Cable Building

Oh wow! I'd be like a kid in a candystore there!
Good choice with that OyaideSS47. It's been my solder of choice for the last 10 years and just flows like butter! So easy to work with and makes soldering a pleasure. Haven't managed to find anything better. Just a shame it's SO damned expensive!



You simply can't ask for a better working solder with this kind of result as a cablemaker!
A nice shiny and even surface on cooled solder is ideally what your looking for as this promotoes electron transmission.
Highly recommended!

 

Bit late to the party and replying. Hope you managed to find something workable. (?)

In any case, I completely sympathise with anyone trying to terminate a cable with a 4.4mm Pentaconn as they are probably one of the trickiest connectors to get right.
Not only do you have to take care to isolate the terminations but making sure they hold and don't just end up failing after a couple of hours use is also the objective.

My first couple were just a nightmare. A complete mess and total failure, but I persisted as I was seeing a gradual swing towards requests for cables with this type of connector with the proliferation of DAPs coming onto the market etc.

I just practiced until I got my technique down basically and now I even actually find them pleasurable believe it or not!

For anyone thinking about attempting to put their own balanced cable together using a Penty connector I can't recommend Oyaide SS47 solder enough (as mentioned in my reply previous to this one). It makes life so much easier when you have a solder that you can work well with.
My next recommendation would be for the KSGER T12 soldering station and in particular in combination with a JL02 tip. This is the absolute perfect bent needle tip which could almost have been designed with the Penty connector in mind. It's perfect! I set it to 370deg C and literally just give each pin a quick dab and they're tinned to perfection and ready to accept pre-tinned wires.

I start at pin1 (L+) and then work backwards to pin4 (R-) so that you're not wrestling underneath the wires but you're gradually overlaying them front to back. I use heatshrink to isolate the bare wire sliding it up each wire as far as it can go to the termination in order to avoid shorts.

I'm now at the stage where I can even terminate a 16 core braided wire successfully!
I'm also about to start on a hybrid version of a 16 core cable using SPC and UPOCC which should yield interesting results, bu this was the first attempt with a 4.4mm Pentaconn and full SPC wire...





While the terminations went ok, the clear glue-heatshrink over the external back part of the connector barrel to the cable to facilitate some strain-relief isn't as neat or as ideal a solution as I think it could be. There was absolutely no space between the braid and inside surface of the connector to fit heatshrink so it had to go outside. The connector has a clamp which I can use but I always make sure there is some form of redundancy to promote strength and operational longevity etc.
It works great and sounds amazing but I need to make the finish a bit tidier.



4-pole XLR connectors are of course, an absolute breeze to terminate!





If anyone needs/wants any tips or details of my technique for terminating a 4.4mm Pentaconn connector just drop me a PM and I'd be happy to share pics, walk-through etc.
They can definitely be tricky little fkrs to get right but with practice and patience can be easily completed!


Edit: found some phot s of a 4-core braided cable showing the short lengths of heatshrink over each wire to provide isolation.
Terminate, then slide the heatshrink up to the solder point but complete all 4 terminations before shrinking to get the best result. A final piece of heatshrink over all 4 wires as well as the clamp adds a lot of strength / strain relief.




The finished product. With the thinner overall diameter of a 4-core cable I could use the rubber grommet that comes with the connector to slide into the back of the connector and make the cable secure.

 

Man, I know I'm aging out of the cable/DIY hobby when the pictures of the components are bigger than real life and I'm still squinting

I used to use a bit of clear nail polish to cover the terminals, just in case a stray wire decided to escape.

 

LOL!
Well, My own eyes aren't what they used to be so I absolutely have to use a 'loup-lamp' and glasses these days, otherwise it would be impossible!
A steady hand also comes in very handy. (Pun intended)
I recently replaced the CCFL bulb in the louplamp with an LED one and it's made a world of difference! So much brighter with a higher frequency and I can use it for build-progress photos that clients sometimes ask for.

 

I bought this awhile ago but haven’t used it yet. I plan to leave a review in our soldering thread

 

A soldering thread?
I should be all over that.

 

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/solder-and-soldering-irons.659/

 

16 core isn't always easy to solder but seems like you needed more solder and flux there, dry joints are my worst nightmares! You pre tinned the wires which is already better than most people, though you left too much exposed wiring! Even though you used shrink tube to keep it from shorting, ideally you should always have the correct length of wiring, so you don't end up having wires that are being pulled, which puts more stress on the joints!

 

Everyone has their own technique of course and nobody's is necessarily better or worse - as long as the cable brings enjoyment to the end user.

The pieces of heatshrink I use are ideal for bridging the gap between the end of the wire insulation and the termination as it gives you absolute total control over how long or how short to leave the exposed wire in order to make them fit optimally inside the limited space of a 4.4mm connector as well as mitigating the risk of shorting of course.
The heatshrink is also a LOT thinner than most wire insulation material meaning that you get better control, adherance and strength between the wire, termination point as well as optimising the useable space as mentioned.
I also use a final fifth piece of larger glue-heatshrink to cover the 4 wire terminations and this then provides even more strain-relief/strength to the cable, which is where I think your method is a bit sub-optimal as it looks like you have used too much solder and a single piece of heatshrink covering only the terminations. It looks like you also melted the plastic separation points which would give rise to shorts as the melt would also disperse the plastic downwards as well as outwards risking exposure to the adjacent pins.
I would recommend using as little solder as is feasible in order to avoid melting the plastic and to mitigate your fear of having dry joints. I would also recommend using glue-heatshrink in order to add strength and strain-relief. This is like normal heatshrink but which has glue on the inside surface which liquefies and then solidifies when heated as part of the shrink process. Very handy stuff that adds an exponential level of strength!

With my cable, even force is then dispersed along the 4 individual lengths of wire from the terminations to the clamping point, which I don't think your connector has and I would suggest that the connector wire clamp is a critical feature to mitigate or reduce the risk of failure when a user accidentally snags/pulls on a cable. The energy is absorbed by the clamp before it is absorbed at any of the termination points. Consider using connectors with a clamp mechanism to improve durability perhaps?
(My cables are subjected to drop tests and hang tests to 100Kg and pass easily.
You can offer this as a selling point as this is how most headphone cables fail.)

Finally, I use a piece of glue-heatshrink cover the connector barrel and wire and this provides another final level of strength and strain-relief between the connector and wire, giving a total 4 levels of failure redundancy for the source connector.
Earphone connectors are given the same level of strength and redundancy whenever possible.

My cables are built to last and this is one of my major (as well as maybe 'unique') selling points.

You would be surprised at how shoddy and weak some of the cables from major and very expensive retailers are and is borne out by repairing hundreds of cables for people over the last 30 years. I don't repair cables from other manufacturers anymore. It takes time away from being able to build my own cables. I have an interesting photo repository showing the 'workmanship' of cables from other major retailers!

The observed failure rate of other manufacturers cables has been one of my prime motivators to ensure I design and make cables with optimised build quality and longevity.
Oh, and by the way; I'm so confident in the build quality of my cables that I offer a lifetime guarantee on every single cable I make, which is something you won't be offered from others too often!

If anyone is wondering why I put this level of risk analysis, product development and failure mitigation into my cables then I suppose it's probably my background in nuclear and aerospace engineering rubbing off, where mission-critical systems are exactly that; mission critical.
Failure is not an option!

 

I didn't come to attack you or to attack your work, all I said is that it seems like you don't have as much experience as me in making cables or soldering, thus I'm offering my knowledge for you to improve your craft. In the picture I'm soldering 20AWG of pure silver wiring hence why the black plastic separating the pins is lower, my custom connectors are made to my specifications hence why they look different from yours as you use pretty much the cheapest connectors that are available also I use German shrink tube that has a layer of glue inside already. There is definitely a wrong way to do it and a right way, If you want to be so closed-minded to believe that your work is the best without having any room for improvement, so be it. I agree with some of your points and disagree with others, in the end of the day this is an art It's not only about the cable working, skill shows in the solder joints which yours look not great. The pieces of heat shrink is a cheap way to fix the fact that you didn't cut the wires at the correct length which will in fact put more stress on one of them instead of all of them even with the wire clamp which it is made mainly for grounding and not as a strain relief as the creators of the 4.4mm connector (pentaconn Japan) have created. Drop tests and 100kg (pull?) tests aren't anything special and should be a standard, I don't have to advertise my craftsmanship as it speaks for itself. The fact that you make your cables to last is great, but it is not a "unique" selling point, it is simply something that customers expect. I agree completely that there are a TON of big companies making cables that fail because their solder joints aren't great thus why I gave you some pointers, if you want to attack me or my craft don't come for my soldering skills as they're far ahead of yours.

 

Friend, there's no need to be so defensive and arrogant. That's not what this forum is about and there's no need for it.

My opening statement should have been enough for you to stop and think about your response to my post. I'll repeat it here again for your benefit:

But if you want to start to critique and then subsequently criticise my cable-making skills and workmanship (which has a potentially negative implication for me commercially) then you should realistically expect a direct and justifiably defensive response from me if I don't agree with your incorrect assumptions or observations, right?

Nowhere did you say in your earlier post anything about you having more experience than me. I must have missed that bit. I doubt this in any case as much as I doubt your professional experience if compared to mine. I trained to BAEsys and BNFL standards in control systems, including how to build mission-critical control wiring looms. I doubt whether you could top that but comparing professional credentials is somewhat petty at the end of the day isn't it?
In any case I very much doubt I would feel the need to accept any 'advice' from you. You acting as though you are a seasoned expert telling people what they should or shouldn't do or where you think they are going wrong is actually not my idea of friendly advice or skill-sharing. So thanks, but no thanks. I will politely decline.

I looked at your website and actually think you make some beautiful cables. That was my initial thought. But then I read one of your customer reviews that states you sold them a cable with incorrect polarity and thought to myself 'Well that's a shame'.
QC/QA is an essential part of any successful commercial operation. So when you eventually get that in order please feel free to come back and offer your professional advice where appropriate.


We've both said our piece. So let's move on and share the space nicely.

 

Made a specialized cable for the Ragnarok to be able to switch between my two speakers quickly yesterday. Used parts I had lying around only. Maybe I shouldn't have sleeved the cable or rather I should've used a thinner cotton tube, but this is what I had.

Unfortunately I had to redo the left channel as I had inverted the polarity there and forgot to divide the transparent heatshrink piece I had laid out into two pieces, so now it looks a bit odd, but it's functional. Maybe I can still try to cut it off.

1.5mm² tinned copper in XLPO, silver plated Neutrik connector. Cheapo gold plated banana plugs.

 

Looks aiight. Especially if it functions as intended.

I use this industrial-type fire/heat-proof glassfibre cable sheath with some of my signal and power cables as it mitigates resonance, as well as giving it a nice 'handle'. But I like the cotton stuff you use so I've ordered some to play around with as even though it won't be heat-fire-proof which isn't really needed anyway, I can imagine it may deal with vibrations/resonance even better.

 

Maybe this is a stupid question, but you're running your speakers from the headphone out?

 

Ragnarok speaker out and the headphone jack are the same connection. But you have to do these long button presses to get the speaker out to turn on (and the line outputs), and then it is the same as the headphone jack.

With his connector, he can easily connect his speakers without the presses. Although with speakers, you still want to be in the highest gain mode.

 

At first I was gonna say that a really heavy speaker load might be too much for the XLR... but according to this each contact can take 10A which is much more than I would have suspected.
https://www.neutrik.com/en/product/nc4mxx?c=audio

 

It's so I can quickly switch between my two pairs of speakers. So I run the large Amon OB speakers from the rear. They're a two wire connection, one of which is a fragile flat silver wire with no connector, while I have a banana plug on the other. It's always risky to disconnect the wires, takes a lot of time, etc.

I know it's not really recommended to run a heavy load from the XLR like my smaller Hathor speakers. The internal wires are a bit longer and only connected via a connector inside. I could measure the output impedance and I bet it's going to be a bit higher. But this way I can quickly switch between the speakers.

Does that mean 20A per channel? At that rate the <50V rating would be more of a problem at speaker loads.

I mean at 100W into 4 Ohm we're already at 20V, 5A.
5 Ohm impedance. 50V, 10A. I don't think the speakers would survive 500W, though. And the Ragnarok can't do that, either.

Using the oscilloscope I've seen peak to peak voltages in the 40-50V range, though. That's close to 20Vrms, although I was using the Topping PA3s for that.


In my DIY lamp desk project I run 60W of 24V LEDs from a tiny connector. But that's also not really recommended. I think I made sure it was within spec, since I wanted to be able to disconnect it. Though in that case the LEDs get too hot anyway, since I didn't want any active cooling. But that's a different story. Maybe some of you might find it interesting.