[Bilavideo]

I'm building my own custom IEM over at the DIY board but I need some advice from anyone who'd care to share. I've got the drivers and the crossover taken care of, and the design of the shell is coming along. Right now, the weak link is in the cabling.

I'm looking for a good source for IEM cable - good quality, lightweight, elegant cabling for an IEM - but without breaking the bank. Any suggestions?

 

[hockeyb213]

How portable does it need to be in terms of wrapping and casing? I have used jena labs 22 awg which worked great on my triple fi's but didn't like to stay wrapped small without a little influence. May be some 24 awg sxc diy cable from alo would work good as well.

Brad

 

[Zalithian]

I have no experience in DIY and am not sure if you're only asking for aftermarket cables but you should be able to purchase an IE8 cable which I've found to be the best cable I've seen so far. That should work, yeah?

 

[decay]

Shigzeo had put his ck10 through many rough miles, and he likes how its cable stood those tests.
I will concur with Zalithian that IE8's light, smooth, microphonic-less and sturdy cable should be considered.

 

[hockeyb213]

Well I think he needs to give a bit more detail do you need a cable with or without connectors? Because you can get any cable and throw a ue style connector on it and be good to go.

 

[Bilavideo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hockeyb213 /img/forum/go_quote.gif How portable does it need to be in terms of wrapping and casing? I have used jena labs 22 awg which worked great on my triple fi's but didn't like to stay wrapped small without a little influence. May be some 24 awg sxc diy cable from alo would work good as well. Brad

Good questions, Brad. Wrapping and casing are of no concern. What matters is a combination of audio fidelity, light weight and (if it's not too much to ask) a little elegance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hockeyb213 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I think he needs to give a bit more detail do you need a cable with or without connectors? Because you can get any cable and throw a ue style connector on it and be good to go.

I can always slap a 3.5mm right angle connector onto a workable cable. I'm not yet sure where to find a "ue style connector" for the left and right earphone wires.

 

[decay]

It's hard to comment on IE8's stock cable's audio fidelity since there is no aftermarket replacement cable available that you can compare to.
Elegance though... care to give an example of what you consider elegant?

 

[Bilavideo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by decay /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's hard to comment on IE8's stock cable's audio fidelity since there is no aftermarket replacement cable available that you can compare to. Elegance though... care to give an example of what you consider elegant?

To me, "elegance" is a more elegant way of referring to aesthetics. A clumsy, ugly, cable is not much better than one that is either too flimsy to make a connection or so bulky it feels like a firehose. Braided cables are cool, as are cables with a clear plastic coating.

For what it's worth, I ended up with two solutions to one problem. After ordering the Westone ES replacement cable, I got a great tip about a stock of 28 AWG silver teflon wire in different colors. For this project, I'll probably go with the Westone cable (easy) but for future projects, I'll braid the silver teflong wire and sheath it in a clear plastic.

 

[qusp]

if the silver teflon wire you are talking about is from navships. dont do it. the cable will be microphonic as buggery. the insulation on the navships wire is terrible for this purpose and the wire is the stiffest stranded SC i've ever seen.