[randomnin]

You glorious cable obsessed maniac, you! This is one MVP-level thread, thanks for this!
As consumers become more informed thanks to these kinds of data, I hope the Chinese manufacturers take note and up their cable quality and QC game, too.

 

[hakuzen]

You glorious cable obsessed maniac, you! This is one MVP-level thread, thanks for this!
As consumers become more informed thanks to these kinds of data, I hope the Chinese manufacturers take note and up their cable quality and QC game, too.

i also do hope that, but i'm afraid it will take long before most chinese makers/sellers understand the value of sincere and honest marketing, and the value of QC and customer support

 

[Jon L]

Anybody have links to cable 165 and 170 (on Ali?).

 

[hakuzen]

Anybody have links to cable 165 and 170 (on Ali?).

you can find links (if not banned) into the spoiler sections (pics, comments, and links of the cables).
these cables are into section 1: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/resistance-of-cables-pics-comments-and-links.907998/#post-14985644

EDIT: sorry, @Jon L , missed the right link:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/resistance-of-cables-pics-comments-and-links.907998/#post-14985616

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

Hi which cables measurements can be used for the below cables -

TRN Replacement Earphone Cable 2 Pin MMCX Upgrade Cable With Mic Use For ZS10 ZS6 ZST PRO V30 ZSR BA10 AS10 QT2 TFZ KZ CCA SHUER
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bGIVfp4U

TRN T2 Earphone Upgrade Cable Silver Plated Line 2.5mm 3.5mm 4.4mm Plug MMCX Connector Use For TENHZ SHUER SE846 FIIO UE NICEHCK
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bWpSMTUG

TRN Earphone Cable 2 Pin MMCX Upgrade With Mic Use For X6 IM2 V80 ZSA ZS6 ZST ZSR BA10 AS10 QT2 RT-1 CCA TFZ KZ Universal Cable
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/emrZPYc

I'm looking forward to purchase mmcx cables, one with mic and one proper upgrade cable. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[hakuzen]

sorry, @Jon L , missed the right link:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/resistance-of-cables-pics-comments-and-links.907998/#post-14985616

165 links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32997339497.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32997399146.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/33005627267.html
170 links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/1000007909452.html

 

[hakuzen]

Hi which cables measurements can be used for the below cables -

TRN Replacement Earphone Cable 2 Pin MMCX Upgrade Cable With Mic Use For ZS10 ZS6 ZST PRO V30 ZSR BA10 AS10 QT2 TFZ KZ CCA SHUER
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bGIVfp4U

TRN T2 Earphone Upgrade Cable Silver Plated Line 2.5mm 3.5mm 4.4mm Plug MMCX Connector Use For TENHZ SHUER SE846 FIIO UE NICEHCK
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bWpSMTUG

TRN Earphone Cable 2 Pin MMCX Upgrade With Mic Use For X6 IM2 V80 ZSA ZS6 ZST ZSR BA10 AS10 QT2 RT-1 CCA TFZ KZ Universal Cable
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/emrZPYc

I'm looking forward to purchase mmcx cables, one with mic and one proper upgrade cable. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

only 3rd of these cables are in my measurements. cable 043 (https://www.head-fi.org/threads/resistance-of-cables-pics-comments-and-links.907998/#post-14985640). high resistance.
guess any of the first 2 is better

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

only 3rd of these cables are in my measurements. cable 043 (https://www.head-fi.org/threads/resistance-of-cables-pics-comments-and-links.907998/#post-14985640). high resistance.
guess any of the first 2 is better

Thanks for your inputs. Went ahead with 2nd and 3rd. Only reason for purchasing 3rd one was for the mic. Needed one for traveling. High resistance requires more juice? Or they tame treble?

 

[hakuzen]

Thanks for your inputs. Went ahead with 2nd and 3rd. Only reason for purchasing 3rd one was for the mic. Needed one for traveling. High resistance requires more juice? Or they tame treble?

from my 1st post:
"low resistance is symptom of quality of wires, plugs, and solders (together with total thickness of the conductor, of course).
low resistance is important to get minimum total output impedance (of course, if your source output impedance is high, total will be high regardless of cable resistance), in order to minimize tonal alterations when using iems with balanced armatures.
it's also convenient to decrease attenuation and to increase damping factor and efficiency."
yes, high resistance also needs more juice, but not a notable difference comparing these cables.
they can contribute to tame treble or to make it harsher, depending of the impedance curve of the balanced armatures into your iem. if you are using only dynamic drivers, no tonal alteration.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

from my 1st post:
"low resistance is symptom of quality of wires, plugs, and solders (together with total thickness of the conductor, of course).
low resistance is important to get minimum total output impedance (of course, if your source output impedance is high, total will be high regardless of cable resistance), in order to minimize tonal alterations when using iems with balanced armatures.
it's also convenient to decrease attenuation and to increase damping factor and efficiency."
yes, high resistance also needs more juice, but not a notable difference comparing these cables.
they can contribute to tame treble or to make it harsher, depending of the impedance curve of the balanced armatures into your iem. if you are using only dynamic drivers, no tonal alteration.

Thanks. I'm using only DDs with them. Will use them with either my Tennmak Pro or Piano.

 

[Grev]

So that Nicehck 8 core cable is still the champion of price to performance ratio.

 

[SilverEars]

Just want to get some opinions on people's experiences on audibility based on impedance. For those that was aware of impedance differences between the various cables tried, what impedance difference made most difference sonically? Did you find lowest impedance sounding better or worse, too different? Also, what about BA based iems compared to dynamic driver ones? I suspect dynamic driver ones to be least effect though.

So, verifying the impedance is to be sure the cable is not contributing to channel imbalance?

I'm curious because @hakuzen has various measurements of cables, but not sure what significance in value is worth trying out (below what impedance value, etc..). I'm looking to try out an extremely low impedance cable.

 

[gourab1995]

Just want to get some opinions on people's experiences on audibility based on impedance. For those that was aware of impedance differences between the various cables tried, what impedance difference made most difference sonically? Did you find lowest impedance sounding better or worse, too different? Also, what about BA based iems compared to dynamic driver ones? I suspect dynamic driver ones to be least effect though.

So, verifying the impedance is to be sure the cable is not contributing to channel imbalance?

I'm curious because @hakuzen has various measurements of cables, but not sure what significance in value is worth trying out (below what impedance value, etc..). I'm looking to try out an extremely low impedance cable.

I own the zs7 which has a rated impedance of 24 ohms. The zs7 stock cable according to @hakuzen has a very high resistance compared to the kz silver only 8 core. I also have an 8 core cable from jcally which i can only assume has better conductivity than kz cables given the measurements of some other jcally cables and its higher price point.

That being said i don't think that better conductive cables will give you better sounding iems all the time. At least in the case of the zs7 i find the stock cable sounding most coherent, despite its high resistance. The kz silver cable tame bass, make mids weird and highs more pronunciated (latter being a good thing). Whereas the jcally produce better staging with a more aggressive v shape sound which is also not necessarily a good thing depending on whether or not you like a more v shape tuning than it already is on the zs7.

I seem to come back to the original cables after long listening sessions with all of the 3 different cables.

And now go along with the conclusion that, if it doesn't sound good in its stock config. Probably wont sound much better or worse with a different cable, so might as well stick to the ones the iems came with, and tuned with, unless they are physically unusable.

 

[hakuzen]

Just want to get some opinions on people's experiences on audibility based on impedance. For those that was aware of impedance differences between the various cables tried, what impedance difference made most difference sonically? Did you find lowest impedance sounding better or worse, too different? Also, what about BA based iems compared to dynamic driver ones? I suspect dynamic driver ones to be least effect though.

So, verifying the impedance is to be sure the cable is not contributing to channel imbalance?

I'm curious because @hakuzen has various measurements of cables, but not sure what significance in value is worth trying out (below what impedance value, etc..). I'm looking to try out an extremely low impedance cable.

from my first post:

low resistance is symptom of quality of wires, plugs, and solders (together with total thickness of the conductor, of course).
low resistance is important to get minimum total output impedance (of course, if your source output impedance is high, total will be high regardless of cable resistance), in order to minimize tonal alterations when using iems with balanced armatures.
it's also convenient to decrease attenuation and to increase damping factor and efficiency.
(considering my gear, i'd aim to cables below 200mΩ resistance, ~26awg).

you can find many samples of why the lowest impedance (source's output impedance + cable impedance) is needed for balanced armatures here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...urements-in-post-3-tutorial-in-post-2.800208/
in the case of dynamic drivers, lowest impedance means bigger damping factor, needed for hard to drive phones, like planars.
also, attenuation is lower (efficiency), and you get more loudness perception with same output power (but this difference is smaller than in the two above cases).
in general, lower impedance doesn't provide sound difference by its own, but depending of the gear you are using, it does. check next answer:

I own the zs7 which has a rated impedance of 24 ohms. The zs7 stock cable according to @hakuzen has a very high resistance compared to the kz silver only 8 core. I also have an 8 core cable from jcally which i can only assume has better conductivity than kz cables given the measurements of some other jcally cables and its higher price point.

That being said i don't think that better conductive cables will give you better sounding iems all the time. At least in the case of the zs7 i find the stock cable sounding most coherent, despite its high resistance. The kz silver cable tame bass, make mids weird and highs more pronunciated (latter being a good thing). Whereas the jcally produce better staging with a more aggressive v shape sound which is also not necessarily a good thing depending on whether or not you like a more v shape tuning than it already is on the zs7.

I seem to come back to the original cables after long listening sessions with all of the 3 different cables.

And now go along with the conclusion that, if it doesn't sound good in its stock config. Probably wont sound much better or worse with a different cable, so might as well stick to the ones the iems came with, and tuned with, unless they are physically unusable.

what is happening is that the higher impedance of your stock cable alters true tonality of the zs7, but you appreciate that tonal alteration because it's nearer to the signature you prefer.
it's similar to our discussion about zs6 time ago. higher total output impedance contributed to tame the excessive highs peaks, and average perception became darker, "more bass".
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/kno...essions-thread.698148/page-1553#post-13777787
this is an exception, because we usually want to get original iem tonality, no alteration.
edit: btw, try kz silver or jcally cables while using foam tips. the result will be near to what you get with stock cable.

 

[SilverEars]

I need an iem that's really low impedance to play around with cable impedance values. I got the measurement rig, but curious what cheap iem has absurdly low impedance response that varies throughout the audible range. Any ideas?