SACD-Man
Formerly With Whiplash Audio
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2007
- Posts
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Combine the best wire, add 25+ years experience, mix in a flagship headphone, than audio nirvana is possible....
After many conversations, begging, and waiting patiently - Locus Design created a masterpiece; Hyperion and the Oracle replacement HD800 cable.
Hyperion (TWcu) and the Oracle (TWag)
From Locus Design:
Photos
Locus Design | Headphone Cables
We are proud to announce the first purpose designed headphone cables from Locus Design, the Hyperion, and the Oracle . Both are designed specifically for the Sennheiser HD800 headphone to amplifier interface. This is a product that Craig Sanborn from Whiplash Audio convinced us to do as he wanted a reference quality, truly neutral HD800 cable for his own use to aid in developing his headphone and iPod accessory line of products. So, we thought others might be interested in the same.
The HD800 can be a remarkable headphone--if given the right set of circumstances. They are very true to the source, ruthlessly revealing any “issues” with cabling, upstream components, the power that the headphone rig is fed, etc. They are a modern day proof of the old saying “garbage in/garbage out”. They impose very little of themselves upon the signal they are fed, and are certainly one of the most transparent transducers currently available.
So, in keeping with the spirit of the HD800, the Hyperion and Oracle are both designed, first and foremost, to get out of the way, and not impose a signature of their own on the sound.
To this end, we have taken a system approach to building the cable. Headphone cables are tricky; they seem deceptively simple to design and construct. It seems that all that needs to be done is to get some great wire and some ends, twist them together, solder some ends on, and, voila, have a "world class" cable. Unfortunately, as we have learned time and time again over the past 25+ years in this industry, to make a truly great product, it is just not that simple... The end result, the gestalt, is sadly overlooked all too many times, in the pursuit of bragging rights of being the first to market.
Countless hours prototyping, listening, and, yes, obsession, have resulted in what we feel is the ideal cable to connect the HD800 to your headphone amp of choice, be it single ended or balanced. Constructed entirely by hand due to the complexity of the braid, the shielding/damping techniques employed, and overall “build” difficulty, these cables are made one at a time, and only upon order, each constructed by the designer himself. Much like the Locus Design Nucleus USB cable (widely regarded as the standard bearer for all USB cables), these are statement products, reflecting the designers current thinking on state of the art cable design.
Although materials choice, connectors, and other sundry details are only a small part of what makes this cable unique and special, here are some of the highlights:
In order to set a new standard of performance, this is an entirely new design, utilizing our custom manufactured DCT-UP-OCC ultra fine stranded copper (Hyperion), or silver (Oracle) wire. Drawn, tempered, and insulated to our designer's exacting specifications, this wire also boasts as integral part of the manufacturing process our world renowned CryoFreeze™ process, an exclusive to Locus Design/CryoParts.
Close attention is paid to mitigating mechanical noise and triboelectric effects. The core of the Hyperion and Oracle is a proprietary braid only available from Locus Design. This remarkable geometry is designed to mitigate degradation and interference with/to/of the signal and return of both channels, and designed to isolate each channel from the other. Extensive use of materials such as carbon fiber, ERS fabric, cotton, nylon, PE, and a host of other materials, are used to surround the core and are deployed at key areas of the cable to ensure both mechanical and electrical isolation from both exterior and interior influences.
A custom version of the Sennheiser HD800 plug is used for both the SE and balanced model as it is a very fine connector, made with great materials and machined to fine standard. We take the stock plug, machine it, tweak it, and add some damping and mass to it in order to improve performance and allow use of our proprietary braid. For the balanced version, the CryoParts carbon fiber XLR is used, for the SE version, our custom carbon fiber, brass, and bronze phone 6.35mm plug is used.
More details to come. Once I have final photos taken, this will be on my site. You can email me at csanborn@whiplashaudio.com for order details.
Another well talked about product. We are talking orders now!!
Craig
After many conversations, begging, and waiting patiently - Locus Design created a masterpiece; Hyperion and the Oracle replacement HD800 cable.
Hyperion (TWcu) and the Oracle (TWag)
From Locus Design:
Photos
Locus Design | Headphone Cables
We are proud to announce the first purpose designed headphone cables from Locus Design, the Hyperion, and the Oracle . Both are designed specifically for the Sennheiser HD800 headphone to amplifier interface. This is a product that Craig Sanborn from Whiplash Audio convinced us to do as he wanted a reference quality, truly neutral HD800 cable for his own use to aid in developing his headphone and iPod accessory line of products. So, we thought others might be interested in the same.
The HD800 can be a remarkable headphone--if given the right set of circumstances. They are very true to the source, ruthlessly revealing any “issues” with cabling, upstream components, the power that the headphone rig is fed, etc. They are a modern day proof of the old saying “garbage in/garbage out”. They impose very little of themselves upon the signal they are fed, and are certainly one of the most transparent transducers currently available.
So, in keeping with the spirit of the HD800, the Hyperion and Oracle are both designed, first and foremost, to get out of the way, and not impose a signature of their own on the sound.
To this end, we have taken a system approach to building the cable. Headphone cables are tricky; they seem deceptively simple to design and construct. It seems that all that needs to be done is to get some great wire and some ends, twist them together, solder some ends on, and, voila, have a "world class" cable. Unfortunately, as we have learned time and time again over the past 25+ years in this industry, to make a truly great product, it is just not that simple... The end result, the gestalt, is sadly overlooked all too many times, in the pursuit of bragging rights of being the first to market.
Countless hours prototyping, listening, and, yes, obsession, have resulted in what we feel is the ideal cable to connect the HD800 to your headphone amp of choice, be it single ended or balanced. Constructed entirely by hand due to the complexity of the braid, the shielding/damping techniques employed, and overall “build” difficulty, these cables are made one at a time, and only upon order, each constructed by the designer himself. Much like the Locus Design Nucleus USB cable (widely regarded as the standard bearer for all USB cables), these are statement products, reflecting the designers current thinking on state of the art cable design.
Although materials choice, connectors, and other sundry details are only a small part of what makes this cable unique and special, here are some of the highlights:
In order to set a new standard of performance, this is an entirely new design, utilizing our custom manufactured DCT-UP-OCC ultra fine stranded copper (Hyperion), or silver (Oracle) wire. Drawn, tempered, and insulated to our designer's exacting specifications, this wire also boasts as integral part of the manufacturing process our world renowned CryoFreeze™ process, an exclusive to Locus Design/CryoParts.
Close attention is paid to mitigating mechanical noise and triboelectric effects. The core of the Hyperion and Oracle is a proprietary braid only available from Locus Design. This remarkable geometry is designed to mitigate degradation and interference with/to/of the signal and return of both channels, and designed to isolate each channel from the other. Extensive use of materials such as carbon fiber, ERS fabric, cotton, nylon, PE, and a host of other materials, are used to surround the core and are deployed at key areas of the cable to ensure both mechanical and electrical isolation from both exterior and interior influences.
A custom version of the Sennheiser HD800 plug is used for both the SE and balanced model as it is a very fine connector, made with great materials and machined to fine standard. We take the stock plug, machine it, tweak it, and add some damping and mass to it in order to improve performance and allow use of our proprietary braid. For the balanced version, the CryoParts carbon fiber XLR is used, for the SE version, our custom carbon fiber, brass, and bronze phone 6.35mm plug is used.
More details to come. Once I have final photos taken, this will be on my site. You can email me at csanborn@whiplashaudio.com for order details.
Another well talked about product. We are talking orders now!!
Craig
