Looking for a relatively bendable cable.

[J.Pocalypse]

My M50s, that I purchased from a fellow Head-fier, came with a very long (6' or so ) Mogami 2534 dual entry cable. It's length and stiffness has always kept me from using them anywhere but home.

Does anyone know of a cable I can replace it with, that still has the quality, but isn't so darn stiff and won't break the bank?

Thanks.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Strip the outer shielding and leave only the inner strands with their own shielding first. If you can do that without damaging the conductors and their individual shielding, and you don't pick up any interference with just the inner shielding (does it even have a new outer shield past the Y-junction going into each earcup?), then you got a new one for free.

 

Now in case you might want to pick up the cable to minimize the downtime (in case you end up damaging the conductors), I'm not sure what specific mic cable would be more pliable compared to that Mogami. I used a Klotz mic cable before (AFAIK they don't call it Starquad, but it also has four conductors) and it was very pliant (the kind I'd be careful not to step on, but when I used mics like that back in college, I usually start moving it like a whip while our lead or bassist does a solo). Alternately, you can pick up any braided dual-entry cable on eBay (like, search "HD600 cable"), especially the ones that come with a 3.5mm plug, then just reterminate it yourself, in case you don't fancy doing the braiding yourself. 

 

The HD600 stock cable is pretty pliant but personally it would be a PITA to solder on a new plug, but if you're handy enough, might as well jsut get that and then wind the extra length around something (there's a fish skeleton-shaped cable organizer in Apple stores here that I used before).

 

[J.Pocalypse]

Thanks for the info! I think I'll try my hand at removing the outer sheath before I take any other steps. I just hope the cable is braided together under it.

 

[dprimary]

Mogami 2893 is smaller and about as stiff as wet spaghetti. You can get it from markertek for under a $1 per foot. I used to use it inside mixing consoles.

 

[J.Pocalypse]

  stiff as wet spaghetti.

 Ha! I chuckled at that one.. But, how's the durability?

 

[dprimary]

Mogami like Belden and Canare tend to be very durable they are all professional cables. I only use Mogami where I know it is going to be flexing all the time. I don't care for it as a microphone cable, it does not wrap well, (a coil of wet spaghetti)  I have Belden and Canare cables that are 30 years old still almost like new. The problem I see with head phone cables is sometimes they get stiff from face oils but it takes many years by then the ear pad are wore out by then too. 

 

[Speedskater]

 

Strip the outer shielding and leave only the inner strands with their own shielding first. If you can do that without damaging the conductors and their individual shielding, and you don't pick up any interference with just the inner shielding (does it even have a new outer shield past the Y-junction going into each earcup?), then you got a new one for free.

The Mogami 2534 cable has only one shield/screen.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  The Mogami 2534 cable has only one shield/screen.

 
Isn't it this one? I based my suggestion off this diagram.


 
What I was thinking was that he'll end up with something that looks like this...
 

 
...except he didn't (hopefully, won't need to) braid the conductors from scratch.

 

[Speedskater]

I think that you meant insulation not shield.
 
While shields/screens conduct electricity, insulation hopefully doesn't.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  I think that you meant insulation not shield.
 
While shields/screens conduct electricity, insulation hopefully doesn't.

 
I was referring to both actually; sometimes its' the shield under the outer insulation that makes a cable stiff. He could try to see if he can remove it easily enough without damaging the inner conductors, then test if he's getting any electrical interference; if not, then the new cable can be kept as a back up for the time being.
 
I did the same thing before when I used a stiff six-core (originally for analog A/V) cable as an Aux cable.

 

[J.Pocalypse]

Well, I did it  I, very carefully, cut down the outter sheath of my cable. It was a funky pink color, which I didn't like that much anyway. Under the sheath, the 4 wires were wrapped in a bunch of copper. I took that off, and put it aside and now my cable is just as bendable as I would prefer.
 
Thanks for the idea, ProtegeManiac.