip, using mainly my finger nails and some pinching/tugging because it's so damn tiny!  What cable is that?  I'll try again with my tiny canare instrument cable but may just end up getting a bigger cable to practice with since it wasn't but a few bucks anyways.

 

[Paladin79]

The cable is Belden 1694A. Suitable for HD/SDI, spdif, It is an RG 6, the RG 59 version is 1505A, if you want more flexible go with 1505F. There is a miniature version 1855A. Belden sells worldwide as far as I know.
 
fingernails huh lol I am guessing you are in Australia or New Zealand or I would offer to send you some tools unless you prefer to MacGyver the cables. I am never without a pocket knife (unless on a commercial flight) and I can make the majority of cuts on cables with little else in a pinch, just a thought.

 

[Allanmarcus]

  Doing the math in my head, at 26 awg you are ending up with about 17 awg per connection, supple is going to be tricky. Per a discussion about resistance, in such a circuit resistance will decrease, current will increase, and voltage will remain the same.

If I can find a wire that works well I will give it to you with one stipulation. You have to build two, I love the look of the finished result. Judging by the photo I would guess you are right at 8 mm diameter, which is not too bad for many connectors I can think of. I can have most any wire made but there has to be enough demand to justify it. 30 awg and smaller would be great for this but not so great for three wire cables IMHO.

Tom

 
 
16 x 26 AWG would be effective 14 AWG, but only 4 strand goes per connection, so its 4 * 26 AWG -> 20 AWG according to https://www.wirebarn.com/combined-wire-gauge-calculator_ep_42.html
 
I'd be happy to make 2, but it might be weeks or months to finish it.
 
I may have found the wire for this project. SommerCable SC-Octave
http://usashop.sommercable.com/en/Cables/Bulk-Cables-Audio/Mikrofonkabel-SC-Octave-Tube-200-0186.html
it's a 7 wire combo package, but the 5 audio wires are OFC, 72 strand,  26 AWG. Cost would be ~$150, which I'm not ready to go to (I know, look at my headphone list, but I won't spend $150 on a cable, crazy). I sent them an email to see if they have other cables with that wire, or if they can just cat that wire. We'll see.
 
And yep, 8mm diameter for the main cable.

 

[Paladin79]

It was early in the morn and I rarely look things up so I will go with their numbers. On a lot of cable you can just deduct three units of wire gauge from each additional cable.
 
I would not be in a hurry, I probably have five cables and various pigtails with connectors for any headphone I own. 
 
Being in the business I rarely pay much of anything for electronics, I have zero cost in a NAD power amp I repaired and maybe $400 in a 7.2 surround system and six more speakers in my downstairs.(Martin Logan, Klipsch, and Polk) I average less cost for cables comparatively. Knowing one day I will end up with most any thing I want without much of an investment stops me from paying $1000 or $2,000 for a pair of headphones. I do have $500 in Alpha Primes that were upgraded at the factory and have a two year warranty. If I build some cables and sell them, even those become a write off.
 
I am expecting a large quantity of 24 awg ofc I like at the end of this month in two colors. I have doubts it would be more flexible than what you just used being a larger wire gauge but it is 140/40 stranding as I recall so that could help. (do not hold me to those numbers, I have the info at work.) I can send you enough of a sample to see what you think before building two cables with it so you are not wasting your time. 

 

[buke9]

well, I got my kumihimo plate and gave it a try with some mogami 26AWG wire I had left over. 16 strand braid. I haven't figured out how to do the plit yet, because I braiding too much and didn't leave any to split! I'm learning.

What I've learned. kumihimo aint hard, but takes patience. 1.5 hours / foot of finished product. It will be harder with longer cable too.
Also, 3 feet of wire becomes one foot of braided cable for the 16 strand section. for a 6 foot cable plus 18" from Y to connector, I will need:
main section: 6' (desired length) x 3 (braid loss) x 16 (strands)  = 288'
split Y sections: 1.5 (desired length) x 2 (braid loss) x 8 (strands) x 2 (channels) =48'
total wire: 336'
or 84' feet of quad cable! 

Mogami W2799 Neglex
 would be ~$60 from markertek
Nice Acrolink wire from lunashops is about $1/foot, so that would be $336
DoubleHelix Full spool (100m/330ft) Nucleotide 24awg OCC copper wire: $499.00
 
Damn! starting to understand how an Axios cable is $800.

The W2799 is 30 strand 26AWG. Effectively it's 18 cents per foot (or 60 cents per meter) for one 26 AWG wire. I'd like a more supple wire for this, but I'm don't want to spend hundreds on a cable. Any ideas? Also, I'd like at least two colors.






16 strand braid of mogami W2799 wire

Pretty damn sweet!

 

[liquidzoo]

well, I got my kumihimo plate and gave it a try with some mogami 26AWG wire I had left over. 16 strand braid. I haven't figured out how to do the plit yet, because I braiding too much and didn't leave any to split! I'm learning.

What I've learned. kumihimo aint hard, but takes patience. 1.5 hours / foot of finished product. It will be harder with longer cable too.
Also, 3 feet of wire becomes one foot of braided cable for the 16 strand section. for a 6 foot cable plus 18" from Y to connector, I will need:
main section: 6' (desired length) x 3 (braid loss) x 16 (strands)  = 288'
split Y sections: 1.5 (desired length) x 2 (braid loss) x 8 (strands) x 2 (channels) =48'
total wire: 336'
or 84' feet of quad cable! 

Mogami W2799 Neglex
 would be ~$60 from markertek
Nice Acrolink wire from lunashops is about $1/foot, so that would be $336
DoubleHelix Full spool (100m/330ft) Nucleotide 24awg OCC copper wire: $499.00
 
Damn! starting to understand how an Axios cable is $800.

The W2799 is 30 strand 26AWG. Effectively it's 18 cents per foot (or 60 cents per meter) for one 26 AWG wire. I'd like a more supple wire for this, but I'm don't want to spend hundreds on a cable. Any ideas? Also, I'd like at least two colors.






16 strand braid of mogami W2799 wire

Wow is that ever pretty! Nicely done!

If you ever wanted to do it with a smaller gauge wire (slightly more expensive than the Mogami, though) I was once pm'd a link to this litz wire by TrollDragon. At the length you'd want it works out to $2.22/10 feet, so ~$78 for 350 feet. You'd need a solder pot, but it might work out well and create a very nice looking cable.