[chiefroastbeef]

Hi guys,

Walked past an audio shop here in HK and found someone selling the connectors for $8usd/pair shipped worldwide (stamped envelope). As someone who struggled to make my own connectors, and failed when the connector disconnected, causing my custom IEM to drop on the floor with the faceplate cracked opened and the shell also cracked, these molded connectors were godsent. So I want to share with you the good news! Very high quality connectors, the seller sells two versions, the protruded version for the UE customs, and the regular intruded version for the triple fis, superfis. I have the protruded version on my Freqs right now, it is a tight fit, no more hot gluing my diy connector to the IEM!


His email is derek [at] discovery-global.com

And no, I am not affiliated with them in anyway, I am just extremely happy and thankful I've found them, if you are making IEM cables, you'd understand my excitement.

 

[pdupiano]

WOW... Thank you Now who's up for sending over a massive buy.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

You guys can figure it out.

Well, he charges ~$8/pair shipped in a stamped envelope, may as well just buy from him individually. These connectors are truly gems, they are used extensively by a Chinese company that makes custom cables for UE and Westone in Asia. I never knew the connectors were sold individually until I walked into that shop, what a surprise! No more heatshrink and hotgluing the connector to the IEM! My Freqs look so much cleaner and sturdier. I only wish I found these earlier so I would have never dropped the IEM onto the floor..

 

[Chamakazi]

Wow, these are fantastic. I think I'll throw in an order, I'm in desperate need of a new cable. Thanks chiefroastbeef!

 

[furstrated]

I just very recently got the triplefis and IMHO, the cable is crap. I have the triplefi10 vi which i use with my phone and the left is losing signal intermittently. I tried the right cable with the left earpiece so i know its a cable problem, Im currently waiting for a reply from UE support but im also planning a diy cable.
Edited question as i reread and noticed the email address
Thanks for the info

 

[Chamakazi]

I found that my Super.Fi 3 cables came loose after about a month of use. The pins seem to loosen after a while, loosening the grip on the earphone. I'm using a little bit of sticky tape right now, seems to work.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

When I had my superfis, UE was pretty good with sending me new cables when they crapped out ( I believe three times).  Perhaps they will replace and ship you another for free like they did for me.  In the mean while these plugs are great for diy.  Just make sure you guys hotglue the inside of the housing to make sure the wire jointing with the pin cannot move, or else the wire will snap off under normal use.

 

[pdupiano]

I ordered a couple of these from Derek, he's very nice to deal with and he shipped out the connectors right away. But as a warning to those outside of HK, the only downside is that he only accepts money transfer so no paypal I'm afraid and the bankfees as well as shipping can add up, I think bankfees alone was $35 from my bank, which was a little disappointing. I think with that and shipping I ended up paying something like $13/pair, but these are a lot easier and nicer to work with than buying a $15-$20 cable, hacking it up and just taking the pins, using hot glue, heatshrink etc.. etc... I'd recommend these to anyone and yes do glue in the pins otherwise they will move and cause you problems.
 
Here is a little pic I took of the connectors, you will not believe how small these things are, i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo178/elvishpiledriver/UE_02.jpg
and http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo178/elvishpiledriver/UE_03.jpg
 
Oh and the wire I used in the pics above are 26awg, I'm afraid if you use something bigger than that, you will have to either drill a bigger hole or file it, or use heatshrink instead of the black housing.

 

[furstrated]

That cabling looks professional. Excellent job
I'm planning of doing my own but ill integrate the mic and control button from my vi cable.
Anything i should be worried about that? Interference, insulation, what-have-yous?

 

[chiefroastbeef]

Quote:

I ordered a couple of these from Derek, he's very nice to deal with and he shipped out the connectors right away. But as a warning to those outside of HK, the only downside is that he only accepts money transfer so no paypal I'm afraid and the bankfees as well as shipping can add up, I think bankfees alone was $35 from my bank, which was a little disappointing. I think with that and shipping I ended up paying something like $13/pair, but these are a lot easier and nicer to work with than buying a $15-$20 cable, hacking it up and just taking the pins, using hot glue, heatshrink etc.. etc... I'd recommend these to anyone and yes do glue in the pins otherwise they will move and cause you problems.
 
Here is a little pic I took of the connectors, you will not believe how small these things are, i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo178/elvishpiledriver/UE_02.jpg
and http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/oo178/elvishpiledriver/UE_03.jpg
 
Oh and the wire I used in the pics above are 26awg, I'm afraid if you use something bigger than that, you will have to either drill a bigger hole or file it, or use heatshrink instead of the black housing.

Holy smokessss, that is a lot for bank fees.  He wouldn't accept paypal at all?  That is a shame..  I will go ask him again why not, he did mention he received a lot of inquiries by email, but not all bought from him, perhaps it was because of payment methods.
 
Lovely looking cable by the way, did you stuff the inside of the connector with hotglue so the wire wouldn't be snapped off the gold pin from usage?  Hot glue is the best choice since it can be ripped off and the connector then can be reused.

 

[pdupiano]

Actually the bank fees and shipping was the only thing that was holding me back from buying, but I just got a group of friends who wanted to do a little group buy and ended up picking up 12 connectors so we were able to split the bank fees. As for the hotglue, actually I haven't finished the cable, I didn't glue anything at all but I will just to make sure everything is nice and secure. I was actually thinking about getting glue lined heatshrink and make something more like what Null audio does with a series of heatshrinks rather than using the housing. I think that will make sure everything stays nice and secure. While working on the cable, I noticed that these pins are odly enough 1000000% easier to workwith even though they are 1/4 the size of the cardas sennheiser hd650 plugs.
 
The wire i used in the cable was just simple mogami wire, 26awg braided as tightly as humanly possible (took me over 2 and half hours just braiding it, normally it takes about 30 min to do a loose briad). If you add a mic I'm not really too sure what other considerations you would need to take. I'd recommend taking your current Vi chord, and examining what's inside. I would actually dread adding a mic because of the number of wires to braid would be odd. I've only worked with 3, 4, 8, and 16, never 5 or 6 like what you would need when you add a mic in the cable.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

Ah, thanks for the update!  That is interesting, to use glue-lined heatshrink instead of the housing.  Do you plan on laying some hotglue over the pins and wires first so they can't snap off?

 

[furstrated]

Quote:

Actually the bank fees and shipping was the only thing that was holding me back from buying, but I just got a group of friends who wanted to do a little group buy and ended up picking up 12 connectors so we were able to split the bank fees. As for the hotglue, actually I haven't finished the cable, I didn't glue anything at all but I will just to make sure everything is nice and secure. I was actually thinking about getting glue lined heatshrink and make something more like what Null audio does with a series of heatshrinks rather than using the housing. I think that will make sure everything stays nice and secure. While working on the cable, I noticed that these pins are odly enough 1000000% easier to workwith even though they are 1/4 the size of the cardas sennheiser hd650 plugs.
 
The wire i used in the cable was just simple mogami wire, 26awg braided as tightly as humanly possible (took me over 2 and half hours just braiding it, normally it takes about 30 min to do a loose briad). If you add a mic I'm not really too sure what other considerations you would need to take. I'd recommend taking your current Vi chord, and examining what's inside. I would actually dread adding a mic because of the number of wires to braid would be odd. I've only worked with 3, 4, 8, and 16, never 5 or 6 like what you would need when you add a mic in the cable.

Thanks for the info, as far as i know, like with all earphone cables with integrated mic, the mic uses the grounds of the cables. Ive aredy bought a replacement vi cable from ue and foregone claiming warranty for the original as they are simply taking too long. i might canibalize the connectors and controls of the crapped out vi cable and move the button to the left channel cable opposite the mic on the other side as opposed to the original having it below the y-junction.That might keep the two sides balanced as far as the number of cables. Im also planning on just twisting the cables and not braiding until after the y joint. i might also include some small diameter nylon string for added durability of the cables against tugs, but that might depend on how small a cable i am able to source.
As of now, im sourcing cables from ebay. i also found a seller there of adhesive lined clear shrink tube so i might get them too.
will post on the cable diy section when i finally get around to doing it
 

 

[thammuz]

Not to be one to resurrect  an 8 day old thread but, where is this shop located?

 

[wsoelivan]

Their shop address:
Shop 128
Sim City
47-51 Shantung Street
Mongkok Kowloon
Hong Kong