[.Sup]

That's a good question. Maybe those who make thick 8 wire hose braided headphone cables know the answer to that.

 

[xnor]

I'm wondering how thin and long that cable was. Also, shouldn't a thinner wire decrease damping factor and therefore "boost" bass, even if just by a tiny amount?

 

[OJNeg]

You can use thin cable runs over short distances. It's over long distances when the problems begin.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge#Tables_of_AWG_wire_sizes

 

[bigshot]

Long distances as in Half a city block

 

[mikeaj]

It's not exactly magic.  The resistance of a wire is proportional to the length and inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area.  
 
Keep in mind that many headphones have much higher impedance than most speakers, not to mention often having flatter impedance vs. frequency characteristics.  Even if the headphone cable has some kind of shockingly high impedance (in the speaker world) like 2 ohms, if it's connected to headphones with impedance ranging from 300-500 ohms, then that's a drop in the bucket.
 
I want to see some fullsize headphones used with aftermarket cables designed to be thinner and lighter, rather than the other way around.  

 

[Redrider469]

I don't believe that the cable will change the sound in any way but if the design is cool and doesn't cost much, I'd get a new cable for my cans. I would also recable for the purpose of changing the length.

 

[bangraman]

It's about the QC as much as the cable, since a fair amount of manual work goes into even a simple cable if you make it by hand. And that QC can sometimes be compromised by e.g. trying to squeeze too large a gauge of cable into a connector, no matter how much you try and disguise it by cool looking techflex.
 
 
A $30 cable is often better because there's far more automation / consistency in their manufacture due to the volumes they sell. A $2 cable is often worse because the selling price doesn't warrant the kind of QA that a $30 cable from a major corporate able to afford (semi)automated production can go through.
 
 
Your esoterica cables are often one-offs, and by definition if these independent makers really believe in their cables, there's already a degree of incapability of objective thought process there which can e.g. impact how they approach manufacture. You actually want to buy high-end cables from people who are marketing demons and aren't afraid of being called snake oil salesmen, because they then work on things like manufacture consistency, perceived material quality and service so that it actually feels like you're getting something genuinely expensive - which is, in effect, really all that you're paying for with higher priced cables. By that yardstick, it could be argued that e.g. Monster are actually far more "honest" in effect than any of the companies with more Head-Fi cred.

 

[doublea71]

At first, I was inclined to believe that cables can change the sound of headphones, but now I'm sort of on the fence and I don't really know. I don't feel like either side has conclusively made their case. I've ordered a set of cables for my customs and it's become a distinct possibility that I've wasted my money. All I can do is report back and let you know if I notice a difference. I do hope they make a difference, but that right there may skew my perception and prevent me from being objective. Hopefully I'm able to not self-delude myself in order to not feel like an idiot....at least I didn't go for the Crystal Piccolinos which are about $1K a whack...at that price, I'd do just about anything to ensure some sort of self-delusion took place. It's a good debate to have, but it doesn't seem to be conclusive either way - it's sort of like debating the existence of God, eh?
 

 

[bigshot]

It would be easy to discuss God if all it took was a simple line level matched a/b comparison to find out for ourselves one way or the other.

The tests on cables have been one over and over again. It's only a controversy if you don't want to accept the truth.

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

At first, I was inclined to believe that cables can change the sound of headphones, but now I'm sort of on the fence and I don't really know. I don't feel like either side has conclusively made their case. I've ordered a set of cables for my customs and it's become a distinct possibility that I've wasted my money. All I can do is report back and let you know if I notice a difference. I do hope they make a difference, but that right there may skew my perception and prevent me from being objective. Hopefully I'm able to not self-delude myself in order to not feel like an idiot....at least I didn't go for the Crystal Piccolinos which are about $1K a whack...at that price, I'd do just about anything to ensure some sort of self-delusion took place. It's a good debate to have, but it doesn't seem to be conclusive either way - it's sort of like debating the existence of God, eh?
 

 
Some actually do have an effect on the sound. More than a couple of cables that I slit open in my own 'is it snake oil' test that I undertook some time back (many from either current or former sponsors of Head-Fi) have had construction so compromised that the exceptionally poor quality of the connections of the terminals have actually added e.g. measurable impedance to the signal. In a couple of particular instances, I could tell (unreliably but still, with a decent percentage) in a blind test the difference in this case between a 'normal' cable and these.
 
Interestingly for a while one of these was among the most popular higher-end cables on Head-Fi.

 

[AKG240mkII]

 
Quote:

No: I don't believe in it

 
Where is the 'No, there is ZERO evidence' option ?
 
 
This is not a faith-issue !

 

[xnor]

Quote:

 
Where is the 'No, there is ZERO evidence' option ?
 
This is not a faith-issue !

Which is why I chose 'No: I'd rather spend money on something else'.

 

[doublea71]

Quote:

It would be easy to discuss God if all it took was a simple line level matched a/b comparison to find out for ourselves one way or the other.
The tests on cables have been one over and over again. It's only a controversy if you don't want to accept the truth.

I don't know how to do this type of comparison - do you have a link to anything I could read that'll put this question to rest?

 

[bigshot]

This thread really should be pinned at the top of this forum....

http://www.head-fi.org/t/486598/testing-audiophile-claims-and-myths

It will tell you about controlled tests you can read about.

 

[doublea71]

Quote:

This thread really should be pinned at the top of this forum....
http://www.head-fi.org/t/486598/testing-audiophile-claims-and-myths
It will tell you about controlled tests you can read about.

Awesome post, but it's no match for my high-grade placebo! Seriously, thanks for that - I'll give it a thorough read tomorrow.