What's your view on custom headphone cables?
Aug 23, 2012 at 2:06 PM Post #841 of 881
Ate 56 pages in 4 glorious hours of enlightenment. I picked the option: If it looks nice. And after 4 hours, I'll stick to that.
Well, that's the most (and perhaps only) obvious difference that I could enjoy. Visual difference, that is. I like what I see, I'll have positive mood, and I'll enjoy the song better.
 
Frankly, I can't even distinguish between two cables (IC or USB ones) in a sighted test. The explanation I got was, I need time to train my ears.
I think the best conclusion now is: My wallet is spared from the voodoo magic of believing something which is (highly probable) non-existing. I can live with the label of non-golden-ear.
 
What makes me feel intimate with the explanation of "placebo"? I listen to a particular song "Always-Bon Jovi" on different time of the day for more than one month. Using the exact same setup, I felt that I was listening to different tone of the drum and also the placements of the instruments. I cannot say it's due to some bogus cables, as clearly the exact setup is being used. But I DID HEARD differences!
 
And that's how I relate my findings to the factors of "fatigue, mood, etc".
 
My verdict on cables? If it looks good.
Oh yeah!
 
Aug 23, 2012 at 10:51 PM Post #842 of 881
I've used custom cables, but take note that local forumers near me can reterminate Starquads or even braid their own conductors and the total we pay - including connectors - is just a little over the price of most stock replacement cables, or out of warranty cable repairs for non-removable cables. If I didn't have access to this excellent service I probably would just stock up on more HD600 cables if purely for the nicely packaged 3.5mm/6.3mm plug.
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 12:42 PM Post #843 of 881
Well I just voted for Yes: but only if they don't cost too much. My reasons for doing so is that I have allot of home audio and powered speaker setups and I can tell you from personal expierence that most >$100 cable options are some of the best bang for buck purchases I've ever made. I do believe this upgrade in sound diminishes going from speakers to headphones cause you are going from 500 watts down to 2 watts but when the headphones are on your head it defintly sounds louder than 2 watts so I think some of that ground is made up when you factor that in. I have no idea why people are pointing out that most headphones have very thin, very short wires connecting the cable to their drivers. Any amp or dac or soundcard upgrade is going to travel over those exact same wires and I don't see anyone bitching about that in the amp,dac, or soundcard arena just cables. Also those wires connecting the cable to the drivers mite be superthin and short but they are not cheap and actually quite pricey to replace and can actually handle a ton of sound to the point where most upgrades(amp/dac/soundcard) are usually worth it. So in conclusion if your looking for a replacement cable that is thinner,lighter, and more rigid like I was looking for and can do it for less than $150 like I did then I think you did well. The sound improvement will be there too just not as dramatic as out of your speaker setup. They're are definitly as many cheap still high quality cable manufacturers as there are highend ripoff manufacturers.
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 3:28 PM Post #844 of 881
Wait, what? You went for a thin, light but rigid cable as replacement and it cost >$100?
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 9:03 PM Post #846 of 881
Quote:
Wait, what? You went for a thin, light but rigid cable as replacement and it cost >$100?

 
 
If you want a thin, light and really rigid cable, then wouldn't a wire coat hanger be best? I'm fairly sure that you can get a decent length of them for $100, and they actually test pretty well.
 
Feb 6, 2013 at 9:20 PM Post #847 of 881
Quote:
Thin cables do not let in enough bass.

Because bass frequencies are thicker, right? So they don't fit into the thin cable. And thick cables smear treble details because the high frequencies have too much room to get lost..
redface.gif

 
Feb 7, 2013 at 2:47 PM Post #849 of 881
I haven't had any problems with my HD650's stock cables. They're long enough, flexible enough, and sound good. If a cable were to expand on the first two, or even the third (balanced driving sounds fun to try, if I had money to burn) then hey I'd consider it. 
 
Feb 7, 2013 at 2:50 PM Post #850 of 881
Quote:
Because bass frequencies are thicker, right? So they don't fit into the thin cable. And thick cables smear treble details because the high frequencies have too much room to get lost..
redface.gif

I like my braided silk Q cable because I can scrunch it up to increase the bass, or loosen up the braids to increase soundstage.
 
Feb 7, 2013 at 8:16 PM Post #852 of 881
From the mouth of the Chief Horse - or at least his son:
 
 
http://gizmodo.com/5981823/beat-by-dre-the-inside-story-of-how-monster-lost-the-world?utm_source=lifehacker.com&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=recirculation&post=57122703
 
Before it was ever mentioned in the same gasp as Dre, Monster was trying to get music lovers to buy into a superior sound that existed mostly in imaginations and marketing brochures. "We came up with a reinvention of what a speaker cable could be," Noel Lee boasts. His son, Kevin, describes it differently: "a cure for no disease."

 
Feb 8, 2013 at 4:42 AM Post #853 of 881
Quote:
I like my braided silk Q cable because I can scrunch it up to increase the bass, or loosen up the braids to increase soundstage.

 
ROFL!!!  Yes, I don't think Q cables will make bass tighter, highs crisper, and give me a soundstage orgy bath. As a mater of fact I don't think they will perceivably alter the sound anymore or anyless than a set of good Radio-Shack cables. But I like how they look, the workmanship, and SE's non-BS approach. They are outside what I'm willing to pay for cables though, but that's me and my bang for the buck attitude.
 
Feb 8, 2013 at 5:33 AM Post #854 of 881
Another little known fact is that the more complicated the name of the cable, the greater the improvement in the sound. For example, I am a big Norah Jones fan and love to listen to her with my 1964 Quads. Now that I'm using my new custom Poisonous Albino Spider Monkey Silver Wormholes of Doom cables, it feels like she's licking my earlobes and I ain't complainin'.
 
 

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