RD6320
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 30, 2014
- Posts
- 5
- Likes
- 11
Hi,
My trusty old HE400i headphones were looking in need of some TLC, and with the lockdown and a black hole of boredom to fill, I decided to try my hand at making a DIY replacement cable for them. I bought the headphones second hand roughly five years ago and they came with the original cable as well as a thinner silver cable, which I presume was a Hifiman aftermarket cable. The original cable has long since died (good riddance) so I was using the silver one.
I used stripped Mogami 2534 cable to make what I think is a balanced (?) cable - i.e. a cable with a normal Neutrik 1/4" jack, two grounds and a L/R channel - four wires total. Not an XLR or anything, I don't have any balanced equipment.
After some dubious soldering and rope burned hands from the paracord, I'd Litz braided a mini masterpiece that I'm extremely proud of (Thanks to Demevalos for the superb guide). Soldering those damned SMC connectors would test the patience of a saint I have to say!
Point of the post - The headphones are significantly louder and clearer now and the soundstage is drastically improved. I'm absolutely not a cable believer, but this is a marked difference that can be clearly heard. Could it be that the original cables I had were damaged somehow, or would the much beefier four 26awg conductors make a difference? Strange that the original two cables I had were identical in volume and sounded exactly the same.
I'm running a Schiit Bifrost Uber and Lyr 2 with GE 5 Star 5670 tubes, none of this has changed or been unplugged to affect anything. I've gone from 11'oclock on the dial down to about eight thirty. Switching back and forward between the two confirms the difference.
Cheers!
Rich
My trusty old HE400i headphones were looking in need of some TLC, and with the lockdown and a black hole of boredom to fill, I decided to try my hand at making a DIY replacement cable for them. I bought the headphones second hand roughly five years ago and they came with the original cable as well as a thinner silver cable, which I presume was a Hifiman aftermarket cable. The original cable has long since died (good riddance) so I was using the silver one.
I used stripped Mogami 2534 cable to make what I think is a balanced (?) cable - i.e. a cable with a normal Neutrik 1/4" jack, two grounds and a L/R channel - four wires total. Not an XLR or anything, I don't have any balanced equipment.
After some dubious soldering and rope burned hands from the paracord, I'd Litz braided a mini masterpiece that I'm extremely proud of (Thanks to Demevalos for the superb guide). Soldering those damned SMC connectors would test the patience of a saint I have to say!
Point of the post - The headphones are significantly louder and clearer now and the soundstage is drastically improved. I'm absolutely not a cable believer, but this is a marked difference that can be clearly heard. Could it be that the original cables I had were damaged somehow, or would the much beefier four 26awg conductors make a difference? Strange that the original two cables I had were identical in volume and sounded exactly the same.
I'm running a Schiit Bifrost Uber and Lyr 2 with GE 5 Star 5670 tubes, none of this has changed or been unplugged to affect anything. I've gone from 11'oclock on the dial down to about eight thirty. Switching back and forward between the two confirms the difference.
Cheers!
Rich
