[negev]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum so hello

I recently bought a pair of beyerdynamic DT880s (32ohm).  Today I snipped the cable and put a Neutrik connector on them because the cable was way too long for portable use.  Whilst doing this, I noticed that the wiring inside the admirably thick plastic was rather thin and weedy.  I'm wondering if recabling is a good idea.

I'm not sure it really makes sense in my use-case though, I'm only using them with an iPhone 4 and a macbook pro so I don't know if recabling them is going to give me any noticeable benefit.  I have ordered a Fiio E5 to boost the sound when listening on my iphone and am toying with the idea of getting a small amp for use at work with the macbook.

Is it worth recabling or would I need a seriously good amp to notice it?

Thanks

 

[cswann1]

Think of this:
 
Have you ever seen a voice coil on a dynamic headphones drivers?  That wire is SILLY thin. All of the current coming from your amp goes into one little wire that's only slightly thicker than a human hair.  In comparison the cable that brought the current from the amp to the driver is orders of magnitude thicker.
 
It's a very popular belief that upgrading a hp cable is a significant upgrade. And there are a lot of folks making insane profits on that belief. But nobody ever wants to publish test results comparing cables using sound scientific principles.  That alone should make anyone suspicious.
 
 
I'd say the best way to spend money once you get some good cans is on your source or music library. 

 

[sml1226]

However, changing materials, ie. copper to silver, would provide (potentially) different sound over the stock copper.

But think of this as well:
The VC wire is small to be able to move. Say you make the VC wire thicker, you will make it heavier, and thus lose HF response unless you accommodate by changing magnet sizes and VC diameters and all that good stuff. The VC is basically acting like any wirewound resistor would here so the wire doesn't need to be thick, it's acting as a moving resistor.

My point is, providing less resistance prior to the driver, which is always going to be 32Ω unless you mess with the VC wire itself, is never a bad thing. So if you ask me, the thicker the better until it's providing no improvement in eliminating resistance prior to the driver.

 

[cswann1]

Quote:

My point is, providing less resistance prior to the driver, which is always going to be 32Ω unless you mess with the VC wire itself, is never a bad thing. So if you ask me, the thicker the better until it's providing no improvement in eliminating resistance prior to the driver.

If you actually got fair value and a noticeable performance increase I would agree with that.  Problem is the people that make $300 cables want you to think that the stock cable is really "holding your headphones back" and that their $5 worth of wire and connectors will allow your headphone to "fully realize its potential".  Just because "it can't hurt" doesn't mean you should do it. 
     I have no problem with people wanting to do a cable swap for a custom length, or for the sheer aesthetic value of a nicer connector or sleeve material, and building your own cables to that end is great.  I just don't want people to be fooled by crooked manufacturers marketing snake-oil into thinking that a $300 cable is going to make their headphones perform better.
 

 

[sml1226]

If you actually got fair value and a noticeable performance increase I would agree with that.  Problem is the people that make $300 cables want you to think that the stock cable is really "holding your headphones back" and that their $5 worth of wire and connectors will allow your headphone to "fully realize its potential".  Just because "it can't hurt" doesn't mean you should do it. 
     I have no problem with people wanting to do a cable swap for a custom length, or for the sheer aesthetic value of a nicer connector or sleeve material, and building your own cables to that end is great.  I just don't want people to be fooled by crooked manufacturers marketing snake-oil into thinking that a $300 cable is going to make their headphones perform better.
 

I do agree with you on the price. Make your own if you want to re-cable it, don't buy a $300 4 foot long cable. At that price you can run a couple dozen feet easily or quintuple shield every wire in your cable. Buy wire, buy connectors, put it all together and enjoy. Don't believe marketing talk saying that their $300 cable beats the competitors $150 cable with the same internals, and believe neither is worth it until you've seen the cost of buying the components of that cable yourself.

 

[negev]

well for example, there's a recabling guide here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/172825/beyerdynamic-dt880-re-cable-guide-in-progress
 
the parts for which are only like $21..   but i don't wanna go to all that hassle if it's not going to make any difference and the guy who posted it even said that he wasn't sure if the difference was just a placebo..

 

[sml1226]

The problem I have with the placebo theory here is, if it is better in your mind, it's better right? And like you said "only like $21" so considering a new amp, set of cans, DAC, etc are going to cost far more it's one of the cheapest things you can change here. If it is a complete placebo and the benefits wear off, oh well, you know the cable is nice and sturdy and the size you want. Consider it an aesthetic mod

Or ignore it and just be happy with what you have for now since you have modded the cable length already to your desired size and save that $20 toward the "I got upgraditis!" moment that's inevitable.

 

[roadcykler]

There are a couple of places, some that advertise on this board, who charge outrageous prices for their re-cabling jobs. I understand in the manufacturing business time is money, but if you look at the parts (which they probably get for less than you or I could get them) they use, their labor charge would be through the roof. Add that to the fact that some of them sell the headphones at full retail price (yet many other's don't and seem to stay in business) and it equals a business I won't buy from. I think that some of the hyper-inflated prices extend to a few headphone manufacturers too. If you build headphones as a hobby but they are good enough to sell, why charge such an exorbitant price for a bunch of parts that likely don't add up to anywhere near the cost? (I know, I know, capitalism, supply and demand, they only charge what people are willing to pay, blah blah blah.)  
Quote:

It's a very popular belief that upgrading a hp cable is a significant upgrade. And there are a lot of folks making insane profits on that belief. But nobody ever wants to publish test results comparing cables using sound scientific principles.  That alone should make anyone suspicious.
 
 
 

 

 

[Uncle Erik]

Only replace the cable if it is broken. If you want a different sound, spend your money instead on another pair of headphones. Get a used Sennheiser HD-600 for $200. That's less than a lot of aftermarket cables.

You'll be endlessly told that cables make a difference. But a lot of that comes from people who have a financial interest in cables. Two facts:

1. No one has ever measured an audible difference in audio frequencies.
2. No one has ever passed an unsighted cable test.

When you get down to serious scrutiny, cables have as much credibility as ghosts, UFOs and Bigfoot.

There's a substantial folklore and mythology around cables, but don't mistake that for reality. Whenever people start asking hard questions, the cable folks either disappear or get defensive.

 

[negev]

Interesting.. amazing that there's such folklore with these things.  I'd always do heavy research before spending that kind of money.

 

[negev]

It would be fairly straightforward to look for differences with an oscilloscope I guess, I wonder if anyones does that.  Kind of pointless really though, if you can't hear the difference then it negates the point of doing it in the first place.

 

[monoethylene]

Quote:

It would be fairly straightforward to look for differences with an oscilloscope I guess, I wonder if anyones does that.  Kind of pointless really though, if you can't hear the difference then it negates the point of doing it in the first place.

The problem is that you need a really good oscilloscope with a high resolution. I ve already measured and analyzed some signals at work. For example if you have a sine wave which you want to look at with an amplitude of 1V and your oscilloscope has a resolution of 8bit you will max get 4mV resolution and this is not enough IMO.