[Dreamslacker]

Quote:

Originally posted by D-Audi nm, just saw they were the 570's....and you liked them better than the 590's?

The HD590's are too aggressive for me. Yes, I'd prefer the HD570 over the HD590 for that reason. The clarity of the HD590 over the HD570's don't make up for the aggresiveness of the music.

 

[Taphil]

Can someone help me?

I ordered the plugs and Canare L-4E6S as suggested. But I'm not sure how the wiring goes. I don't want a thick heavy cable, so I just want to use 1 cable.

Do I solder 2 wires together for one channel, 2 wires together for the other channel, and use the shield (what is that?) for the return? Or do I do 1 wire for each channel and the 2 remaining wires for the return? Or is 3 wires good enough? I'm not sure how headphone cables work.

Thanks.

 

[Dreamslacker]

Quote:

Originally posted by Taphil Can someone help me? I ordered the plugs and Canare L-4E6S as suggested. But I'm not sure how the wiring goes. I don't want a thick heavy cable, so I just want to use 1 cable. Do I solder 2 wires together for one channel, 2 wires together for the other channel, and use the shield (what is that?) for the return? Or do I do 1 wire for each channel and the 2 remaining wires for the return? Or is 3 wires good enough? I'm not sure how headphone cables work. Thanks.

There are 2 main ways to do this:
Method 1:
1 conductor for LEFT; 1 conductor for right; 2 remaining for ground. Tie the shield to ground ON ONE END ONLY!

Method 2:
2 conductors for LEFT; 2 conductors for right; Shield for ground.

I hear no audible difference between the 2. For people who live in areas with more RFI/EMI pollution, use method 1.

 

[Taphil]

Thanks!

I just finished my 590 upgrade cable too. I've heard the Equinox, and from what I remember, my DIY cable sounds just as good as it. The construction is hardly any worse. The bass is better and less boomy, and best of all the simblance is greatly reduced.

It cost me less than $10 to make.

 

[D-Audi]

Can someone make up a parts list - how much - and where to get each part from to make these custom cables?? I'm about to make these and I'm sure it would be alot of help to prospecting upgraders

 

[Taphil]

You just need some wire, stereo 3.5mm or 1/4" connector, and a stereo 2.5mm connector, all available from www.marketek.com. Which connector you use or wire depends on what you want. Everyone was recommending the Canare L-4E6S cable, so that's what I used. I also wanted a 3.5mm connector with a small profile, so I used the one from Switchcraft. Switchcraft also makes right-angle connectors if that's what you want.

I don't remcommend the Tecnec 2.5mm plug though. It's tiny and frail. The plastic melts instantly upon contact of a soldering iron. When I soldered on the 3 connectors and tested the cable, one channel was dead because the plastic had melted and the contacts were touching each other inside the plastic. The 2.5mm connector from Radioshack is much better, easier to work, easier to solder the wires on. It's found in those pull-out drawers. The barrel or cover for the Tecnec fits inside the hole on the HD590 (and other similar headphones), and it screws perfectly into the connector from Radioshack.

The entire Canare cable doesn't fit inside the 2.5mm connector or barrel, but it does fit around the wires+shield. So I ended up stripping about 2" of the plastic covering, put the barrel in, then pulled the shield away and stripped the wires. Then I soldered the wires. Then I screwed in the 1" barrel, which left about 1" of exposed shielding. I wrapped that up with teflon tape, and then put a heatshrink cover over the teflon.

Canare wire: $0.34/foot
Tecnec 2.5mm conector (I just used the barrel): $1.20
Radioshack 2.5mm connector: $1.99
Switchcraft 3.5mm connector: 3.49
Labor: <1 hour

 

[Dreamslacker]

Just as an update:

I'll be trying out the Klotz cables soon and will let you guys know the results. Apparently, they might be even better than the Canare quad conductor series.

 

[Orpheus]

is there a web page describing these "klotz" cables?

 

[Dreamslacker]

Quote:

Originally posted by Orpheus is there a web page describing these "klotz" cables?

http://www.tag.com.au/jsp/displayPro...&categoryId=14

It's a microphone cable. I will be buying the cable this coming week. I've seen Klotz cables being used for guitar patch cords together with Canare as well.

According to the guy at the shop, customers prefer the Klotz to the Canare. I'll give it a try and let you guys know. It's pricing is comparable to the Canare quad series anyway.

 

[Orpheus]

hmm... well, from the pictures, it looks like the Canare has more filler... so the Canare might have less mechanical-induced noise. otherwise, i don't think there will be much of a difference between the two brands in terms of performance. do you know the gauge of the star quad version?

let me know how you like it.

the pricing on that site was in Australian currency?--i dunno. would you know what the price is in US $/ft?

 

[Dreamslacker]

Quote:

Originally posted by Orpheus hmm... well, from the pictures, it looks like the Canare has more filler... so the Canare might have less mechanical-induced noise. otherwise, i don't think there will be much of a difference between the two brands in terms of performance. do you know the gauge of the star quad version? let me know how you like it. the pricing on that site was in Australian currency?--i dunno. would you know what the price is in US $/ft?

I won't know exactly which model I'll be getting yet. The shop carries quite a number of the Klotz cables. From guitar cord to microphone cables.

The average pricing given to me is between S$2.00 to S$3.00 per meter for their Canare and Klotz cables. That's US$0.34/ft to US$0.52/ft.
Totally no cutting charges and minimum would be probably a meter (3.3ft) of the cable.
We use the metric system in Singapore, meters instead of yard/inches, grams instead of pounds/stones and litres instead of gallons.
Leaning towards the cheaper side because I'm a regular customer.
Bought my HD470, HD270 (and velour pads), RS-85 from them. Canare RCA plugs, Neutrik panel jacks & plugs and my NAD CDP from them too.

 

[ablaze]

YGPM slacker.

 

[Taphil]

Sorry to dig this up, but I got a digital camera and wanted to post some pics just in case it helps anyone out...

My DIY cable. It's pretty flexible and not really heavy.

Blurry close-ups of the 2.5mm jack. The gold part is the jack part from RadioShack, the silver metal barrel is from the Tecnec connector (I ruined the connector part), and then there's about 1.5" of the cable where I had to cut the outer plastic cover back to slide the barrel in thru the cable, then wrapped it in Teflon tape and covered it with black heatshrink.

A pic of how the cable looks when inserted into the HD590.

 

[Pace]

Taphill: That cable looks really good! How much are you asking for it?

 

[Dreamslacker]

Hmm... THat's familiar.... It means I'm using the Tecnec 2.5mm connector for my cable. Except, the barrel would not fit on my HD570's.