username643827
100+ Head-Fier
Thanks, Iam mainly looking for pink/light blue cables with either 4.4mm or 3.5mm rechangeble would be the best. My budget is 70+$
Low end. Cheap. Generic. Otherwise bang for buck cable thread!
- Thread starter Dsnuts
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- aliexpress cable
Reasonable request, though not colours I usually get.
ivipQ-525, a silver plated copper cable. I don’t have it, but I have many ivipQ cables and can vouch for their quality. Make sure you get the voucher if you choose this.
ivipQ-517, another silver plated copper ivipQ cable.
ivipQ-237, a modular ivipQ cable. This one has a more complex composition that should give a slightly richer sound.
XINHS copper & graphene, I have this one. It’s emphasised in the treble, and looks beautiful.
Both ivipQ and Xinhs have great customer services, so it’s worth asking for recommendations directly. Especially as I didn’t find pink cables from them.
FENGRU 610, Very solid and thick silver plated copper. I have this (in silver & copper) and it’s good.
NiceHCK RubyCat, Pink copper cable. I have this one. It’s good, especially with the ~half price voucher on this listing. The mids are a little unusual, making it a little harder to match to an IEM than most cables. But that might just be me being picky.
NiceHCK Sakura, quite a premium cable, though not worth the $150 full price. You might be able to get this for $70 in a sale or by combining coins and vouchers. I don’t have it so can’t say whether it justifies the price, but it is certainly very pink!
I hope you find something you like, whether it is one of these or something else.
ivipQ-525, a silver plated copper cable. I don’t have it, but I have many ivipQ cables and can vouch for their quality. Make sure you get the voucher if you choose this.
ivipQ-517, another silver plated copper ivipQ cable.
ivipQ-237, a modular ivipQ cable. This one has a more complex composition that should give a slightly richer sound.
XINHS copper & graphene, I have this one. It’s emphasised in the treble, and looks beautiful.
Both ivipQ and Xinhs have great customer services, so it’s worth asking for recommendations directly. Especially as I didn’t find pink cables from them.
FENGRU 610, Very solid and thick silver plated copper. I have this (in silver & copper) and it’s good.
NiceHCK RubyCat, Pink copper cable. I have this one. It’s good, especially with the ~half price voucher on this listing. The mids are a little unusual, making it a little harder to match to an IEM than most cables. But that might just be me being picky.
NiceHCK Sakura, quite a premium cable, though not worth the $150 full price. You might be able to get this for $70 in a sale or by combining coins and vouchers. I don’t have it so can’t say whether it justifies the price, but it is certainly very pink!
I hope you find something you like, whether it is one of these or something else.
I've only heard the healer and gray dragon, but I think all the hakugei brand cables are excellent.
While they xinhs cables are pretty good, the hakugei are far superior in sound quality to all of the xinhs cables I've owned over the years.
cerbatillo
Head-Fier
Very good value for money yes, even more than the other chifis cables companies
weeeeesquirrel
100+ Head-Fier
ThieAudio Smart Switch Cable. It’s the stock cable for the Monarch MKII & V16 Divinity. I picked it up from Audio46 for $79 to go with my Elixir and couldn’t be happier. It’s a perfect match. Competes with $300+ cables easily. Well balanced top to bottom, great sound stage, meaty and fleshed out (not thin), liquid smooth mids, delicate highs, solid textured low end… it’s awesome with my SONO too. Looking for Penon Serial to pair with the cable next.
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theintention
Headphoneus Supremus
Is there a specific date the next AE sale starts?
Also, is this a legit store? I feel like I have been looking at a lot of XINHS stuff and have somehow missed this one…
Also, is this a legit store? I feel like I have been looking at a lot of XINHS stuff and have somehow missed this one…
bithalver
500+ Head-Fier
The starting date is very suspicious.Is there a specific date the next AE sale starts?
Also, is this a legit store? I feel like I have been looking at a lot of XINHS stuff and have somehow missed this one…
Colin5619
500+ Head-Fier
Just found this amazing item on AliExpress. Check it out! NZ$33.66 94％ Off | XINHS 8-strand 480 core silver copper alloy earphone upgrade cable
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mrLABO2
username643827
100+ Head-Fier
Thanks for the recomendation but sadly i dont like how it looks. ):
fooltoque
100+ Head-Fier
Thanks for the Hakugei recommendations. I really like their style. I bought one of them today and the rep was very helpful in letting me customize it.
https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005004986250848.html
This is the base, but I wanted a 2.5mm balanced right-angle connector with a 65cm cable. Those were free customizations, but I also upgraded to a nicer looking plug/splitter/mmcx style to raise the price by about half.
https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005004986250848.html
This is the base, but I wanted a 2.5mm balanced right-angle connector with a 65cm cable. Those were free customizations, but I also upgraded to a nicer looking plug/splitter/mmcx style to raise the price by about half.
FOBean
Head-Fier
Actually, plating the copper with silver or other alloys has other purposes too. Most of the soundwaves signal once transferred to electricity travels on the OUTSIDE of the conductor, and since silver is the best METAL conductor, it's a cheap way to get a little better sound and more resolution, while also protecting the copper underneath. But a cheaply made SPC/SPOCC cable can initially sound great and then once the initial amazement wears off, it gets fatiguing and never gets used again. You can spend as little as $20 and get a truly great cable, just gotta know where to look and who to buy from!
If a cable has PROPER shielding (or at least high quality insulation, since MOST cheap cables AREN'T shielded) and/or insulation though, it shouldn't "oxidize" for a VERY VERY long time. Even with hardcore daily use. This is another reason Litz insulation on individual strands is so helpful.
I myself am a TRUE believer in cables changing sound quality and signature. Just because SOME people, like myself, CAN hear a pretty distinct difference in cables (their purity, materials and construction methods), doesn't mean the people that CAN'T should get so hot and bothered by it. Don't buy different cables than what came with your IEM's then. Simple as that!
TLDR:
I've been a critical listener for 30 years because I've been listening to my own live recordings, and always recorded at the highest quality and resolution so that when the listening technology had finally advanced to where it currently is, I could take full advantage of it. And that day has definitely arrived for me.
I have been to over 1,000+ concerts/shows and recorded almost every one of them with HQ microphones and preamps (another field where money spent is a huge issue to SOME) and I can still hear better than anyone i know, because I religiously clean my ears every night in the shower. It's a proven result for sure
Ok so, OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast, founded in 1985 in China by Professor Ohno) / Mono crystalline Copper and silver are the "purest", because they barely have any crystal/grain boundaries in them, refracting the transmission and audio. So the lesser the crystal or grain boundaries, the lesser the refraction and signal loss. Less boundaries = better transmission quality. In OCC extrusion, the conductors can be a SINGLE crystal for up to 125m vs just a few feet for OFC (Oxygen Free Copper) only copper. And the crystal boundaries are even worse in pure copper than OFC. The OCC/mono crystalline extrusion method is done differently than OFC and every other kind of extrusion method. It's still SLOWLY heated as it cools and is being extruded, vs it being done at room temperature for OFC (i think that's how OFC is done). My specialty is in OCC copper and silver.
I can clearly hear a difference between an expensive $250 Linum SuperBax MMCX cable that's silver plated copper vs a $10 5N OCC copper cable. The $10 OCC is the clear winner with my BA (balanced armature) IEM's.
But anyway, sorry for getting sidetracked. I can TOTALLY hear slight differences between different conductor materials and have almost 15x pairs of IEM cables. Don't get me wrong, I would NEVER buy PW Audio IEM cables for $5,500, that's just insane for me to even think about. BUT, great deals can be had online. I have found wonderful cable manufacturers on AliExpress (like Hakugei {A+++}, ivipQ, NiceHCK, TRN, etc). And even the Moondrop Line T (6N OCC copper) and slightly more expensive Moondrop Coaxial (Coaxial Twisted 6N OCC Copper with swappable plugs) can be found on Amazon for decent money. Usually never exceeding $50-$60 for a GREAT quality cable with swappable plugs (2.5mm, 3.5mm, 4.4mm).
So you certainly don't have to spend hundreds to get something great IMO. And if not getting a new cable for sound, usually OEM cables are junky or uncomfortable. You can find VERY comfortable cables like I stated above. IMO, the more cores and in a braided array, will be the best in regards to NOT getting tangled and super easy to maneuver.
And if you want a good tip from me, you GOTTA try Graphene as a coating on some conductors. It's speed is FAR superior to any metals, it even blows silver away. Waves/sounds/signals can travel at 1/300 the speed of light on graphene. I prefer the ivipQ - 520. Its a 6N OCC Copper and Graphene hybrid cable, with 34 strands of each in all 8 cores. You can get them on sale on AliExpress for like $38/shipped.
OCC Copper maxes out at the highest purity level of 7N. (N=Nomi) 7N = 99.99999% pure). Silver maxes out at 6N = 99.9999% pure). I've seen some cables claim that they're 8N OCC copper on AE, but I don't really believe it. Who knows? I'm not sure about gold or palladium or any of the other metal purities at their highest! Also, some claim that cryogenically treated or simply cold rolled (vs room temperature ) OCC copper and silver cables are even better because the electrons align more, but again, I can't comment on that because I haven't bought one yet. But I will
And in MY experience, this is how a specific conductor or mixture of conductors affects MY IEM's!
#1. OCC Copper (high purity, 6N & 7N) -
Best for straight BA (balanced armature) IEM's. They really warm up the sound and make it MUCH more natural sounding. If you have any BA only IEM's, they can sound artificial and slightly gritty or harsh in the highs. IMO, an OCC Copper cable is the BEST complement to them. My Westone UM Pro 30's and NuForce Primo 8 never sounded better. Although I do use another cable with my UM Pro 30's (Tripowin "Jelly" OCC Copper/SPOCC/Graphene Copper Alloy tri-brid cable).
#2. Silver Plated OCC copper -
IMO these sound best with a dynamic driver or hybrid/tri-brid IEM (like my Aful Performer 8 and Celest PhoenixCall). To me, a pure OCC copper cable recesses some of the sound and holds it back, like a light veil. The SPOCC somehow brings the DD (Dynamic driver) to life, and gives it more thrust and sparkle and air and truly sounds it's best.
#3. Graphene - i have only started to "dip my toes" in graphene, but I LOVE what I hear so far. I think this conductor would probably go great with just about any IEM, bringing speed and sounding very realistic and natural. It sounds great with my BA IEM's, hybrids and tri-brids.
#4. OCC Silver - silver has a LOT of misconceptions. People think it sounds thin and dull, and that's just NOT true. That's what Silver Plated COPPER can sound like when done cheaply and inefficiently. But pure silver is something totally different. It sounds very clean and clear, zero harshness or sibilance, more resolution, soundstage, imaging, etc. it can really open up a darker IEM too. If you have a DD IEM, you NEED a silver cable IMO
But it sounds great on almost everything if it's actually pure OCC silver. TRN 3 Pro is a wonderful sounding and beautifully made, super soft cable, at 4N (99.99%) for only $20 +/-!!! A couple of IEM recommendations from me:
For $130 USD, I highly recommend the Celest PhoenixCall if you want a relatively neutral and balanced sound tuning with fun. The DD KICKS when necessary, the BA's are perfect mids, and the 2x Micro-Planars are amazing. They endlessly reach into the sky without ever becoming sibilant or harsh. These are great for my live recordings and are easily able to transport me back in time to the live experience. They're like little brothers to the Aful Performer 8 IMO. For $130, these are almost impossible to beat for ME.
If you have $400 to spend, the Aful Performer 8 are my top pick, EASILY blowing away my old Campfire Audio Andromeda's and Dorado's that I paid $1,100 and $1,000 for, respectfully, back in 2018. The highs on these DO sound like electrostatics. Aful Acoustics have REAL and PROVEN patents, that are just cleverly hyped wording, and I can't wait to try the rest of their lineup. Best highs and resolution I've ever heard. A +3db bass boost is perfect on my Shanling Audio M5s DAP
You'd have to spend considerable more money than this to get something "better". These will probably be my ENDGAME IEM's. Simply no reason to buy anything else, and with cable swaps, I can slightly change their sound signature 
Technology really is amazing now and you don't need to spend BIG bucks to get BIG quality and sound!!!
Anyway, I hope this was helpful to just one person and it'll make the last hour worthwhile LoL
Let's not forget to have FUN in this hobby, and instead of calling people out or calling them full of crap because they MIGHT have better hearing than you, is just unnecessary negativity. Let's ALL try to lift each other up instead and keep on debating, without the usual terrible remarks in regards to cables and them making a noticeable difference in sound!
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