[Shahrose]

You can probably find someone to do it for less as a custom order. Whether it is done properly or not is another matter.

There is a difference in what it takes to make a cable that works correctly when the transducer you're driving has anywhere from 100x to 1000x the resistance of the cable (which is a trivial job) than when the transducer itself is 1/10th the impedance of the raw wire involved! Left/right resistance has to be VERY close. Even a few early official RAAL cables had issues with this.

I made my own ... though that wasn't about cost savings - the end result used raw materials that cost more than the finished RAAL cables.

One of the hiccups with getting a custom-made cable for the Raal is that the XLR end is a female 4 pin XLR. It's the only headphone that uses this configuration. Moon Audio makes a custom Raal cable, but it's comparable in price to the replacement from Raal.

I also made my own cable for considerably less than $500 in materials. The Raal cable is nowhere near $500 in materials, either. I don't fault them for making money on accessories, and want very much for them to be a be a successful company making profit on these phenomenal headphones, but I could make the stock cable for $75 retail and two hours of my time, and that's being generous.

There are four identical strands of relatively thin wire in there, even if they're OCC silver they appear to be little more than hookup wire. The TRRS connectors are unbranded, and while they appear to be of reasonable quality they're nothing too special. In fact, there's no need for TRRS connectors whatsoever. There are only two wires entering the TRRS connector, and the tip is tied to ring one, with ring 2 tied to sleeve. It could be a TS connector, an HD800 connector, a whatever connector. I think TRRS was chosen purely for (relative) rarity and the perception of high end, as it's totally unnecessary.

Good info. thanks. What type of conductor did you guys use in your cables?

 

[jlbrach]

Hmm. Website that posts "Reviews" while also selling their own brand of equipment, cables, and modifications. Grain of salt should be applied as usual..

I can tell you that the cable these people make is a steal at 275 bucks.

 

[Sherwood]

Good info. thanks. What type of conductor did you guys use in your cables?

I use 8 wires of 6N OCC silver plated cable. There are several available on eBay.

 

[Torq]

What type of conductor did you guys use in your cables?

In the latest iteration, high purity OCC copper, in a proprietary dual-interleaved quad-helix geometry (8 conductors per channel), yielding an effective total AWG of 18.

 

[KaiSc]

Message received! Will probably go to RAAL then and waste only my money, instead of time and money getting something not up to the job....

Jothunheim R is specified with:
• maximum current 13.2 A
• maximum voltage: 5 V

Calculated out of this, using Ohms law, cable + ribbon + connector resitances + cable inductance should not exceed:
5 V / 13.2 A = 0.37 Ohms total, to not limit Jothunheim R's capabilities.

• The ribbon itself has 0.02 Ohms, double that to (estimate) 0.04 Ohms for SR1a's internal wiring.
• 3.5 mm TRRS isn't specified anywhere, estimate 0.05 Ohm for quality gold plated, doubled to 0.1 Ohms, as current passes twice, back and forth.
• XLR interconnect is specified as 0.02 Ohm, doubled to 0.04 Ohms, as current passes twice, back and forth.
• Cable Ohms resistance can be calculated from the sizes, lenght and diameter: 0.019 Ohms per meter (one way) for 1 mm² / 17 AWG, copper.
• Cable inductance usually isn't specified, but can be significant in this special case.
It's lower when braided wire or a star-quad arrangement is used, it's neglectable on coaxial.
A bit of inductance doesn't hurt too much, as it just limits the maximum power in the treble, but doesn't effect the frequency response in conjunction with the Jothunheim.
As a rough estimate, halven the allowed Ohms resitance to give room for some inductance with simple cable constructions.

Summing up the unchangeble, fixed resistances:
0.04 Ohms ribbon + internal wire
0.1 Ohms 3.5mm TRRS
0.04 Ohms XLR
0.18 Ohms Sum

0.37 Ohms - 0.18 Ohms = 0.19 Ohms left for the cable.

This equals 10 m 17 AWG total.
5 m back and forth.
2.5 m (estimate) if inductance is a factor.

Therefore, for longer distance I suggest braided or coaxial speaker cable.
It doesn't need to be expensive, Pro Audio shops sell coax speaker cables in meters.

 

[Sherwood]

For a 2m cable, you could presumably go as small as 24 AWG, no?

 

[KaiSc]

For a 2m cable, you could presumably go as small as 24 AWG, no?

Only with coax, because of the inductance, else 21 AWG.

 

[jamington2004]

Erm..... I was about to say all of that technical stuff !!!

Anyone want to make me a cable then?

I could do it myself obviously but I don’t believe you can do it!!

Jokes! I did however manage to find a comfier spot next to the amp last night..... it’s something I guess

 

[KaiSc]

Anyone want to make me a cable then?

I could do it myself obviously but I don’t believe you can do it!!

Depends on where you're living. Wouldn't be the first.

 

[jamington2004]

UK My guess is you are US or Asia? Seems us Brits are a rare breed on here

Edit - guessed wrong I see you are in Deutschland!

 

[bearcatsandor]

How well do they stay in a rotational position when you take them off and set them down, or put them back on a stand? I'm concerned that I may get them positioned the way that I want them, then return to a project hours or days later and if the ribbons aren't in exactly the same position each time, that will affect the accuracy of the audio work across the project.

 

[FLTWS]

How well do they stay in a rotational position when you take them off and set them down, or put them back on a stand? I'm concerned that I may get them positioned the way that I want them, then return to a project hours or days later and if the ribbons aren't in exactly the same position each time, that will affect the accuracy of the audio work across the project.

Mine are very firm. Taking on or off or lay down or hanging them on my Woo stand and the wings don't budge. I suspect if they got sloppy one could figure a way to use the right shaped plyers and a hanky or some such to tighten the barrels

 

[jamington2004]

If you mean opening the drivers away from the ears - they take a small amount of force to position them, so with some care putting them down the right way round they’ll be fine when you pick them up again. If noticed mine slipped a few times when I put them down with the back of flaps / the wider angle on the desk. The other way round they’re fine, and I imagine hanging would be fine.

Im no sound engineer but if you feel with your fingers how big the gap is I think it’s quite easy to check the position is the same if millimetre precision isn’t important

Edit - I just picked mine up and realised they only move if you pick up sideways holding by one driver, it’s just the weight of the headphones hanging down that makes the drive turn in your hand. So picking up by the headband would be fine.

 

[JLoud]

I put mine on an Omega style stand and they never move position unless I pick them up by one side(wing). Takes some pressure to move when adjusting so I don't think you'll have to worry.

 

[bearcatsandor]

Thank you all for the replies, that's excellent. Now, if only they had student discounts ...