[jawang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atothex /img/forum/go_quote.gif Recabling is silly at this price point when the price difference gets you to a higher tier of phones. Also, I would expect the Hifiman to sound better than an iPod + Rudistor.

Quoted for truth

I'm probably one of the biggest cable skeptics on head-fi, but even I will admit that cable upgrade *might* make sense if you have an ultra-high end system that is difficult to upgrade. Regardless of whether you believe in cable effectiveness, most people agree that headphones > amp > dac > cable in terms of audible improvements, and they should be upgraded in that order.

But this is different. If you are spending $100+ to recable a headphone that barely costs over $100, you are doing something wrong IMO.

 

[hawat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tamahome77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif On the contrary, when I switched from stock to blue cardas on a pair of HD600 I used to own, it made a huge positive difference. Really opened up the sound.

I still own the stock hd650 cable and the cardas cable and no matter how many time I switch them, I fail to see any "huge" difference.
The only reason I m still using it, is because it looks nice, is easier to keep tied and I' m too lazy to sell it.

 

[revolink24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by baka1969 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Amp, source and music files will matter more than replacing stock cables does.

Fixed. Seriously. Cables make no scientifically significant difference, and while some don't give a damn about scientific measurements, the fact remains that the differences are negligible, certainly not enough to bring about the change you speak of.

 

[RichieLitt]

Well then how do you explain a phone like the HFI 780, where a recable CLEARLY improves the sound?

 

[hawat]

I think there was much more done than a recable in the hfi 780 mods.

 

[jawang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichieLitt /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well then how do you explain a phone like the HFI 780, where a recable CLEARLY improves the sound?

If you are talking about the ALO780, they do driver modifications in addition to the recable.

If you are talking about a normal, recabled HFI-780, there's no difference in sound (other than placebo; which could affect sound, arguably).

 

[Necrolic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jawang /img/forum/go_quote.gif Regardless of whether you believe in cable effectiveness, most people agree that headphones > amp > dac > cable in terms of audible improvements

I agree with your entire post except for this. DAC is generally much, much more important than amp. Crap in, crap out, like they say.

Think about it, you could have a Beta 22, but if you're running 128kbps MP3s to it directly from your PC then all it's going to do is amplify the terrible sound you're feeding it, and come out sounding terrible, but maybe slightly less terrible than it started. Of course the reverse is possible, you could have a CMOY and Ref7, and the CMOY would probably taint the sound a lot.

On the other hand, you could have a nice balanced system, let's say Meier Concerto/StageDAC or Audio-GD C2/DAC19. In this case, there is great sound from the DAC, and the amp isn't tainting it in any way.

The real key is balance in a system, but unless your amp can't drive your cans very well at all (like a CMOY with HD800), you're better off putting more money into a DAC.

 

[Covenant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrolic /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree with your entire post except for this. DAC is generally much, much more important than amp. Crap in, crap out, like they say.

Not generally, sometimes. That largely depends on how resolving the amp and headphones are. A very euphonic, coloured tube amp for instance (e.g. Earmax Pro) driving something like the RS-1, and your source doesn't matter so much. Something like a Beta22 driving an HD800, your source becomes paramount.

 

[Spike8585]

Sorry to go slightly off topic, but I just clipped my original senn HD-650 cable to make it shorter, from 10ft to 3ft, and terminated it with a right angle neutrik 1/8" jack. I cant figure out if it is all in my head, but the phones now sound different. It almost sounds like they are louder our of my iphone 3G headphone out. Sounds different from my LOD to my Headroom Portable Micro amp too.

I know how much your mind can screw with your hearing, so I am just wondering if some of the 300 ohm impedance is in the 10ft cable. Did I screw with the impedance? Should I add a resister? Am I getting ahead of myself?

 

[JaZZ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike8585 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry to go slightly off topic, but I just clipped my original senn HD-650 cable to make it shorter, from 10ft to 3ft, and terminated it with a right angle neutrik 1/8" jack. I cant figure out if it is all in my head, but the phones now sound different. It almost sounds like they are louder our of my iphone 3G headphone out. Sounds different from my LOD to my Headroom Portable Micro amp too. I know how much your mind can screw with your hearing, so I am just wondering if some of the 300 ohm impedance is in the 10ft cable. Did I screw with the impedance? Should I add a resister? Am I getting ahead of myself?

I experienced a sonic improvement from shortening headphone cables myself (HD 600, HD 650, HD 800). The impedance decrease is absolutely insignificant, though (like from 320 Ω to 319.8 Ω).
.

 

[Uncle Erik]

An explanation for the - perceived - difference between two pairs of headphones could be production variation.

You are assuming that the drivers in the two pairs you've listened to are identical. Not true. There are variations between drivers of the same exact model. Manufacturers mix and sort drivers to match them up for a pair.

If two sets of drivers are physically different that does not mean that the cable does anything.

Not that cables do anything in the first place. For all the wild claims and hullabaloo over cables, no one, not even one time, has ever heard a difference in cables when they couldn't see them. Ever.

"But tests are unfair and biased!"

Yeah, well so is the human mind.

People think they hear things that don't exist. Control for that and no difference is ever heard. This has been fought over for more than 30 years.

That doesn't mean that the tests are bad or that test gear somehow isn't up to the task. It means that people are deceiving themselves and being intellectually dishonest. If you cannot accept the results of a fair test, you are either being irrational or one of those who profit from selling cables.

And a lot of people around here make money from selling cables, though they might not be upfront about that. Wonder why?

 

[downsize]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atothex /img/forum/go_quote.gif Recabling is silly at this price point when the price difference gets you to a higher tier of phones. Also, I would expect the Hifiman to sound better than an iPod + Rudistor.

You are way off bud.... Try Sony CD player into Eastern Elec Minimax Tube DAC, into the Rudistor.

That's a system revealing enough to tell you EAXCTLY what is going on, and it tells me the 580s with stock cable have a veiled sound.

 

[downsize]

Wow ... another thread gone to crap over who can and can't hear properly.

Science vs Emotional inolvement FTL ...

Regardless, I went with a re-cable .... But not big bucks like many of you are speaking of. I'll be designing and building my re-cable wire myself, and will report back if the stupid thread isn't locked by then

Many of you say there are no appreciable differences in re-cabeling ... But if the original cable is a flawed design/application in the first place .....

 

[MomijiTMO]

Ugh Downsize, your threads are killing me.

 

[wali]

Sennehiser were making headphones for U boat crews during WWII, I'm sure by now they have figured how to build and design a silly headphone cable...