[GREQ]

The problem is that the stock silver cable is sheathed in a very rigid plastic that has very low flexibility and allows sounds to travel though it - if you're wearing a jumper with a zip, and your cable keep rubbing across the open zip, that's the worst. You just hear this constant gritty sound as the cable slides along the zip teeth. Other cables made of better suited materials can almost completely deaden these microphonics. 

 

[ev13wt]

Make a small loop about an inch to where the cable enters the headphone. Fasten it with a small cable tie or whatever. Cuts down on cable microphonics about 70%.

 

[JohnSantana]

Make a small loop about an inch to where the cable enters the headphone. Fasten it with a small cable tie or whatever. Cuts down on cable microphonics about 70%.

Thanks for the suggestion, can you please show us how did you do it ?

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

I don't recommend a 1 inch coil, maybe a 1 inch bend radius just to be on the safe side and good practice

 

[SO74]

To me he-500s cable is quite good. I have no experienced that issue

 

[JohnSantana]

To me he-500s cable is quite good. I have no experienced that issue

Which cable is that you mean ?

 

[PastaChief]

My solution was to stay away from clothes with zippers!

 

[wje]

When it comes to cables with the HIfiMan planar magnetic, open headphones, I've found the following cables to work best.
 
1) The standard cable that comes with the HE-4 model.  This cable is nylon jacketed with a black weave, similar to black paracord.  The cable was nicely constructed and very quiet when it would move as you were listening.   However, since a lot of HE-4 headphones were not sold, this cable was harder to come by unless you had purchased a pair of HE-4 headphones.  Also, to my knowledge, HIfiMan never offered such a cable for sale.
 
2) As a 2nd choice, custom is an option. In my case, I went with custom cables using Canare Star Quad cable, covered in a 550 Lb. paracord sheathing.  This option provided a very quiet cable option.  Plus, in going custom, you have the option of selecting a perfect length, as well as connector / termination (1/4" TRS, 3.5mm TRS, or 4-pin Neutrik - balanced) connectors.   These additional connection choices will open up your HifiMan HE-500 headphones for use with more amplifiers -- especially the use of the 4-pin balanced connector, or even a pair of 3-pin balanced connectors - depending on the amplifier.
 
I've provided a link to my gallery on the HE-500, showing the custom cables that I've used.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/g/a/781127/he-500-by-hifiman-2nd-pair-owned#
 
Edit: I should also point out that paracord is an excellent sheathing material.  Use of TechFlex is not recommended, since it is a much harder nylon / plastic woven sheathing.  Some might find that a TechFlex-sheathed cable might exhibit more microphonics than even the standard, braided cable.  Plus, TechFlex feels like on has a snake sitting on their chest when the use such a cable with their headphones.

 

[JohnSantana]

WJE, thanks for the reply, so in this case, where did you buy the Canare cable from ?

 

[wje]

Quote:

WJE, thanks for the reply, so in this case, where did you buy the Canare cable from ?

 
Actually, they were cables that I built myself.  The cost with all the materials happened to be under $40, per cable. Granted, not all people can go DIY.   However, on the forum there are some great cable builders that will produce cables to spec for a buyer.  BTG Cables, Artemis Cables, etc.  All are good, smaller operation vendors.

 

[ev13wt]

I don't recommend a 1 inch coil, maybe a 1 inch bend radius just to be on the safe side and good practice

My mistake. The coil should be easy to make, don't force a small one. 1 inch diameter should work great.

 

[JohnSantana]

Actually, they were cables that I built myself.  The cost with all the materials happened to be under $40, per cable. Granted, not all people can go DIY.   However, on the forum there are some great cable builders that will produce cables to spec for a buyer.  BTG Cables, Artemis Cables, etc.  All are good, smaller operation vendors.

Many thanks for the reply WJE, I'll look around for more information for that vendor.

Cheers.

 

[BiggerHead]

 Microphinics is, like a microphone, when mechanical vibrations are converted into electrical impulses.  
 
The effect in earphones and to a lesser extent headphones is simply the energy of a mechanical wave being directed along a solid path and into a small enclosed space, no electrical impulses are involved at all.   It is not microphonics.  This misuse of the word has somehow mostly taken hold in the headphone community but can only lead to confusion, since real microphics is an important effect in many high-sensitivity electronics contexts
 
And to defend myself in advance from acusations of trolling which are not completely untrue..  I do feel it's worth correcting the record on things like this, not to point out how someone is wrong, but to help avoid confusion for future people reading over things.  While many message board moderators hate thread necro, the fact is that information lives on on the net and is often stumbled into and believed.  In this particular case it's not just an issue of vocabulary but one of real confusion of meaning.  When I first read about microphonics in headphone cables my first thought was "can this be a big issue?"  Then I realized that for the most part at least microphonics is certainly not what people were actually talking about.  So it can cause confusion.
 

 

[BiggerHead]

combined post above.

 

[GREQ]

Since the word 'microphonics' has been falsely propagated into our vocabulary, what would be a more appropriate single word to describe this effect? 
I think something like 'cable vibrations' doesn't accurately describe it.