Medium reasonable priced IEM cables

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by Claud, Aug 10, 2020.

  1. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    Looking at that other website a couple of months ago, I found good reasonably priced IEM cables from this vendor in Hong Kong. Starting around $100 which begins mid priced for me.
    https://penon-official.com/news/
    The OS 849 is a good all round cord for your less expensive IEMs and I recently tried the GS 849 on my Moondrop KXXS single DD IEMs. Great combo. more articulate bass and treble. A bit microphonic if you wiggle to the music.
    I also tried the high price spread and ordered the Leo Plus IEMs. I tried them on my Campfire Aras and immediately ordered another set for my Solaris SE. WOW soundstage !! The rest was very nice too.
     
  2. Gazny

    Gazny MOT: ETA Audio

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    https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...orites-and-classics.2229/page-101#post-292840 recommends the dunu cables. They have multiple options on https://penonaudio.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=dunu&category_id=154 just don't forget to add the balanced adapters
     
  3. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    Waiting on some Leo Plus to show up, will post up here if they're worthy of the Head-Fi hype. I'll be using w/Andro and Solaris.
     
  4. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    The Dunu are known for their adaptive cable. Call me old and stupid (I am) but I think additional connectors degrade the sound. The Penon cables are good well constructed cables. ISN also seem to be so too. You can buy an all silver cable for less than $200 that you would have paid $500 plus from one of the name IEM cable companies like Effect or PlusSound etc.
     
  5. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    You went for the higher priced spread. I hope you like holographic soundstage. The rest is quite lovely too.
     
  6. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    We shall see. I do think because of the sensitivity/impedance matching of IEMs in general and BA IEMs specifically, cable rolling can make a bigger difference than most folks are willing to give shrift. I'm willing to be told i'm full of shit, too.
     
  7. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    I think cable rolling is a an expensive and entirely unpredictable game. Way more unpredictable than buying new IEMS, and almost equally expensive.
    I personally have been waiting for one single event before getting into the cable game: that someone, after buying $500 cable, will post somewhere that it did not make any difference whatsoever and it was just a total waste of money.
    Until I see this, $200 for a balanced CA litz cable is, and will remain, my upper limit.
     
  8. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    Wormcycle, you are in the correct thread. Penon sells several IEM cables below $200 that are better than the CA cables. I hardly ever use the cable that is included with my IEMs. Its a cheap cable or they would not include it. Very seldom is it a balanced cable. ISN makes som good cables below $200 too. Check them out.
    I have three Norne IEM cables, one of which Trevor gave me. You know you are spending too much on cables when you are gifted. Penon will give you free shipping if you buy two cables.

    Try this link to Penon internet storefront for different brands of inexpensive cables, IEMs and stuff you will like if you are into IEMs. It is better than my original link in first post.
    https://penonaudio.com/isn-audio-sc4.html
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2020
  9. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    I'll be perfectly frank, the Leo Plus is past my upper limit on what I would normally pay for either silver or UPOCCC cables. What interests me is the alloy. I've not heard (or been able to source bulk cable) with that particular alloy of silver, gold, and palladium. I have experimented with gold-plated solid copper ICs and it's an interesting sound. If the Penon sounds like garbage, I'll just flip it on Head-Fi. Minor loss to try something new. I'll be comparing the Leo Plus to CA silver litz, smokey litz, pure copper litz, and an OC Audio UPOCCC cable. And yes, I do find there are minor subjective differences between those four cables on Andro and Solaris (pick your poison/everything is a compromise).
     
  10. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    Andromeda and Solaris are highly reactive to resistance, as are many armature based and hybrid items. Most likely no two cables from different manufacturers are going to have the same resistance; similar but not exact. CA iems are know to have audible changes with very small output impedance changes and a cable is going to add to that effect. The stock OG litz cable is approximately 1.25 ohms from what I’ve seen of a few reviewers that have measured it. Thicker replacement cables are going to have less resistance and affect impedance swings accordingly. If you’re using single dynamic flat impedance iems, there won’t be any change unless there is gross amounts of added impedance (think OTL amps).

    Replaceable connectors are going to have no effect unless they are poorly soldered, which is more likely to happen from random cheaply made cables across the internet.

    Buy cables for aesthetics, usability, changing resistance, balanced or single ended use or even beauty but don’t wast your money chasing unicorn sound from a cable. Tips and mood are going to have a more pronounced affect in most cases.
     
  11. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    I am not trying to piss in your Post Toasties, shotgunshane. I am an old man and have purchased ICs, power cables, headphone cables and IEM cables for a lot of years. I usually read as much as I can to research owner experiences prior to purchasing. To the best of my knowledge, only one cable, an IC failed to improve the sound of the system it was installed in. It did not hurt the sound, just did not improve it.
    There are lots of cable arguments on the internet. Most of the time the person arguing against cable improvement does not have a decent high performance system that will react to cable changing. The guy using his iPhone to play his music through a CA Solaris is not going to hear much if any improvement from a custom IEM cable. He needs a decent DAP to complete his system.
     
  12. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Don't high end item's ike the Ara come with excellent cables already? The CA cables are thin, but so nice to deal with. I can't imagine skimping on a cable in an iem that costs over 1k.

    Those Penon cables don't have a natural curve built in near the mccx connector o guide and keep them behind the ear, which makes me turn away even if I was interested. How do they fit in this regard?

    Aliexpress sells some cheap cables just FYI for others here.
     
  13. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    For the most part, the cables included with new IEMs are not that good. In the case of CA, they are a 3.5 mm termination which is neither fish nor fowl. Most IEM folks like the newer 4.4 balanced connector or if they are an A & K person, the 2.5 balanced.On two occasions, I have managed to get CA to terminate to the 4.4 balanced connection.
    The Penon can either be over the ear or straight down as I use them. As you say, there is no curve to make it a better over the ear fit.
    Yes, AliExpress does sell some cables as well. At this time, there is a big selection to choose from with these two websites.
     
  14. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    3.5mm TRS is still the most common output format by far, even for DAPs. Any IEM manufacturer would be crazy to not use it as the standard connection on their cables.
     
  15. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    Fiddling Around the Edges

    So, it's Sunday morning and raining, which means no Sunday bike ride. What better way to waste some time than comparing IEM cables?
    1. CA Copper Litz 4 core copper ($18 from ALO Audio deals, but normally $49)
    2. CA Smoky LITZ 4 core silver plated copper ($99)
    3. CA Pure Silver Litz 4 core pure silver ($249)
    4. Penon Audio LEO Plus 8 core silver alloy ($279)
    5. OC Studio Orpheus 8 core UPOCCC ($149)
    Setup: Roon on MacBook Air via USB to iFi iDSD Nano BL, filter set to Measure, Direct out (no IEMatch) to CA Solaris with AZLA SednaEarFit Xelastic in Medium.
    Mostly a waste of time. Seriously. Don't waste your time. The differences are so slight, that I feel it disingenuous to do anything more than say broadly that I don't care much for the Smoky Litz and prefer pure silver and silver alloy. Seriously, my advice is not to waste money on this stuff.

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  16. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I use a seller on Amazon whose cables are no more than $30. The only reason I’d consider spending more is for something like the Dunu cable that has the detachable/swappable terminations so I don’t put unnecessary wear and tear on my MMCX connectors.
     
  17. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    Yotacowboy, thanks for the writeup and pics. I have been using a copper and silver cable from Norne on my Solaris SE. Going to try the Leo Plus on it tonight.
    The nice basic ISN SC4 and Penon OS 849 are really good on my Moondrop Starfield and Fiio FD1. Both of which are straight DD IEMs.
     
  18. farbinator

    farbinator Facebook Friend

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  19. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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  20. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    I used the silver Fiio cable. It’s a well made cable I was surprised I don’t have the best impression of Fiio as a company. Nice weave, flexible. It ultimately didn’t brighten up my Andromeda 2020 the way I hoped it would so I returned it.
     

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