[Uprox]

How do the XINHS - 4 Core Graphene Alloy Silver Plated Upgrade Cable change the sq? I read somewhere that it reduces bass?

If this 4 Cores Graphene Alloy Silver Plated Wire MMCX 0.78mm 2 Pin Replacement Headphones Cable Audio Upgrade Cable then yes - bass will be reduced in quantity, but with better quality.

 

[Uprox]

Graphene cables change the tonality and increase clarity.

Overall graphene itself reduces mid-to-high brightness and makes tone more cold and airy. If the cable contains not much graphene then influence for tone will be minimal - only for clarity.

 

[blorg]

Agree the connectors/hardware is bit cheap with mix of metal and black plastic. Microphonics did not bother me yet, but I haven't used it much while on the move so. I guess an alternative for those looking for a black sleeved budget cable which looks nicer could be the
NiceHCK JIALAI JLDT2 OCC which is $14,5 at KR Hifi.

I have this on the Aria, it's very well made, good connectors, doesn't kink like the stock Aria cable. Only negative is it's a very bulky cable, I wanted to use it with the Oxygen but it wouldn't fit into the Oxygen stock case.

 

[HiFiRobot]

NiceHCK GCT5 and LitzOCC arrived.
Both are 4 core. Build quality and hardware is on pretty similar level, nothing spectacular. My Xinhs 2 Core SPC which is an $12-18 cable has more premium hardware.
Earhooks pretty stiff and aggressive.
LitzOCC has chinslider (black bead), GCT5 does not.
They handle quite similarly but LitzOCC is thinner and lighter. Not supersoft but ok, slightly rubbery.
LitzOCC is darker than the pics on Ali. It needs alot of light for the cable to shine trough.
GCT5 looks prettier to me.
LitzOCC hardware and connectors are nicer would have liked those on the GCT5. Compare the cable entries into the 4.4mm.
I guess GCT5 is the one which is supposed to be more expensive.

Measured resistance using Uni-T UT161D
GCT5, right channel: 0,1Ω 0,1Ω Left channel: 0,1Ω 0,2Ω
LitzOCC, right channel: 0,2Ω 0,2Ω Left channel: 0,2Ω 0,2Ω

NiceHCK GCT5
5N OCC
0.08mm*60 each stand
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005048275456.html?
Ali part no 1005005048275456
Search URL https://www.aliexpress.com/af/gct5.html?

NiceHCK LitzOCC
Taiwan-made 4N OCC
0.1*10 each strand
Internal Litz structure
WBT silver contain solder
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001586436450.html?
Ali part no 1005001586436450
Search URL https://www.aliexpress.com/af/litzocc.html?

NiceHCK GCT5

NiceHCK LitzOCC

 

[jant71]

Any insight as to the better choice if there is one. Cheap cable thinking between this... https://www.amazon.com/Earphone-Upg.../dp/B08ZHVZY9N/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pb_opt?ie=UTF8 for $20 shipped and a Zonie for $17. Or any other cheap options that are fairly soft and are fairly balanced and don't warm up the sound much.

 

[Carpet]

Any insight as to the better choice if there is one. Cheap cable thinking between this... https://www.amazon.com/Earphone-Upg.../dp/B08ZHVZY9N/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pb_opt?ie=UTF8 for $20 shipped and a Zonie for $17. Or any other cheap options that are fairly soft and are fairly balanced and don't warm up the sound much.

Easter is knocking on the door, wait a few days and see what deals are up. XINHS will normally have a 5N single crystal SPC for about $10-12, no guarantee of which one though. One of the NiceHCK C16 cables come in SPC too, I forget which one but those are really comfortable like the Zonie.

 

[HiFiRobot]

Talking about Xinhs. I think they recently dropped the price $20 on their
XINHS Large 12 Cores High Purity Copper to $37,25
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002327927424.html?
Ali part no 1005002327927424

As its says "Large" I wonder if its thicker than a standard 16 core?

 

[HiFiRobot]

Another XINHS custom.

XINHS 8 Cores Copper Plated Silver
Customized 1.6m with 6.35mm and 2x3.5mm
OCC Silver Plated
Number of cores: 19*0.1*8 = 152
"Silver Rabbit"
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004506006004.html?
Ali Part no
1005004506006004

I wanted to try if Silver Plated Copper would affect sound in any way on the Focal Clear, compared to the Orginal OFC and my other Lunashops OCC cable.
The XINHS has +20h now and to my ears or imagination it seems to add a little more sparkle on top vs the OG cable. Its still smooth together with the Liquid Platinum (w. Russian NOS tubes) which is not a bright amp. I prefer the LP with added clarity by tube rolling and this cable pushes it into the right direction with the Clears.
Tried it with Liquid Carbon and iFi Diablo as well, sounds good. As the Clears are pretty revealing perhaps might be too much with a bright amp, time will tell cant warm up everyhing this morning. Did not buy it for the LP mainly but for my other amps, thus 6,35mm which pretty much every amp as. And of course it handles way better than the stock Clear cables. Anyway happy with the purchase.

Edit: Tried with ZDT Jr, all good with that amp as well https://www.head-fi.org/threads/focal-clear-headphones.861727/page-788#post-17497818

iFi Zen Stream -> Hegel HD12 -> Liquid Platinum -> Focal Clear

 

[Uprox]

The topic of Hakugei Big Rice has long been eaten and digested for many people, but not for me.
While I got my cable yesterday (it's about 10 h of burning) I'm impressed by the sound quality with AQ0 and quite good aesthetics.

Then I thought why so cheap cable has so good sounding. And I have just one guess: STRUCTURE. It's a litz type 4 and each thread is only 0.05 mm. Also I guess the number of threads also plays an important role (133 * 4 = 532).
Now I will more attentive to a cable structure.

 

[HiFiRobot]

The topic of Hakugei Big Rice has long been eaten and digested for many people, but not for me.
While I got my cable yesterday (it's about 10 h of burning) I'm impressed by the sound quality with AQ0 and quite good aesthetics.

Then I thought why so cheap cable has so good sounding. And I have just one guess: STRUCTURE. It's a litz type 4 and each thread is only 0.05 mm. Also I guess the number of threads also plays an important role (133 * 4 = 532).
Now I will more attentive to a cable structure.

That's nice to hear. Mine is still some days/weeks away. Until then it's NiceHCK GCT5 if copper.

 

[Uprox]

That's nice to hear. Mine is still some days/weeks away. Until then it's NiceHCK GCT5 if copper.

I saw Ali customers review, that wrote the cable has 0.6 ohm impedance. Does the cable give more bass?

 

[Leonarfd]

I saw Ali customers review, that wrote the cable has 0.6 ohm impedance. Does the cable give more bass?

0.6ohm resistance is almost like nothing, even with an impedance adapter of 10ohm the change is small.

 

[PhonoPhi]

0.6ohm resistance is almost like nothing, even with an impedance adapter of 10ohm the change is small.

It depends if this is a single-wire (conmonly cited), then the cicuit is 1.2 Ohm, which can be notecuable.
The best single-wire resistance is about 0.15 Ohm (unless some car battery or welding cables are adapted). I could only perceive (or imagine) the difference from ca 0.35 Ohm for a single wire, that is higher than 0.7 Ohm. So you are ~right about the circuit.

I saw Ali customers review, that wrote the cable has 0.6 ohm impedance. Does the cable give more bass?

As for the effect, it would depend on crossovers and orher drivers. In my experience, most IEMs became less bassy with added impedance. For a single DD, 0.6 Ohm, or even 1-1.5 Ohm won't matter noticeably.

The best cable may be the one that provides a decent resistance, enables the best fit, and is easthetically pleasing for the best music enjoyment

 

[Leonarfd]

@PhonoPhi what do you do in here, the biggest doom bringer in discovery thread when cables discussion arrive

It depends if this is a single-wire (conmonly cited), then the cicuit is 1.2 Ohm, which can be notecuable.
The best single-wire resistance is about 0.15 Ohm (unless some car battery or welding cables are adapted). I could only perceive (or imagine) the difference from ca 0.35 Ohm for a single wire, that is higher than 0.7 Ohm. So you are ~right about the circuit.

Interesting, do you work with something that has with wires or electronic? You seem to know a lot about it. My experience mostly arrive from snakeoil cables with speakers, having been invested in speakers before. So much bull, my speaker cables now is even expensive(1000usd) since wife's uncle called them crap and gave them away.
But tbh they sound the same as my local hifi store normal cheap cables.

 

[PhonoPhi]

@PhonoPhi what do you do in here, the biggest doom bringer in discovery thread when cables discussion arrive


Interesting, do you work with something that has with wires or electronic? You seem to know a lot about it. My experience mostly arrive from snakeoil cables with speakers, having been invested in speakers before. So much bull, my speaker cables now is even expensive(1000usd) since wife's uncle called them crap and gave them away.
But tbh they sound the same as my local hifi store normal cheap cables.

I was frequenting here, and now still visit for nice looking cables and listening to a good advice.

Part of my work deals with electronics, though more relevantly, a couple of years ago I took a sensitive all-BA IEM and spent quite a bit of time to listen (and test) what matters, and the only parameter with IEM cables that I could discern was the resistance.

With the power cables, especially for high-quality 4-Ohm speakers, the capacitance of cables can matter, (I am reasonably convinced by some data, but I do have near-zero practical experience - no speaker music, at least until kids still play piano and violin). So auditioning cables for one's favourite power speakers can make some good sense.