[HungryPanda]

I have a few OKSC cables and they are very good, the one you linked looks excellent

 

[Tautvydas]

[deleted, double post]

 

[Tautvydas]

I have a few OKSC cables and they are very good, the one you linked looks excellent

Thanks for your input! Going to order now.

 

[hakuzen]

after first measurements of frequency response, distortion, impulse response, of a 5 balanced armatures iem with very different cables, i've not found any relevant conclusion.
i'll keep trying to find something objective which could explain the slight difference of clarity when using some cables.
anyway, the differences are subtle, far lower than what you get by tip-rolling. difficult to justify a big spent.
if you have very resolving and detailed iems, you can get some benefit from a good cable; but don't expect miracles, just a tiny bit cleaner sound than regular cables (and there is no objective proof of this).

added more pics and measurements of cables which use same wire than cable 130 to my list. the difference of resistance between them is curious, because they share same wire. this reaffirms my preference for eidolic styled plugs (bigger), before oyaide or furutech ones; better conductivity.
and added a new version of cable 052, yellow color, which has the best conductivity from all 052 versions.

 

[cobrabucket]

DC resistance of some cables (below 400mΩ, average), in mΩ: left, right, groundL, groundR or L+, R+, L-, R- (balanced). and [weight], in g.
for cheaper cables, check:
DC resistance of some cables (below $40, approx.)

measured with high precision multimeter.
low resistance is symptom of quality of wires, plugs, and solders (together with total thickness of the conductor, of course).

notations:
wire material: spc= silver plated copper; tpc= tinned copper; <num>c=number of cores
color: silver= white/silver; copper= orange/pink; brown= brown/dark copper; gold= yellow
chinese jack style (metallic): eid= eidolic; oyde= oyaide; furt=furutech
M: mmcx/2pins and 3.5/2.5/4.4mm balanced terminations available
V: different terminations for headphones, and not standard terminations for earphones

(125) 7n occ 4c (copper,furt,MV).....................................57/57/bad..59/59/bad..53/53/54..64/62/62..[36]
(052) spc 8c (gold,eid).....................................................96..99..91..104..[27.5]
(130) hck 7n occ spc 8c (eid,brown/gold,M).....................100..101..98..111..[33.4]
(131) 7n occ spc 8c (oyde,brown,M)................................107..114..106..125..[31.4]
(132) luna 7n occ spc 8c (furt,brown/gold,M)...................121..121..116..151..[31.5]
(053) hck copper 8c (brown,metal slim plugs,M)..............110..avg (115 mmcx)..[27]..many measured (copper)
(145) zsfs spc 8c (brown,metal slim plugs,ath-im02,V).....117..118..112..132
(133) GUcraftsman silver 6n occ 8c (grey,MV).................135..133..124..128..[27.5]
(133) GUcraftsman copper 6n occ 8c (light brown,MV)....136/142..143/143..127/133..130/135..[26.8] (mmcx/2.5mmTRS)
(115) silver+shield 4c[8c] (white silver,oyde,MV)..............137/128..136/126..131/131..139/139..[27]
(052) spc 8c (silver,eid)....................................................130..avg..many measured (spc)
(053) hck spc 8c (silver,metal slim plugs,M)......................134/155..163/150..132/138..148/152 (spc)
(120) bgvp 6n occ+spc 8c (grey) =DM6 stock..................169..173..277..190
(052) spc+copper 8c (silver+copper,eid,M)......................135/131..131/132..190/184..208/240 (spc+copper[gnd]?)
(110) 7n spc 16c (silver,viablue).......................................165..145..155..155
(052) tpc 8c (copper,eid,M)...............................................180..avg..[24.7]..(many measured, copper)
(052) tpc 8c (brown,eid,M)................................................188..188..185..185 (copper)
(100) impactAudio infinite copper 5n 4c (custom,MV).......190..190..182..180
(055) spc 16c (silver,oyde,M)............................................221/232..218/236..221/221..232/235
(054) lz 6n frozen spc 8c (brown,M)..................................240..240..240..300
(050) spc 8c (black,oyde,M)..............................................260..270..260..260
(081) audbos/tenhz p4 pro stock spc 4c (silver,thin).........282/282..283/279..275/275..275/275
(105) 7n silver 4c (silver,mps)...........................................300..290..280..280
(140) hck 6n gc-occ 8c (brown,M).....................................293..298..292..302
(057) hck spc 8c (silver,furt,M)..........................................310..303..302..319
(080) tin audio t2 stock spc 4c (silver,furt).........................331..325..318..319
(082) toneking t4 stock spc 8c (blue+black)......................348..341..358..357
(037) kz mmcx spc 4c (silver,oyde)....................................384..384..375..376

Spoiler: pics & comments of cables

suggestion: avoid lyer and tricky sellers (we all know who they are). if there is no issues, it's ok; but waste of time, anger, headache and nightmare is what you get if you have any issue.

125. 7n occ copper, 0.1mm*63-65strands*4cores pvc sleeve (equivalent to 20awg/signal). best conductivity. total clean sound, reference. shiny copper color, great look.
thick and heavy (36g vs 26g average weight). due to thickness, less flexible and stiffer than others, braid work is a bit loose, the solders into the jack get stressed, so take care of the jack. many sellers. expensive.
received one with bad or broken solders into the jack.

wire used: http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5994
or this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32890538731.html

some links of cable:
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=6039
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32900673249.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32915015689.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32890850938.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32905344372.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32923223671.html


130, 131, 132. pure silver (and "gold"?) plated copper (spc). 0.05mm*48(27awg,OD:1.2mm)*8c UV-PVC [2c/signal:24AWG]. some sellers say it's pure silver wire, golden plated (but it's not). superb conductivity, very well built. another clean sound, reference. expensive.
wire used: http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5957

130 (nicehck, eidolic type jack, chin slider):

link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32952865240.html

131 (all brown, oyaide styled jack, no chin slider):

links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32901256493.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32922963030.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32901915547.html

132 (lunashops, furutech styled jack, no chin slider):

links (4/8 cores, oyaide/furutech styled jacks):
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5965 (4/8 cores)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32847754222.html (4/8 cores)

other cables using same wire (including terminations for headphones and other iems):
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5979
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32923111127.html
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5975
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5978
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=6206
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=6207
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5948 (4 cores)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32890074065.html (4 cores)


053. great conductivity. some details (strain reliefs, easier repairable plugs) are better in (052). this wire is thicker, softer but less flexible. weight: 27.2g. variants: copper/ mixed copper & silver plated / silver plated (various colors, worse conductivity though).
structure could be: 0.10mm*19(25awg)*8c [2c/signal:22.5AWG]. if true, and wire material/plugs were better quality, it'd measure about 95mΩ (15-20mΩ less).
brown (copper)

silver: different wire, less conductivity

links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32916162030.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32914622984.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32913860097.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32913561570.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32913617162.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32916975214.html

145. this wire looks like (053). in fact, same colors available (orange+white, red+white, silver..). but brown color version of this cable says it's spc, while brown (053) is copper. the wire is not identical, when you close look at it.
this is audio-technica plug version; other non-standard terminations are available.

links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32887178817.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32887556304.html

133. superb conductivity for such a thin wire. material must be true 6n occ, high quality.
0.08mm*19(27awg)*8c [2c/signal:24AWG]. many terminations (even custom) for headphones available.
reviewed here: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/gucraftsman-headphones-earphones-cables.23451/reviews#review-21214
silver mmcx: pure occ single crystal silver

copper mmcx: 6n occ single crystal copper

links: (get from the review)
links of other cables using same wire:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32889502747.html (silver cable)

115. pure silver wire. (TPU insulatedLayer 0.05mm*50 + shield 0.05mm*45) * 4 cores. equivalent to 24.5awg when using shield layer. shiny white, great look.

wire used: http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5932

links:
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=6003
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32879385486.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32880716325.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32885809299.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/1000006050538.html
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=6117
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=6081
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=6066

052. good conductivity, very well built, quite long threaded (repairable and trimmable) plugs; variants: tin plated copper (brown/copper) / copper[gnd]+silver plated copper / silver plated copper (white/yellow).
gold (silver plated copper, best conductivity!):

this seems to use this wire: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32846230753.html
structure could be: 0.10mm*19(25awg)*8c [2c/signal:22.5AWG]

silver (silver plated copper):

copper:

links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32881372793.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32880388943.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32882694116.html

120. bgvp spc cable, identical to DM6 stock cable (but this has balanced, straight plug). nice looking (grey and silver), ear guides cover part of the mmcx plug. but strain relief of jack is too short and stiff, conductivity could be better, and one of the solders in my unit was not as good as the others. they give extended info of the cable at product's page, but it doesn't seem to match reality, after measuring it. anyway, one of the best stock cables provided.

links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32874694013.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32951347452.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32863920457.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32885943357.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32867032796.html

110. very thin 16 cores of spc wire.


100. impact audio customized cable. this is not my unit. true eidolic plugs, excellent built and look. voluminous and heavy, due to the thick braided textile sleeve. honest 5n copper cable. pity for us he is taking some vacations now.


055. 16 cores, but worse conductivity than some cheaper 8 cores. (050) is its 8 cores sibling.
silver:


054. 6n frozen spc.. maybe, but thin conductor (it could be 0.10mm*7*8c)

links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32952794266.html

050. 2pins version is wrong molded for kz -watch phase!-. you can remold the ear guides.

links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32889396437.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32854751277.html

105. 7n pure silver, bought at nicehck. but it's very thin, so conductivity is not that great.


140. nicehck 6n gc-occ 8 cores. maybe great quality copper.. but very thin again (28awg)

links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32945688424.html

057. nicehck spc 8 cores. very well built, but thin wire. various colors (and materials?).
silver:

links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32884233509.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32883824667.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32859444405.html

037. kz cheap upgrade cable for mmcx. good conductivity for the price.

links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New...le-Use-For-Shure-SE535-SE846/32820576571.html

The lower these #'s the better?

 

[hakuzen]

The lower these #'s the better?

conductivity is a symptom of wire, plugs, and solders quality. so the lower the resistance, the better, at first glance.
but a thin wire of good quality material could be better than a thick wire (lower resistance) of worse material. who knows. as this is not proven, resistance is still a good indicator.

 

[Wiljen]

conductivity is a symptom of wire, plugs, and solders quality. so the lower the resistance, the better, at first glance.
but a thin wire of good quality material could be better than a thick wire (lower resistance) of worse material. who knows. as this is not proven, resistance is still a good indicator.

Conductivity is 1/R so is just as good as resistance as an indicator. The difference being you want the highest possible specific conductance and the lowest possible resistance.

 

[hakuzen]

Conductivity is 1/R so is just as good as resistance as an indicator. The difference being you want the highest possible specific conductance and the lowest possible resistance.

i assume everybody knows that conductivity is the inverse of resistance, so i use both terms indistinctly.
but maybe my assumption was too optimistic.. lower resistance = higher conductivity, higher resistance = lower conductivity (for people who didn't know it yet)

 

[Cycle Guy]

Can anyone tell me if there is a 2.5 mm balanced to 2 x phono cable which is about 2.5 metres long for use as a inter connect for car audio use

 

[Wiljen]

Can anyone tell me if there is a 2.5 mm balanced to 2 x phono cable which is about 2.5 metres long for use as a inter connect for car audio use

I assume you mean 2.5mm to RCA cable since I don't know what Phono cable refers to, and yes, Plenty of interconnects do 2.5mm balanced to dual RCA - I'll recommend Blue Jean Cables as a good place to start as prices are good and they will make about anything you could want.

 

[Cycle Guy]

That is exactly what I’m after I will look them up Thanks

 

[superuser1]

Is it possible to get some 2.5mm balanced cables with 2 pin right angled connectors?

All i can find on AE are cheap balanced cables for KZ .. does anyone know of slightly better cables with the same termination? Thanks

 

[organofcorti]

Is it possible to get some 2.5mm balanced cables with 2 pin right angled connectors?



All i can find on AE are cheap balanced cables for KZ .. does anyone know of slightly better cables with the same termination? Thanks

maybe this one....
https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32836959371.html?trace=storeDetail2msiteDetail

 

[cobrabucket]

I ended up getting the BGVP OCC cable for $38. Pretty excited!
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/BGV...ionados-MMCX-interchangeable/32961333881.html

 

[AvijitSingh]

I received the Satin audio cables the other day, Very nice cables, soft and pliable, no micro-phonics, the build and splitter are very solid. Slightly more expensive then the stuff on aliexpress and lunashops. But interacting with the store owner was easy and he was quick to respond on facebook. I am still trying to figure out if there is a noticeable change in the sound compared to the fiio cable. Overall the experience was great but fcuk DHL ( not a problem related to the storefront/owner ).
HERE are 2 pictures of the cables https://imgur.com/PnwlZ2z https://imgur.com/OxJvszl,

I figured out how to post these images sorry about the size, I have to embed them due to some issues with the files themselves,