DIY Cable Questions and Comments Thread

[mattiav]

Haven`t noticed much self-sleeved high-core-count DIY cables, so, decided to do one because I hate microphonics caused by fabrics and similar sleeving: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/diy-cable-gallery.71148/page-1042#post-14944388

If someone has questions how to, then feel free to ask

Love the very pure aesthetic you have going there, sans Y-split! So you used unsleeved Litz wire (could you share a source? Price looked very attractive..plus in Euros so good option), added heatshrink to each wire and then braided? How is the flexibility?

 

[CoiL]

Love the very pure aesthetic you have going there, sans Y-split! So you used unsleeved Litz wire (could you share a source? Price looked very attractive..plus in Euros so good option), added heatshrink to each wire and then braided? How is the flexibility?

Litz was already polyester/silk wounded... otherwise all those 180 thin fibres would "dissolve" while working with sleeving, LOL.
Here is link to Type1 Litz used: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/0-0...540.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.31254c4d8I6JzD
Here is the PO sleeving in 2m length (hard to find longer pieces, they all cut/sell it by 1m usually):https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Cle...233.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.31254c4d8I6JzD
Those Rean (neutrik) jacks can be found everywhere with different prices. Imho they are very HQ and durable and tolerate high heat while soldering. Buying much more expensive Amphenol or neutrik analogues is pointless imho, unless You are out for looks.
Flexibility is between good and great since there is much copper + polyester/silk wounding and sleeving tightness + braiding tightness affects it. The more I move& play around with that cable, the more flexible it gets as braiding and sleeving will slightly "loosen up".
I think for my own needs and preferences I got flexibility very good (and getting better).

 

[CoiL]

Haven`t noticed much self-sleeved high-strand-count DIY cables, so, decided to do one because I hate microphonics caused by fabrics and similar sleeving: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/diy-cable-gallery.71148/page-1042#post-14944388

If someone has questions how to, then feel free to ask

Litz was already polyester/silk wounded... otherwise all those 180 thin fibres would "dissolve" while working with sleeving, LOL.
Here is link to Type1 Litz used: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/0-0...540.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.31254c4d8I6JzD
Here is the PO sleeving in 2m length (hard to find longer pieces, they all cut/sell it by 1m usually):https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Cle...233.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.31254c4d8I6JzD
Those Rean (neutrik) jacks can be found everywhere with different prices. Imho they are very HQ and durable and tolerate high heat while soldering. Buying much more expensive Amphenol or neutrik analogues is pointless imho, unless You are out for looks.
Flexibility is between good and great since there is much copper + polyester/silk wounding and sleeving tightness + braiding tightness affects it. The more I move& play around with that cable, the more flexible it gets as braiding and sleeving will slightly "loosen up".
I think for my own needs and preferences I got flexibility very good (and getting better).

I had questions from some users, hope this answers:

Is it as flexible as KPE stock cable? Well, answer is - it just can`t be! Look at this pic:

It is just so dramatic increase in copper weight and strand count. KPE stock cable is pretty "loosely" braided and has very thin & soft wires.
Basically my own sleeved wire is like 3 KPE cable wires put in bunch together as "triangular" way.
And like I`ve already told on threads, extra layer of polyester/silk wounding around copper + sleeving and braiding tightness will determine the overall tightness/softness of cable. For me it is between good and great but is improving over usage as bond between sleeve, polyester/silk and copper gets "looser" from inside.
For what it is worth, I think it is softer than Van Damme XKE Pro-patch cable (which is usually my go-to cable with audio gear for flexibility, price and high quality (quite low impedance): http://www.van-damme.com/vandamme_product/van-damme-pro-grade-classic-xke-pro-patch-cable/
If I compare 4-core braid of self-made cable vs. iBasso IT01, then I think if same loosely braided as latter, that self-made cable is actually softer and more flexible. 1-core thickness is about same on both.

 

[JackFlash]

Litz was already polyester/silk wounded... otherwise all those 180 thin fibres would "dissolve" while working with sleeving, LOL.
Here is link to Type1 Litz used: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/0-0...540.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.31254c4d8I6JzD
Here is the PO sleeving in 2m length (hard to find longer pieces, they all cut/sell it by 1m usually):https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Cle...233.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.31254c4d8I6JzD
Those Rean (neutrik) jacks can be found everywhere with different prices. Imho they are very HQ and durable and tolerate high heat while soldering. Buying much more expensive Amphenol or neutrik analogues is pointless imho, unless You are out for looks.
Flexibility is between good and great since there is much copper + polyester/silk wounding and sleeving tightness + braiding tightness affects it. The more I move& play around with that cable, the more flexible it gets as braiding and sleeving will slightly "loosen up".
I think for my own needs and preferences I got flexibility very good (and getting better).

Good find. I'm trying to determine the AWG of the wire. I presume the 0.04 refers to the diameter (i.e., width) of the wire, yes? 0.04 cm is about 26 AWG, right?

 

[imas69]

Could someone please tell me how to ready Litz wire for soldering, I'm told that it can't just be tinned and soldered like bog standard wire, thanks

 

[CoiL]

Good find. I'm trying to determine the AWG of the wire. I presume the 0.04 refers to the diameter (i.e., width) of the wire, yes? 0.04 cm is about 26 AWG, right?

LOL

It is 0.04mm x 180

0.04mm should be diameter (or m2, not sure) of one very thin strand/share..

 

[JackFlash]

LOL

It is 0.04mm x 180

0.04mm should be diameter (or m2, not sure) of one very thin strand/share..

Ah, the strand diameter, not the cable.

 

[CoiL]

Ah, the strand diameter, not the cable?

No not the cable, 0.04mm is 1 strand diameter and there is 180 of these strands.

 

[BerserkZz]

Anyone know what kind of wire generally has low microphonics? I just built my first iem cable using mogami w2893 and it has terrible microphonics.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Anyone know what kind of wire generally has low microphonics? I just built my first iem cable using mogami w2893 and it has terrible microphonics.

How did you make the cable? Did you sleeve it? Did you braid it? These can affect cable noise more than the wires.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Good find. I'm trying to determine the AWG of the wire. I presume the 0.04 refers to the diameter (i.e., width) of the wire, yes? 0.04 cm is about 26 AWG, right?

.04mm diameter is 46AWG
https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/wire/awg-to-mm.html

180 x 46awg is 23.6AWG
https://www.v-cap.com/awg-calculator.php

 

[BerserkZz]

How did you make the cable? Did you sleeve it? Did you braid it? These can affect cable noise more than the wires.

Here is a picture of it. https://imgur.com/a/xtxL0jU

 

[Allanmarcus]

Here is a picture of it. https://imgur.com/a/xtxL0jU

Hard to tell from the picture. it looks like you sleeved each wire in paracord. Is that true? If so, if you pulled the paracord tight, that might be the issue. Sleeving needs to be a little loose or it will be carry noise.

 

[BerserkZz]

Hard to tell from the picture. it looks like you sleeved each wire in paracord. Is that true? If so, if you pulled the paracord tight, that might be the issue. Sleeving needs to be a little loose or it will be carry noise.

No I didn't use sleeve. I used a very simple four wire braid.

 

[Allanmarcus]

No I didn't use sleeve. I used a very simple four wire braid.

Try a loose sleeve.