[kitten wizard]

I am really interested in recabling my HFI-780s and making a male to male headphone connector to plug my media player into my amp but I cant seem to find a clear answer on the best way to go about this.

I have been looking around and found good resources but don't know what to look for and where the best prices/products are.
I don't know what to get for cables/connectors/sleeves/whatever else I need and where. There's just so much!
 
I prefer one connection but dual is fine since the 780's have a hard to access headband cable.
I would like the connections in the cans to be detachable so I can swap them out for a longer one if I need it in the future.
I would like the cables to be flexible and as portable as possible since I plan on using these while walking around the house, studying, or commuting between classes.
4ft for the headphone cable and 1 or 2 feet for the male to male cable sounds good to me.
I will be driving them from my Android mostly. May mod my old ipod and use that as a line-out media player or something but that's another project. My amp isn't very portable due to its size so I don't plan on using that too much.
Those cool mesh sleeves with a shrink wrap would look pretty professional but IDK how flexible it makes the cables.

If anyone can guide me into a direction on reasonable options would be amazing.
 
EDIT:
So far the only thing I have my sights on is the Soldering Iron. If I can get something better for cheap please let me know. I have a gas powered solder but honestly I don't feel comfortable working with it. The flame doesn't stay lit easily and I feel like the things gonna explode on me D:

 

 

[Tjj226 Angel]

I am trying to do some research for you, but at the moment I can at least tell you that you should probably invest a bit more in a better soldering iron. http://www.lowes.com/pd_357336-273-WPS18MP_0__?zipCode=22508&masthead=true&firstReferURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lowes.com%2Fpd_357336-273-WPS18MP_0__%3FproductId%3D3402986%26Ntt%3Dsoldering%2Biron%26pl%3D1%26currentURL%3D%253FNtt%253Dsoldering%252Biron%26facetInfo%3D&catalogId=10051&catalogId=10051&productId=3402986&pl=1&findStoreErrorURL=StoreLocatorDisplayView&selectedLocalStoreBeanArray=%5Bcom.lowes.commerce.storelocator.beans.LocatorStoreBean%4024742474%2C+com.lowes.commerce.storelocator.beans.LocatorStoreBean%4025722572%2C+com.lowes.commerce.storelocator.beans.LocatorStoreBean%4026702670%2C+com.lowes.commerce.storelocator.beans.LocatorStoreBean%40276e276e%2C+com.lowes.commerce.storelocator.beans.LocatorStoreBean%40286c286c%5D&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dsoldering%2Biron&Ntt=soldering+iron&langId=-1&langId=-1&URL=TopCategoriesDisplayView&mastheadURL=TopCategoriesDisplayView&storeId=10151&storeId=10151

This soldering iron is very good. The cheaper ones tend to not heat up as well, they can short out, and they can be a general pain. Spending the extra 20 bucks can really save you from having a nightmare scenario when rewiring your headphones.

 

[kitten wizard]

Ill def look into that later. I was thinking something cheap that could last me a handful of projects would be fine with me but then again its 20$ for something I expect to break :/

 

[Tjj226 Angel]

Ill def look into that later. I was thinking something cheap that could last me a handful of projects would be fine with me but then again its 20$ for something I expect to break :/

Yeah I used to work at lowes, and we had a lot of the cheap soldering irons returned. They just flat out suck. One guy actually ripped his cord out and singed himself pretty badly.

 

[kitten wizard]

Ouch >.<
Ill keep that in mind for sure.

Now onto figuring out cable stuff!

I just don't know what to look for when trying to recable.

Does the gauge of the wire have anything to do with how well the cans are driven? Like does a smaller wire not work well for full size cans or does it just have to do with durability?

 

[Tjj226 Angel]

Ouch >.<

Ill keep that in mind for sure.


Now onto figuring out cable stuff!


I just don't know what to look for when trying to recable.


Does the gauge of the wire have anything to do with how well the cans are driven? Like does a smaller wire not work well for full size cans or does it just have to do with durability?

Eeeehhhhhhhhhh yes and no. As long as you are in the range of 24 to 28AWG you should be just fine.

http://plussoundaudio.com/wires.html and http://www.doublehelixcables.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=2 both sell OCC stranded copper wire, and the plussound store has OCC stranded silver wire.

It actually comes down to the quality of the copper/silver wire you choose. OCC stranded wire is the best for driving headphone and anything audio. The double helix website has a nice little picture explaining why.

I also just realized your headphones are only 150 bucks on amazon. By the time you buy silver wire, you could have probably sold your headphones and just got a better pair of headphones to begin with. In that case go with occ stranded copper.

 

[kitten wizard]

WOW that's such a good price considering the Ultrasone store has them for $250 still
I don't think $150 could get me better quality headphones unless you mean taking the cable cost into account.
What does a recable generally cost in that case? Am I just wasting my energy looking this stuff up when I should just sell my cans and find something better for ~200$?
 

1. CABLES

So those links have cables for 2$/foot? Isn't that a bit expensive? $35 for 16 feet isn't economical for me.
I have seen people pointing toward navship on ebay for cables. These should be fine? Are they stiff or are they fine for portability?
The stock cord on the HFI-780s is too stiff for my liking.
 
Just found a couple threads recommending Mogami W2799 Mini Quad Mogami W2893 Mini Quad for general cable needs so I guess I should pick up some of that?
I'm told Redco is a convenient place to pick up all the cable supplies so maybe there?

Chime in if i'm wrong please
 

1. CONNECTORS

For stereo jack is a Neutrik NYS231 be fine for the mini jack or do I need the bigger NYS231L for the Mini Quad?
Silver vs Gold which connector is better for economy sake without compensating sound quality. I would rather be able to pick up a bunch for various jobs then just the bare minimum I need.
 
For the connectors into the cans should I use RCA or for some durability while maintaining small portable connectors? Maybe I should just ditch the detachable cables for now and do them later when I have more experience...idk.
 
 
EDIT1: Found out about the Mogami mini starquad
EDIT2: Made formatting easier to read and fixed some model numebers

 

[kitten wizard]

EDIT: Was informed the Mogami W2799 Mini Quad is the wrong product so i'm switching to Mogami W2893 Mini Quad

1. HEATSHRINK

Firstly i'm assuming the type of heatshrink I need is PVC material with 2:1 shrink rate and I don't need to deal with any adhesive type shrink wrap.
What size of heatshrink am I gonna wanna use for the Mogami W2799 Mini Quad Mogami W2893 Mini Quad? I think I saw a thread with someone saying for the Y they use 1/16" tubbing to isolate all of the single cable solder joints then wrap that with a bigger tube to make it more solid
For the shrink wrap to cover both the cable and the 3.5mm stereo connector (I think its called a TRS connector?) do I need a bigger tubbing?
Should I be using adhesive type tubing at any point?
 

1. Sleeving

Am I going to be cutting open the Mogami W2799 Mini Quad Mogami 2893 Mini Quad and discarding the surrounding plastic shield that surrounds the 4 twisted wires or am I only doing that past the Y since I need to take 2 wires up to each can for the active and ground lines?
Is that nylon paracord stuff best to surround the individual wires to keep the whole thing flexible and reduce on the cable noise?
 
 
 
So far this is my shopping cart so please tell me what to change if I did anything wrong.
I got a couple extra TRS plugs so I can make extra stuff if I choose to later.
 
http://i.imgur.com/gX1it.png

 

[limpidglitch]

It does not say so on the Redco site, but the cable opening on those straight Neutrik connectors are no more than 5mm Ø. This can be augmented with some simple tools (drill, file, etc.) but in any case, make sure cable/connector dimensions fit.
Just buy a bunch of heatshrink in different dimensions 3/8, 1/4 and 1/8 inch f.ex. At shorter lengths the tubing can be expanded quite a deal using a set of pliers. (handy when making strain reliefs)
Paracord looks an feels nice, but keeping the original jacket on gives you the least cable noise.

 

[kitten wizard]

K ill add a couple more sizes of shrink tube in there with my order.
 
What would you suggest for plugs if these don't fit? They have a larger version listed here. Is that what I should be using?

 

[limpidglitch]

Could be, I'm not familiar with those.