[skingg]

Hi, I've been reading the past 35 pages of this thread and searching around the forums but I still couldn't find an answer. Does anyone knows what are the materials used for the Baldur MKII/MKIII cables and if they are worth the upgrade for the SE535? I've heard people heaped praise on these cables, while others prefer full silver or hybrid cables such as those by Double Helix, but these costs nearly twice as much as a Baldur MK cable. I believe there was a thread comparing the Baldur MKII cables between the 535 and the 4r but it was removed or something.

 

[pacman46]

I could not agree more Truck. I spent 2 months and about $100 to find the right tips for my 535 and the nice thing was the same tips work great on my 846. I also still use the 535 mostly for vocal tracks as it reminds of the black filter on the 846.

×2..these two iems have two totally different sound sigs.. Out of just "any" apple device well the newer ones anyways.. Sounds mediocre at best in imo.. When adding a better source and amp and even just a half decent amp they both excel.. I know that the 535 has rolled off treble but with a upgraded cable or cables.. And a good amp added more or extended highs.. I really like both of these iems but I find the 535 would probably be my favourite out of the two specially when you upgrade your source and cables and amp.. Amazing little earphone imo.. I also find it sounds better out of just a dap then the w4r does.. Specially out of a apple product as I find it sounds boring and just blah compared to the 535 again this is just my opinion..

 

[zombywoof]

  Hi, I've been reading the past 35 pages of this thread and searching around the forums but I still couldn't find an answer. Does anyone knows what are the materials used for the Baldur MKII/MKIII cables and if they are worth the upgrade for the SE535? I've heard people heaped praise on these cables, while others prefer full silver or hybrid cables such as those by Double Helix, but these costs nearly twice as much as a Baldur MK cable. I believe there was a thread comparing the Baldur MKII cables between the 535 and the 4r but it was removed or something.

I don't think you will find clear agreement on these forums regarding the merits the "upgrade" cables.  I have more than one case more $ spent on the cable than the IEM. I tried the Fiio RC-SE1 (silver plated copper) with my 215's ad 535's and really couldn't detect any difference.  (I am currently using 160Gb iPod 7G > Fiio L9 > JDS C5 > SE535.)  I am sure glad I only spent $30 on the Fiio cable.  The other downside was a higher degree of microphonics when compared to the OTB Shure cable.

 

[spook76]

Hi, I've been reading the past 35 pages of this thread and searching around the forums but I still couldn't find an answer. Does anyone knows what are the materials used for the Baldur MKII/MKIII cables and if they are worth the upgrade for the SE535? I've heard people heaped praise on these cables, while others prefer full silver or hybrid cables such as those by Double Helix, but these costs nearly twice as much as a Baldur MK cable. I believe there was a thread comparing the Baldur MKII cables between the 535 and the 4r but it was removed or something.

The Baldur's are silver coated copper. I agree you will not find agreement on upgrading cables.

From my experience I absolutely feel upgrading cables can make a sonic difference. I upgraded my SE535 and SE846 to first with OCC silver coated copper then pure OCC silver cables from Headphone Lounge and the sound became clearer and it tightened the sound from top to bottom. Headphone Lounge's OCC silver coated copper is far less than the Baldur's at about $100.

 

[zombywoof]

This whole cable upgrade thing has me a bit mystified.  First off...I am not an electrician, or an electrical engineer, just curious.  I would guess that the controlling electrical property of the cable is the overall resistance...connectors, solder, conductor all in the mix, and that lowest possible resistance is desired.  If this is true, the equation is:
 
RESISTANCE = (RESISTIVITY x LENGTH) / AREA
 
Resistivity is a property of the metallic conductors in the system.
Length could be considered the length of the cable.
Area is the total cross sectional area of one conductor, which likely has multiple individual wires or strands.
 
Ignoring the influence of the connectors and the solder, and considering only the cable...
 
The difference in resistivity between copper and silver is very small...silver is a better conductor but not by much.  If the resistivity of copper is 1.0, then by comparison silver would be about 0.95.  So changing the conductors from solid copper to solid silver and leaving everything else the same would lower the resistance by about 5%.
 
Assuming the average cable is about 48" long, reducing the cable length to 36" (with no other changes) would reduce the resistance by 25%.  I have never seen a claim that a shorter cable length improves the SQ.
 
Similarly, an increase in the diameter of the wire would decrease the resistance.  Increasing the diameter of the wire by 10% would increase the area by 21% and reduce the resistance similarly.  Again, I have not seen any claims of using larger diameter wire to improve SQ.
 
What am I missing here?

 

[ubs28]

  Why wouldn't you steer the guy to the W4R??
 
Don't want to crap the thread but the W4R midrange is undeniable smoother than the SE535.   It just is...
 
The SE535 is more forward, more present but there is a bit of graininess or very mild harshness that is completely absent with the W4R.  Throw in the fact that the W4R is a touch more transparent with superior detail retrieval and it seems like a no-brainer solution.
 
I was wrong.....the only thing SE535 does better than W4R is bass qty/slam.  I think W4R beats it in every other cirteria.

Well, that's your opinion. Not everybody has the same opinion as yours. That why some people don't steer towards the W4R.

 

[ubs28]

Regardless the se535 are a exceptionally great uiem for the price. Excellent square wave response....and I feel like the shures sound depends on the other equipment in the rig you are using...I find the highs to good extension with my rig....I didnt find the same thing with my old rig and the se535 so I think there is somethimg to be had with a good rig and the se535...also I find the sound reproduction to be pretty stellar considdring it only has 3 drivers.

 
I agree. The Shure SE535 sound complete different on my DAC + AMP. It pretty much fixes the bass and the forward mids. The soundstage and imaging is much better also. 
 
I should probably upgrade to the latest iPhone 5S as my source 

 

 

[HiFiwilliam1109]

Omg! That hiss sound just reoccurred today when the swivel the cord over my ear while I was putting it on for a listen.
Has this occurred to you guys? Sudden hiss sound when you swivel the cord over your ear, but seems fine once you put them on?

 

[spook76]

Omg! That hiss sound just reoccurred today when the swivel the cord over my ear while I was putting it on for a listen.
Has this occurred to you guys? Sudden hiss sound when you swivel the cord over your ear, but seems fine once you put them on?

Yes, that has occurred to me. I clean the cables connection and the IEM connection and the problem goes away. Use a toothpick with a tiny piece of paper towel on the tip and a little rubbing alcohol or DeToxic cleaner.

 

[HiFiwilliam1109]

So it doesn't mean my headphone are broken right? Hopefully cleaning will resolve the problem.
Just one more thing any tips on removing the cable, I want to be gentle with it, and not break it during the process of removing the cable

 

[spook76]

When removing the cable hold the IEM in one hand and slide your fingernail between the cable and the IEM and gentle pry it up. To reattach it make sure the cable connection the the IEM socket are aligned and push until you hear and audible click.

 

[skingg]

Is there a waiting period for the rubbing alcohol to dry up before we can use them? And are we cleaning the 'hole' of the IEM connection instead of the cable jacks? Also, all rubbing alcohol are basically the same thing right? Thanks in advance.

 

[spook76]

You can wait for it to evaporate or use a little more paper towel to dry it. You should clean both the cable MMCX connection and the IEM connection. As for what rubbing alcohol I am not a chemist but I believe they are all the same.

 

[Mooses9]

also good thing about iso alcohol is it will also dry out any water. the more pure the better  as far as cleaning. alcohol dries pretty quickly. and when cleaning i would just go get those diabetic wipes they use for blood testing, you can get 70% alcohol which is good. you dont wanna get anything TOO wet with alcohol.

 

[ubs28]

The Shure SE535 is a dark sounding IEM with recessed mids? 
 
I have been A/B the Shure SE535 against my neutral / flat Shure SRH 1840 and if I used a low-pass filter and removed some mid-frequencies a similar sound signature of the Shure SE535 was achieved. 
 
(or my Shure SE535 must be broken, since I don't think my Shure SE535 IEM has emphasised mid range like a lot of people are saying on this board. It just has some missing frequencies which makes some part of the mid range stand out despite it not being emphasised )