[alexs]

I thought electricity flows the same way whether it be a cheap dollar store cable...or one those $100 dollar gold plated ones....how can there be a difference from a scientific point of view...flow of electrons and such..?

shed some light on this, because i see topics where people recable their headphones and they suddenly sound amazing..seems rather hard to believe.

 

[fewtch]

The best way to shed light would be to recable a headphone yourself (or listen at a meet) and form your own conclusions. As a subjectivist forum, ears are trusted here more than measurements, etc.

Not that it's scientifically impossible (there *are* differences in the way current flows in different cables), just that there's no direct scientific explanation for the specific case of hearing differences between cables. Check the websites of cable manufacturers for some explanations that sound to me like mumbo-jumbo... maybe they are, maybe not.

 

[Purgatos]

Scientifically it makes sense to hear a difference between the worst cable and a good cable simply due to signal loss, but you have to have a pretty bad cable for that.

I personally can't hear any difference between $50 cable and $300 cable, but some people say they can and I have no reason not to believe them.

 

[iancraig10]

I suppose it depends how sensitive you are to 'minor' changes. Lots of claims are made about cables. I personally feel that a lot of it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. If you spend the type of money that some people spend on cables, it could be a lot cheaper to just buy another pair of headphones and get more of a change than you would get with cabling. The power of suggestion can be very expensive.

What many people refer to as a huge difference is in fact (to my ears) quite minor.

This debate has been going on for years. I have noticed some differences on speaker cables but less so on headphones. Maybe it's more of an impedance issue?

Ian

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

I, too, was a little leary of these claims, but I can tell you for a fact that when I went around the country 4 years ago with the world of headphones tour the most common exclaimation of surprise was when people would test the HD600 with various cables. Many folks claimed that the differences between cables were much more easily heard than the differences between amps! Had I not seen it myself so many times I would have had a hard time really believing my own ears when I heard the differences for myself---because it is there and quite obvious.

There are any number of cogent explainations for improved performance with cable changes including: dialectric effects (from the insulating materials used) on the fluctuating electrostatic field around the cable; conductor cross section geometry used to control "skin effect" performance; capacitive/inductive performance balancing to optimise group delay; etc. ad nauseum. I think a few manufacturers of cables actually get this stuff, and most are just listening to various wire and picking the ones that "sound good."

Regardless of the actual technical details, better (what ever that means) cable does sound better---and the differences are fairly significant in my experience.

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexs What does recabling do to headphones??

Just void the manufacturers warranty......

(Except for the Senns)

 

[fewtch]

I think I'm going to have my DT880 recabled by Headphile eventually, more for the improved looks and better cable quality than anything else. Doesn't cost an arm and a leg either ($85).

P.S. I definitely heard the difference between Senn cables, Tyll. I do believe that cable differences are more shifts in sonic character rather than objective improvements, however. In other words, what you gain in one area is going to be a "loss" in some other area, so it would be well for people to prepare for tradeoffs. I like the sound of the stock Senn cables myself.

 

[iancraig10]

One issue with recabling is the amount that is charged for them. Some guys are using Senns and in effect doubling their price by adding a cable to them. I have a problem with that since can be big bucks for that sonic change.

Some retailers (not all) are having a laugh and there are so many cables that promise so much out there, but most have one thing in common. A very high price.

Ian

 

[Rob80b]

I re-cabled my K501’s a while back with a thicker OFC gauge microphone cable http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=147310 , they put my Senn HD580 in the back seat for the time being.
It may just be that the drivers for the AKG are more like a small speaker and benefit from the heavier gauge. Also the re-cabling eliminated one more connection, the mini-1/4 inch adapter.
But I believe most improvements come from better connections and not so much the actual cable, even my OBH-11se benefited after hard wiring the power supply to the amp, again with a heavier gauge cable.

 

[iancraig10]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob80b even my OBH-11se benefited after hard wiring the power supply to the amp, again with a heavier gauge cable.

Hi Rob80b,

As a matter of interest, what would you say the biggest difference was with the OBH-11? There have been quite a lot of criticisms of that amp in the past and I believe that something recommended to help was to upgrade the power supply, but I haven't heard one 'hard wired'.

Ian

 

[Emon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexs how can there be a difference from a scientific point of view...flow of electrons and such..?

For audio frequencies (which are only in the KHz range) and over the very short distance of only 9 feet, it does absolutely nothing. Never underestimate the power of placebo.

 

[iancraig10]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emon Never underestimate the power of placebo.

... or the effect on your wallet.

Ian

 

[Rob80b]

There are so many posts on the topic OBH-11 vs OBH-11se you are better off doing a search.
But in terms of hardwiring the power supply with a better cable, it just improves electrical flow and performance of the amp.

 

[jbloudg20]

This argument happens about once a week here. Non believers like to take jabs.. believers like to defend.

All I have to say is, you non-believers revel in your innocence. It allows you to spend more money on other equipment...

 

[halcyon]

double post. Forum software is broken. Doesn't show the post as being submitted, even after a full reload, but it is submitted. This results in duplicates.