[PiNa.cz]

  This may sound like the dumbest question ever asked, but what do balanced cables do exactly? (I'm a noob at all this high-end audio stuff right now)

 
There is a nice article at HeadRoom to start with:
 
http://www.headphone.com/learning-center/balanced-drive.php

 

[Sherwood]

A better resource (^^^) beat me to the answer

 

[MineTwine45]

   
There is a nice article at HeadRoom to start with:
 
http://www.headphone.com/learning-center/balanced-drive.php

 
Thank you much, I'll give it a read.

 

[mcandmar]

Short answer is you have a separate + and - wire running to each driver, usually wired to a 4pin XLR connector, or two 3 pins.  Vs a standard 3 pole headphone socket which only has a + to each driver, and then the two earth lines joined together.  Immediate benefit being complete channel separation and better noise rejection.
 
Then it gets complicated as you have the option of a few different amplifier designs which will basically drive the - line as a mirror image of the +. But that's a whole other discussion..

 

[.Sup]

-1 to Sennheiser. Their stock HD800 cable costs 4 times less and can be reviewed to 4 pin balanced. And CH 650 costs as much as HD600.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

 

  No one would, except in sighted testing when one is expecting the change. Been there. 

 
This balanced cable works perfectly for HD800 and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221219807298?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 
that cable is incredibly low quality (im not talking sound)
 
It feels super cheap, the plugs don't fit the connectors in the hd800 properly and it's not very long at all
 
IMO the CH800S is the nicest cable ive ever used for the hd800, yes the price is ridiculous, it should cost about $200 and even thats pushing it.

It's very well build and sounds great, own one. Connectors are not loose, same fit as stock, the cleanest soldering I've seen (disassembled the plug), not sure I understand comment about length, it's 2.5 m, if you need longer get one, they have 6m I believe.
Do a search on Zy cables here, it's elite cable builder well known all over China. You may have exposure to one of the earlier revisions perhaps, I've read that first version of HD650 had some lousy connectors, but that was fixed long time ago, not sure about HD800. In fact, I liked it so much that I ordered one for HD650 as well.
 
And yes, unless there is bad soldering, some shorts or some other kind of the mechanical problem, any cable will sound the same. Add fancy braiding, some poetry filled manufacturer description, a couple of peer reviews, and all over sudden same cable material and geometry magically fixing bright treble on one phones and adding bass on another. 
 
HD800, HD650 cables, same as T1, are balanced by nature, little DIY and you get balanced cable with SE dongle. 
 
BTG Audio and Moon Audio are two others budget minded alternatives to Zy cable and DIY retermination. I dare anyone to tell the difference in unsighted ABX.

 

[catspaw]

  380 dollars for a cable...
 

 
 
Insanity... Its a piece of copper inside a rubber envelope... I think that cable would be cheaper if it was made from pure 18K Gold...

 

[harrinj]

Haha those prices. It's just little metal wires!

 

[squallkiercosa]

Poor Rosmadi, should be pretty sad to see the company you work with, been bashed for awful marketing tactics. Who knows, maybe is on purpose, in a few months they will claim "30% discount" and everyone will be jumping...

 

[HiFiGuy528]

video is now live on my channel.
 

 

[OICWUTUDIDTHAR]

  It's very well build and sounds great, own one. Connectors are not loose, same fit as stock, the cleanest soldering I've seen (disassembled the plug), not sure I understand comment about length, it's 2.5 m, if you need longer get one, they have 6m I believe.
Do a search on Zy cables here, it's elite cable builder well known all over China. You may have exposure to one of the earlier revisions perhaps, I've read that first version of HD650 had some lousy connectors, but that was fixed long time ago, not sure about HD800. In fact, I liked it so much that I ordered one for HD650 as well.
 
And yes, unless there is bad soldering, some shorts or some other kind of the mechanical problem, any cable will sound the same. Add fancy braiding, some poetry filled manufacturer description, a couple of peer reviews, and all over sudden same cable material and geometry magically fixing bright treble on one phones and adding bass on another. 
 
HD800 cable, same as T1, is balanced by nature, little DIY and you get balanced cable with SE dongle. 
 
BTG Audio and Moon Audio are two others budget minded alternatives to Zy cable and DIY retermination. I dare anyone to tell the difference in unsighted ABX.

 
 
Hmm, maybe it was just mine was defective? Still can't say I am a fan of the sleeving.

 

[Canadian411]

 
Cool! What kind of wire? (And what supplier did you use?)

 


You can get pretty decent 18 AWG OCC Copper 6N for about $2.50 per ft, that is for 1 feet with 16 conductor will cost you $40.
Making it reasonable length let's say 5 feet will do about $200. adding furutech connectors with the pair of HD800 connector, + sleeves heat shrink, $300.

Now, you can go extreme, 18 AWG OCC Silver 6N, that will cost you at least $2000 to cover 10 feet just on the material.

But enough is enough, I don't think I can hear any sonic differences between 4N and 7N, etc.

 

[skeptic]

Just FYI, thick gage cable cannot be attached to the tiny hd800 connectors. This has led to some interesting discussion about alo cables and what must be going on under the heatshrink.

 

[Canadian411]

Yes I read that, I am aware thanks !

 

[LifeAspect]

  video is now live on my channel.
 

How is it exclusive when the cable been out for the past 2 months now?