[P+D-MI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geforcewong I bought the latest cardas headphone cable and it just arrived yesterday (the grey one). 10 feet for $111. Beat that price

I thought the latest cardas headphone cable was blue with black ends. All though $111.00 is a great price for new.

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geforcewong I bought the latest cardas headphone cable and it just arrived yesterday (the grey one). 10 feet for $111. Beat that price

Where did you buy it?

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorander I'm now looking to get a different set of Senn cable and have been trying to find out which would improve on the stock cable without starkly changing the phones' signature. I've been considering the Headphile V2 cable, but I admit I'm intrigued with the G52 cable. Based on how I like the stock cable (sound and flexibility), would the G52 (or even the Headphile) be a good choice for me IYO?

I know this was meant for V man but I thought I would chime in. If you're happy with the stock cable than saving your money on a new cable may be the way to go. Having said that, I don't feel the G52 changes the 650's "signature". I feel it opens it up the sound of the 650's. There seems to be improvements in every aspect, at least when I directly compared it to the Zu. It was as if the Zu was holding the cans back and not allowing them to be as musical as they can be. I would love to compare them to the Equinox which I owned over a year ago. The Equinox would have to be significantly better before I made a change.

 

[Voltron]

Thanks tyrion, you pretty much nailed the two choices I would recommend, and for the same reasons.

Zorander-
I know you were a previous SD owner because I bought yours and have since resold it. To my ears, the Equinox is probably closest to the signature of the stock cable while opening up the soundstage and bringing out the detail. The G52 does the same thing with an overall more "live" presentation with the mids/vocals being a little more focused in front of your head. Still has great soundstaging and detail as I have said above. These cables are probably equally microphonic--not bad at all, the top of the cable where the wire is exposed is the noisiest part on the Eq, but much quieter than the SD or Zu (the Zu drove me crazy in that regard--both stiff and very microphonic so moving at all was noisy).

As to the Headphile, I have owned one of them with some woody 600s but I think it was an earlier BlackSilver version. It was silvery sounding but did not have as detailed or pleasing a sound to the others I have heard.

The Blue Dragon is one I have managed to miss over and over again. Need to hear that one.

The Cardas Smurf Blue cable is not a favorite of mine. I have only heard it briefly but I thought it was dull and congested in comparison to the Eq, G52, SD and Zu. No offense, geforcewong or anyone else, it is just not my preference. The newest version of that same cable has a grey sleeve instead of the Smurf, but my understanding is that it is the same cable.

The really interesting thing that I heard at the meet last week was the new Cardas cable called "Fatpipe" or something like that. It is much thinner than the Smurf but there is also a thinner still version called "Thinpipe" (or something) that I did not see. I heard it on recabled and balanced K701s at the Headroom table and then saw N_Maher's recabled 600s but stupidly did not ask to listen to them. Maybe we should PM him to give his thoughts on the sound with 600s. He did the recable himself but I got the impression from Tyll that there might be replacement cables or recabling available through at least Headroom. It sounded great on the balanced K701s but I would love to hear it -- or at least hear about it -- on the 600s and 650s. Nate, are you reading this?

**edit--Nate has 600s and wrote this about it elsewhere when I mentioned his new cable:

Quote:

Originally Posted by n_maher Muaaahahahaha, yes my HD600s are indeed cabled with HR Cardas Fatpipe™. The other version I believe is called Thinpipe™ and is downright tiny. I believe both are proprietary versions of Cardas's 4x24 headphone cable specially manufactured for Headroom. Rumor has it that the cables will be available some time in 06, but I haven't heard when.

 

[rhythmdevils]

great review voltron. you need not be shy about writing reviews! you were able to describe the differences between them in a way that was complex and precise, but also understandable.

for a second, it made me want to cancel my trip to india this summer and just get an mpx3, hd650 and equinox instead

only for a second though

 

[Voltron]

Thanks Whitney. Man, you travel a lot. That is excellent. Bring us back some cool music.

 

[Zorander]

Thanks, Voltron. One more thing, would you regard the G52 and/or Headphile to be significantly more microphonic and stiffer, in comparison to the stock cable?

 

[PsychoZX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorander Thanks, Voltron. One more thing, would you regard the G52 and/or Headphile to be significantly more microphonic and stiffer, in comparison to the stock cable?

In stock form the G52 is quite a bit more microphonic than the stock cable, but you could always have Myo build you one with a softer sleeving that would fix that. The headphile isn't hardly microphonic at all because it uses a soft sleeving.

 

[Borat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PsychoZX In stock form the G52 is quite a bit more microphonic than the stock cable, but you could always have Myo build you one with a softer sleeving that would fix that. The headphile isn't hardly microphonic at all because it uses a soft sleeving.

My Guerrilla Audio interconnects use that same soft cloth sleeving as opposed to standard techflex and I love it. Why use the hard textured techflex, especially with a headphone cable that can be microphonic? The sleeving does not affect sonic performance, does it?

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorander Thanks, Voltron. One more thing, would you regard the G52 and/or Headphile to be significantly more microphonic and stiffer, in comparison to the stock cable?

never tried the G52, but the headphile cable is quite supple, and not microphonic at all. i believe it to be the most bendable of all the aftermarket cables, which is nice, but it also lends it to kinking more easily

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron Thanks Whitney. Man, you travel a lot. That is excellent. Bring us back some cool music.

if i can i will! i wont be bringing any music/ipod/amps/etc with me. but i'll be living in a nunery helping them build a church. i'll be waking up every morning to chanting...hopefully that, along with the other music i encounter will keep my music addiction in check.

 

[luvdunhill]

Could anyone give me a run down of the commercially available Senn replacement cables that use silver conductors?

The one's I know about are:

Headfile's Black Silver
Moon Audio Silver Dragon

 

[pxpx]

OK - sorry to revive an old thread, but I am hoping that voltron, saint panda, jazz, kurt et al. are still around to help me out, even if it's a long shot!

Fantastic thread, by the way, and my thanks to all the contributors regardless of whether I can elicit any response to my below questions.

Reading through all the posts, I think that I am leaning towards either the Zu or the equinox. I have the Meier Corda Opera amp, utilising the onboard DAC fed from my PC via USB. I am overall very happy with the Opera and the 650's and love the sound signature for most types of music. I listen to a lot of pop/electronic (Dire straights, Cat Stevens, Fleetwood Mac, 1200 Micrograms, general pop-house etc). The 650's do a really good job even with the stock cable and I especially enjoy the warmth and texture of vocals.

However, one area that I am dissapointed with is progressive metal. By far my favourite band is Tool, a progressive/art metal band. The Opera and stock 650 just seem to turn their music into mush! There is very little separation, their seems to be a distinct lack of detail, (I love my details!) and the music seems to really lack PRat. I am guessing that this phenomenon is the "veil" widely reported elsewhere? I also own a set of Grado SR225's which can certainly deliver the pace that I am after, but they are too bright for this type of music and the vocals tend to sound very artificial. I know that it isn't necessarily the recording, since I can get a far better (lively/detailed/soundstage) sound with my home audio system.

I'm wondering if anyone might hazzard a guess as to whether the Zu or the Equinox might help me with this rather genre specific issue? Which would be best. A lot of the comments I've read suggest that the Zu may be the better option but I am nervous about ending up with a sound that is too bright or harsh.

Thanks in advance
pxpx

 

[Patu]

pxpx,

Try the Revelation Audio Lab cable. It really alters the sound of HD650, in a way you might like.

 

[sthswell]

pxpx,
RAL cables are great but the service is very poor. I ordered a cable in January 07 that I am still waiting for. My headphone cable took 8 months by the time I received it. Now going on 11 months for a powercord. Brad will not refund my money after repeated requests.
Buyer beware when ordering from Revelation Audio Labs!