[gundam91]

Just built myself a line-out cable for my X5 based on the How Grown Audio's 4-strand silver cable (and some other tricks I learned from building other cables). I took the advice and ordered a few extra of those docking connections (on the X5 side) so I can try different cables. It was a good thing that I did because I screwed up the first one and had to toss the connector away.

I was surprised of the sound as I was expecting that the silver cable would sound bright. It did not sound bright at all. At first I noticed that it sounded lean (no bass) compared to when I use my copper Straightwire mini-to-mini cable through the subpack. I then uploaded some tracks from the XLO burn-in CD and let the system burn-in for a few hours. Well, it still sounded not as warm as the copper cable, and the bass is also slightly less. I am planning on letting it burn-in for few more days, then build another one to compare to see if the burn-in process has changed anything. I am also planning on building one with copper cable as well.

 

[tufflitestudios]

Let us know how this turns out. I would love to get a dock for my x5. Just didn't want to deal with a bass roll off.

 

[KrooLism]

Where do you get the docks from?

 

[gundam91]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KrooLism /img/forum/go_quote.gif Where do you get the docks from?

Here's the link:X5 connector
Be careful, the connectors are different than the iPod ones. Go to iAudiophile's X5 forum and look for the thread on how to make the X5 lineout cable there. It has a picture of the pin configurations. And buy a few more. Read all the threads on how to make a cable carefully, and plan ahead on how you are going to assemble the cable, do a mock up first before you solder/glue everything down.

It sounds slightly dry-er than my liking, which means the midrange is not as warm and lush, and the bass is not as full. (You can read it the other way and say that bass is tighter) But no roll-off of any sort. So I am planning on trying out a copper cable and see what I like better. I found the unit to sound bright, lean, and bass shy when plugging my Ety-4S directly into the headphone out. I've turned off the equalization, BBE=5, M3B=5, 3D=0. So I will continue to use the line-out function with an amp. Sounded fine too when connecting the amp to the headphone out.

I took it on my business trip for the first time the last two days. Sound was coming out of my left earphone only. I thought something might have gotten loose inside the cable, and was cursing it for the past two days. After I got home, I took a closer look. Because I was twisting the cable in several directions to connect the X5 to the amp which reside in two differnt compartments of my portable bag, the torque on the cable caused the mini plug to not contact the surface on the line-in "hole" in the amp. My solution: a wide-band rubberband around the amp and the cable to relieve some of that stress. Hey, it works!

 

[pedalhead]

That looks like a really nice job. A lot of X5 owners report a major bass roll-off using line-out versus hp out. Have you compared the two at all?

 

[gundam91]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pedalhead /img/forum/go_quote.gif That looks like a really nice job. A lot of X5 owners report a major bass roll-off using line-out versus hp out. Have you compared the two at all?

I have, but I didn't want to make a statement until I have everything "burned-in". I've only probably played the X5 for about 30 hours or so, and the cable for about 5 hours. Also I wanted to listen to it with other headphones. My observation has been only with my Ety 4S, and I wasn't sure whether what I heard was due to the headphone rather than the X5.

My finding is just the opposite of your statement. Which I thought was odd because I had read about the X5 users complaining about the line-out roll off. But there's another discussion in the portable audio forum that agreed with what I've heard. I actually find that when I plug the Etys into the headout directly, the sound is harsh and bright in the treble area, and lean in the midrange, and bass rolling off. When I amp the Etys both through the headphone out and the line-out, the sound turned out to be more balanced and open. I am planning to build a silver mini-to-mini cable next so I can compare the headout vs lineout without using the subpack (and eliminating the difference in cable as a variable)

 

[pedalhead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gundam91 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have, but I didn't want to make a statement until I have everything "burned-in". I've only probably played the X5 for about 30 hours or so, and the cable for about 5 hours. Also I wanted to listen to it with other headphones. My observation has been only with my Ety 4S, and I wasn't sure whether what I heard was due to the headphone rather than the X5. My finding is just the opposite of your statement. Which I thought was odd because I had read about the X5 users complaining about the line-out roll off. But there's another discussion in the portable audio forum that agreed with what I've heard. I actually find that when I plug the Etys into the headout directly, the sound is harsh and bright in the treble area, and lean in the midrange, and bass rolling off. When I amp the Etys both through the headphone out and the line-out, the sound turned out to be more balanced and open. I am planning to build a silver mini-to-mini cable next so I can compare the headout vs lineout without using the subpack (and eliminating the difference in cable as a variable)

Please post your comparison results when you've got the mini>mini cable up & running. I for one would be very interested in the results. Cheers!

 

[yourtoys7]

Very clean, I like it