DIY HD590 cable upgrade?
Oct 15, 2002 at 2:37 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 78
Irons82

Irons82

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After reading the thread about the cable upgrade for the HD600, I wonder if I could do the same for HD590. I know Equinox and such have great cable, but spending $100 on 10f cable is rediculous in my opinion. I was thinking of getting the Vision 1 instead ($45/10f). However, there must be alternatives out there.

Anybody could help me out?
 
Oct 16, 2002 at 4:58 AM Post #2 of 78
Well, honestly... I think my design is better and makes a much better cable, but it's definitely very hard to make. ...if this is your first diy cable, I would just buy the the stefan cable instead, if it's really $50... that's pretty reasonable. I mean, if you buy the stuff for my diy cable, materials might cost up to $15... but you're gonna screw up a lot (I still do)... and it will take many hours to do perfectly.

...but anyway... if you have the courage... I haven't seen the HD-590, so I dunno what the connectors look like. You said it's a "single cable design"... do you mean that instead of splitting into one connector per earcup, there's just one connector going into one cup, and internally the signal is split?

well... it doesn't really matter too much.... you're still gonna end up splicing their connector. i still recommend two Canare L-4E6S cables, twisted together. it makes for a relatively heavy cable... but it remains very flexible.

here's a cable I made from the same design, but with connectors for an AKG K1000:

attachment.php


yours will look about the same, but instead of the XLR, you will splice on the original HD-590 connectors.

let me know if you have questions.

dean
 
Oct 16, 2002 at 6:26 AM Post #3 of 78
Quote:

Originally posted by Orpheus
yours will look about the same, but instead of the XLR, you will splice on the original HD-590 connectors.
dean


Thank you for the detailed reply. A few things I need to elaborate. The $45 Stefan cable I'm talking about is the discontinued Vision 1 , Picture here

It's not the Equinox we're talking about. Hence, my desire to make my own cable. You are correct with regard to HD590's cable design. Here is the Equinox for HD590. One end of the connector would be 1/4" and the other end 1/8"

I plan to make 10f of cable. Hence, I will be ordering 2x20f of Canare L-4E6S. Seems fairly straight forward so far. What i'm still fuzzy is the connecting and returning wires. It confuse me. If you could kindly draw up a diagram of wiring, I would appreciate it very much. Also, are you saying that I would be using stock connectors?

P.S. Besides from the cable itself, what else do I need to buy? Your cable looks pretty
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Oct 16, 2002 at 6:59 AM Post #4 of 78
are you sure it's a standard 1/8" plug that connects to the headphone?

on the hd-600, there are these plugs with two pins each that plug into each side.... but if the hd-590 uses standard 1/8" plugs, then your job's a hell lot easier.

do you have a picture of the connector to the headphone? neither pictures of the stefan audio art cables show that connector.

let me know.

dean
 
Oct 16, 2002 at 7:56 AM Post #5 of 78
Well, I don't have the camera...

According to various places,

- The 2.5-mm and 3.5-mm connectors
- 1/8" stereo mini-jack w/ 1/4" adapter (Senn's USA site)
- 1 adaptor to ¼" (6.3 mm) stereo jack plug (Senn's international site)

From what I could tell, the connector hooking up to the headphone itself looks exactly like the connector to amp, only smaller.

Description of the cable from Senn
Connector 1/8" stereo mini-jack w/ 1/4" adapter
Connection cable (detachable) 10 ft. single-sided, OFC
 
Oct 16, 2002 at 10:32 AM Post #6 of 78
Quote:

Originally posted by Orpheus
are you sure it's a standard 1/8" plug that connects to the headphone?

on the hd-600, there are these plugs with two pins each that plug into each side.... but if the hd-590 uses standard 1/8" plugs, then your job's a hell lot easier.

do you have a picture of the connector to the headphone? neither pictures of the stefan audio art cables show that connector.

let me know.

dean


The HD200/270/490/495/570/590 etc. use the same cable. The plug that goes into the headphones is a stereo 2.5mm and the other side which goes to the source is a stereo 3.5mm (1/8") plug.

It's further complicated that the enclosure of the headphones require the body of the 2.5mm plug to be 6mm or less in diameter. So a skinny 2.5mm plug is a must.
 
Oct 18, 2002 at 5:23 AM Post #7 of 78
Quote:

Originally posted by Orpheus
but if the hd-590 uses standard 1/8" plugs, then your job's a hell lot easier.
dean


Dreamslacker explained it better than I do

The HD200/270/490/495/570/590 etc. use the same cable. The plug that goes into the headphones is a stereo 2.5mm and the other side which goes to the source is a stereo 3.5mm (1/8") plug.

It's further complicated that the enclosure of the headphones require the body of the 2.5mm plug to be 6mm or less in diameter. So a skinny 2.5mm plug is a must.

What do you think?
 
Oct 18, 2002 at 6:07 AM Post #8 of 78
hmm... standardizing to the 2.5mm plugs is good thing in my opinion, cause now you can just buy the plug instead of splicing, which is so so so much easier to do.

but unfortunately, i don't own the appropriate headphone, so you'll have to shop around for a 2.5mm plug that has a barrel that will fit in that tiny hole in your headphone. i've used the mini Neutrik plugs before... and they work fine, but i don't think Neutrik makes 2.5mm plugs. but i could be wrong. try Markertek.com or HaveInc.com... they might be able to suggest an ultra-thin 2.5 plug.

but this also complicates things at the same time. i suggested using a pair of the Canare L-4E6S cables... but you won't be able to fit even one of them into such a small barrel. hell, i couldn't even fit one into a mini plug, much less this ultra thin 2.5mm plug.

i think that's why the Equinox equivalent for the HD-590 is just a braid of 3 thin conductors (which is seems quite inadequate given the fact that a headphone cable carries more current than an interconnect.... yet the Equinox seems to be about the same gauge as the avergae interconnect....)... but that was all they could fit into that little plug.

so, what i would do is strip the 2 blue conductors of the cable that will carry the left channel, and tie them together. then apply heatshrink. so, you end up with essentially one conductor. do the same to the right channel. then strip the white conductors of both channels and tie all 4 white conductors together. this will serve as the common return. you don't need to heatshrink this one, cause it's gonna be connected to the sleeve/barrel anyway... and heatshrink will add thickness. so... hopefully the heatshrinked left/right channels + the common ground will all fit in this 2.5mm plug.

then just twist the left and right cables around themselves like i have in the picture of my AKG K1000 cable....

then when it comes time to solder the 1/4" plug... if you're using the Neutrik 1/4" plugs, there's enough space to slip in both cables with the jacket off. tie the 2 blue conductors together for each channel. then tie all 4 white conductors together + some strands of the shield (the shield will be grounded at this end... going into the amp). the tip is the left channel, the ring is the right channel, and the sleeve is the common return.

hope this helps.

dean
 
Oct 18, 2002 at 7:25 AM Post #9 of 78
Quote:

Originally posted by Orpheus
i couldn't even fit one into a mini plug, much less this ultra thin 2.5mm plug.dean


Thanks for the reply. I have an idea though. Since the connector is so small, why bother? Why can't we use a 6.3mm connector, and use an adapter so it's like this

6.3mm stereo plug ==> 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter ==> 3.5mm to 2.5mm

Take a look at the 3.5mm to 2.5mm connector. You don't know how happy I am to find it. It'll fit the HD590! All other straight connectors will not fit.

Good idea?

 
Oct 18, 2002 at 8:44 AM Post #10 of 78
Really? But the angled portion doesn't look long enough to me.. I might be wrong though.. I can't seem to get any decent electronic/electrical parts here in Singapore... sigh...
 
Oct 18, 2002 at 1:17 PM Post #11 of 78
Quote:

Originally posted by Irons82
Thanks for the reply. I have an idea though. Since the connector is so small, why bother? Why can't we use a 6.3mm connector, and use an adapter so it's like this

6.3mm stereo plug ==> 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter ==> 3.5mm to 2.5mm
Good idea?


But, uh, do you really want to have two extra adaptors in the signal line? I don't know, I've never tried these things so I don't know what they do to sound quality, if anything.
 
Oct 18, 2002 at 4:50 PM Post #12 of 78
well, see... the reason we're going through all this trouble in the first place is to make a better cable than the stock right? if you're gonna put adapters in the signal line, you might as well just use the stock cable. and besides, these adapters are going to look darn ugly next to your fancy headphones.

but anyway... you said that tha adapter fits? well heck then... if that adapter fits, a normal solderable 2.5 plug should fit too..... go pick one up and try it. then you're on your way....

dean
 
Oct 19, 2002 at 2:08 AM Post #13 of 78
Quote:

Originally posted by Orpheus
well, see... the reason we're going through all this trouble in the first place is to make a better cable than the stock right? if you're gonna put adapters in the signal line, you might as well just use the stock cable. and besides, these adapters are going to look darn ugly next to your fancy headphones.

but anyway... you said that tha adapter fits? well heck then... if that adapter fits, a normal solderable 2.5 plug should fit too..... go pick one up and try it. then you're on your way....

dean


A standard 2.5mm plug usually is too fat to fit in there. But I've figured it all out... Just gonna stick the plug into my dremel, spin it up and file the body until it fits... LoL...

If it can't fit, make it fit!
 
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