Headphone Cables

It seems like it would be useful to have a dedicated thread about upgrade headphone cables separate from Mervs cable rolling adventures which is mostly about interconnects.

I know Forza Audio Works gets a lot of love around here.

what are some other headphone cables you recommend?

 

Forza definitely makes nice cables.

Arctic Cables are good too - very functional and reasonably priced. I've only tried their bottom series though, no idea what their upper cables are like.

ZMF's Lektrik cable is a work of art but $$$.

Of the three, I think Forza strikes the best balance between looks, functionality, and cost.

As for sound differences, I don't hear any between cables (unless they're truly crap cables), so I go more for things like suppleness, microphonics, build quality, and appearance.

 

Going to give another shoutout to Hart Cables. Their modular system is extremely convenient, the cable quality is high (but the cables themselves are not excessively thick), and the price is exceedingly reasonable.

 

Hart Audio is definitely a solid recommendation. Only knock on them is the lead time. Although, it seems they are down to 2 weeks or less for stock configurations on red or touch of gray paracord. Custom orders can be a month or more.

I've also been happy with Audiophile Ninja as well. While not modular, they a nice, quality paracorded cable as well that isn't as thick and stiff as the Periapt stuff. In my experience, they ship extremely fast as well.

Finally, I really like the construction and ergonomics of Dyson Audio cables. Their UPOCC helix cables are soft, flexible and of good quality. On Ebay, the seller is "cablearchitect". Only issue is he opens and closes his store and website frequently and it appears to be closed currently.

 

Like others have said, the interconnect system of the Hart Audio cables is super convenient. And the build is holding up well after hundreds of hours of use. I've also gotten some great cables from Periapt cables. I like the extra touch they do where they include a paper with your cable letting you know who tested your cable, what amp/headphone they tested it on, and what song they listened to, lol. In the spoiler is a pic of the paper when I bought a cable a couple years ago, and a pic of the cable.

Spoiler: PICS

 

Cable making companies come and go so fast for some reason I can’t keep up. All these companies are new since my hiatus and they will all be gone in 2-3 years. Blue Jeans cable is the only one that has stood the test of time but that’s probably because of their appeal to the professional market. And they don’t make headphone cables.

There must be some more companies out there now like Forza Audio Works that makes nice handmade headphone cables not just Mogami with paracord.

?

 

I received my first cable from Audiophile Ninja yesterday and am very happy with it. Very simple, nothing flashy, but good quality and affordable.

Pretty quick, too...ordered late Thursday and received on Tuesday.

 

I don't know who was relevant when you took your hiatus, but when I was just coming up on the scene, Cryoparts, Jenacables, Whiplash, and the guy who used oversized sleeving on his cables were the most relevant. ALO was in there too. Prices were outrageous and DIYers on a budget were locked out of the game. Lee Weiland of Cryoparts passed away and the shop finally closed out a couple years ago. Otherwise, they are still around, but have fallen out of favor as the community and market has evolved. Doublehelixcables, Toxicables, and a touch later Norne Audio grew out of those and all three are still around. And for a couple years at least, they were bringing very high quality wire to the market for less the the old group. Headphonelounge, too. Moon-Audio was very popular for a while with various colors of Dragons, but the blingy-er brands are more popular now. A lot of other companies have come and gone, mostly because although there is definitely margin to be had, many of them were simply not good at business. And some that are still around, I simply don't trust due to obvious Aliexpress components, and honestly, bad technique. Not saying the cables can't sound fine, but you definitely are going to play roulette with them. Artic cables is interesting with the range of wires that they use, but for sure a good portion was using Norne DIY offerings that are no longer available. For awhile some of these newer companies had wire available for DIYers, but that has slowly faded, with only connectors readily available. I talked to Trevor at Norne (one of the last US suppliers still helping out DIYers) a couple weeks ago and apparently the entire supply chain is feeling a crunch and wire is getting more expensive. He may not be able to keep producing wire for DIYers or smaller/newer makers without significant increases in price.

But to simplify, for high-end, high quality cables, Forza, DHC, Norne, and now ZMF are the biggest names, but none are cheap, with Forza being the most reasonably priced. Others are going to be a mixed bag as the provenance of the wires start to get iffier. And of course if you want Mogami, there are dozens of shops.

EDIT: I forgot about Cardas which has been around forever and is still farily relevant with their own wires (which is now in Pangea cables (though no headphone cables yet from them)).

EDIT: If you bring in IEM cables, there are approximately another thousand to sort through.

 

great post! I forgot about Moon Audio and ALO. ALO is probably still around because he branched out so much with a portable amp when those were popular (the Rx which I hated but did pretty well I think) and then his awesome Campfire Audio iem’s.

Back in the day the Equinox cable was by far my favorite cable on every headphone I heard it on. I never owned one though due to the cost.

thanks for the list of the new players. The absolute shittiness of the stock HE6se jellyfish tube (can it even be called a cable?) has got me looking at aftermarket headphone cables for the first time. I am in constant awe that audio actually passes through the jellyfish tube.

Norne and Forza have caught my eye so far. So much $ for cables but they look very nice. I have a Forza cable here on loan and can say they look beautiful in person and feel great too.

 

Ted Allen (Headphone Lounge) makes reasonably priced cables.

 

too bad there’s no contact info on their site I’m looking for a good simple T50rp cable. Maybe have to go AliExpress

 

What length and terminations are you looking for?

 

I'm a Moon Audio fan:

Headphone Cables
Silver Dragon: HD650
Black Dragon: Elex
Blue Dragon: HE-4XX

Interconnects
PS Audio NPC -> Blue Dragon XLR -> OG Freya
Gungnir Multi-Bit A2 -> Blue Dragon XLR -> OG Freya
OG Freya -> Rotel RB-1582 MkII

It all started with an email exchange with Drew about making an interconnect to run from my old iPod Nano (before Lightning connector) to a RSA Hornet headphone amp. Great customer service -> taking time out to make a relatively inexpensive Blue Dragon connector for a dopey noob like me (might have been back around 2005). FWIW, I’m still a relative noob, but I hope I’m less dopey.

 

6.35mm or 4pin XLR with a right angle mini plug that will fit into the recessed socket of the T50rp. Hart has them but I don’t really like the modular system with an extra connector weighing it down. I did get one to try though.

AliExpress has some really nice looking ones but shipping takes 10 years. Like this one.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mLbhygF

not an urgent need I’m just curious if the Vmoda cable is holding them back.

 

@atomicbob recommended Customcans in a thread a couple years ago... I've since purchased cables for my ZMF's and Senn's from them and been really happy... supple, low microphonics and happy with the build quality. It also helps that the pricing is not outrageous.

 

I’ve also bought two sets of cables and adapters from them based on recommendations from members here. I have a set for my Sennheiser 600s and Focal Clears both are improvements over stock not necessarily in sound but in flexibility and micro phonics.

 

I messaged Audiophile Ninja on Ebay and they were super responsive. Ended up ordering from their website since it was a few bucks cheaper than Ebay.

 

2 Cents... I have had multiple Norne cables that are great, not super cheap but so well made. Have a Volsund on my Clears and a Draug 2c on my HD650's. The Volsund is so incredibly flexible hardly feels like wires inside and the paracord he uses must come from virgin sheeps wool or something as it's lovely and soft.

Got lucky and grabbed one of the ZMF 2K copper cables for my Auteurs for half what it costs new and really like it as well but not quite as comfortable and "bendy" as my Norne cables.

Probably not usable info here but hey I don't post very much!

 

It's on their FAQ page for some reason: [email protected]

When I received my cable, I'm pretty sure it also mentioned [email protected]

Jeremy is the owner/cable-maker.

 

I use a set of Periapt cables on my HD-650s. They are cheap and will make you an XLR to 1/4 adapter or other oddities if you need them. I think you have to email them to find out how to ask for that. The only downside to these cables is that they're a little heavy and bulky so definitely not for IEMs. I'm guessing but they may be just using some bulk cable like Belden so you have the bulkiness of interconnects after the splitter. I'm not sure if they improved the sound any but they're cheap and durable.