Headphone Cables

I've been buying inexpensive tripowin gran via cables for Senns and focals lately. $39 recently for a 1.5m cable. I think they sound better than my audiophile ninjas and periapts. I still want Forza cables though lol

 

Most of the budget stuff is Mogami or Canare microphone cables with various levels of dress up especially if their marketing is PRO or Japanese copper. At that level, the real decision will be aesthetics and after sales support. Stuff priced similarly but braided and blingy will be equivalent to the Aliexpress roulette. I don't have a recommended maker but I like as much transparency from them, especially at the budget end.

I will forever recommend avoiding hard techflex or similiar as a covering unless you drag your cables over sharp edges routinely. Anything that has hard techflex and heatshrink all the way up to the headphones is going to be stiff and rough to handle compared to stuff like nylon multifilament or paracord or just naked cables with a little bit of heatshrink to keep things tidy.

 

@crenca I have a BJC HF cable that you can have for free. You would need to just pay shipping. It's 4-pin balanced on the amp side and 3.5mm(s) on the HF side. Let me know if you are interested.

I'll let you know upfront that it didn't knock my socks off. Sounded harsh, poor micro and macrodynamics, and was rather stiff. After my foray into inexpensive HF cables (also tried an Audiophile Ninja cable that was less than impressive sonically and actually had an intermittent channel dropout), I only now go with Norne or Forza HF cables, if needed. I say if needed b/c the stock cables that came with my VO are surprisingly good.

Bill

 

Thanks for thinking of me @roughroad! I would take you up if I had a need for a 3.5mm cable terminated on the HF side but I don't at this time.

I'm actually with you, @Josh Schor , and others in that I tend to go with at least Forza level (I like their TOTL silver/copper hybrid) for my Utopia, Atrium, etc. out of my desktop rig (Yggdrasil, DNA, etc.). However even with these HP's I find lessor cables fine when connected to DAP's (usually when I'm listening in bed reading). It might be heretical to some, but I don't find HD6xx cans (e.g. I have a JARHD650) really scale with better cables so Ninja/etc. is what I use with them normally....

 

Agreed, I really like cables that have a good about of flex / no memory. I do find the Forza cables to be pretty stiff. At least the ones I've had.

 

Custom Cans makes cables that are @atomicbob approved (I'll try to find the link to his post on them). I use them on my JAR600b and on my Auteur OG. They are very supple, no microphonics

I have a Forza Claire on my LCD-x (hoping to grow up and be an RD-x someday) and I don't feel like I'm missing anything with the less expensive Custom Cans cables (although I can't directly compare on the same headphone).h

-----edit------
just searched for @atomicbob 's post and can't find it... was at least a few years ago and may have gotten lost with the hacker (may have been in his original system synergy thread).

 

@ColdsnapBry I have to disagree with you about the Forza cables being stiff. I've owned many of their cables and they have all been supple. Mine have been all copper models.

 

Which one? I got the Copper Series IEM Mk2 and it was a bit stiff.

 

I used the Claire HPC Mk2 in various iterations for different headphones.

 

I'll give a mention to fogcityaudio where I've bought a few cables from in the past (offer Mogami and Cardas).

And currently just recently bought cables from Arctic Cables which also have excellent quality and service.

I still hold Norne and Forza as my benchmark for top quality cables and service. I think Arctic is in that tier for me as well.

 

I recently made a few cables using Mogami and Belden
As well as using different connectors.

my goal was not comfort of the cable. How flexible it is etc.

I wanted to see if there were differences in sound

I won’t bore you with the details and just give the lowdown and see if anyone has anything to say.

These were for my Beyerdynamic 1990 pros

For whatever reason I much prefer tinned cable from OFC or bare copper.
For whatever reason connectors make a difference.
I prefer switchcraft 3 pin mini XLR connectors and Amphenol. The switchcraft aren’t robust but have copper that is silver plated and they have a lot of detail. Maybe a bit sharp sounding at times. The Amphenol are the most balanced and not as ‘ dull’ as Neutrik , they are also very robust.

what is odd is that I got super thick Belden 1696a cable ( 22awg) with HDPE insulation. My second favorite is Belden 1508a 24 AWG. Mogami was a bit meh to me. Sounds good, but the Belden has more punch and just a bigger sound.
Back to the odd thing about the Belden 1696a. I don’t know why but this cable had the biggest difference in that it has an enhanced soundstage, where things image better and you can tell more space around instruments. The soundstage also feels deeper and like you moved back a few rows. Not too much, but a nicer presentation. It’s easier to tell with complex music like Classical where a lot of things are going on. Is it because it has a very fast velocity of propagation?
I don’t know.
I liked this cable the most with AECO 1/4” jacks and Amphenol and Switchcraft mini XLR

https://www.belden.com/products/cable/audio-cable/digital-audio-cable/1696a

Neutrik jacks sound good as well.

the oddest were the furutech jacks. Rhodium plated copper. Those had the most distinct sound of anything. For the rest I mentioned above you did have to concentrate a bit to tell differences. But the Furutech 1/4” jacks sounded very round and smooth. I didn’t like them much. Just a very different sound and I don’t know why.

Im one for science, and love measurements, but yeah cables and connectors change the sound a bit.

All comparisons were made with the same type of wire and cable lengths btw

oh and the stock cable really sucks compared to all of these. Never thought there would be a difference.

well that’s all I have to say about that.

 

...... whoops

 

Concerning Audio Envy—I did contact them to confirm the type of wiring in their cables and they confirmed their entire product line uses the same OCC wiring.

The owner is a nice dude and very helpful with questions. But, yeah, some of the descriptions on the website could be better. It’s frustrating as I think that is the biggest issue holding his company back. They remind me a lot of Schiit in they are direct to consumer and seem to provide a better bang for the buck than anyone else in their field. But, he’s not as good at marketing his products as Jason.

Anyway, I’m a bit of a fanboy and I have their cables for all of my headphones. They are super lightweight but also super stiff. It doesn’t bother me, but folks that need supple cables won’t like them. The sound is darn nice, though.

 

For upgrade headphone cables, I personally use the Forza Audio Works Noir and the Effect Audio Ares II. The Noir is great for its detailed sound, while the Ares II offers excellent clarity and a bit of warmth.

 

Thanks to the folks in the HD800 thread for recommending the HD800 dream connectors! They were really easy to work with. Used some Neotech 4 wire cable for each driver and it was very easy to solder due to the bigger soldering lugs.

Also sonically a good step up from the stock cable. Less diffuse and more focus overall, more dynamic and smoother. Mids are a bit fuller as well. Might have to revise my eq settings but sounds good so not that bothered atm.

Better ergonomics too due to better flexibility and shorter length. Very happy i must say!

 

Wasn't happy with sleeving on the cable, it was too loose because it didn't stay put after stretching. Causing the cables to be scrunched up inside.
Initially I had a smaller diameter sleeve in mind but it was gonna be a bitch getting 8 wires in there. So I went bigger and folded the cable and used something to pull it through and cut it afterwards.

Last night I thought of something though that makes it really easy.
Just some shrinktube:

Add something at the end for grip to pull through and ezpz.

 

I’m a doubting, skeptical, but also gullible person, so it is hard to say sometimes when I am swinging between these two extremes which state I am in. In terms of cables, yes I have experimented with expensive cables. The most prominent example is I did own the Abyss 1266 Superconductor cable along with 1266 TC (which did sound a touch better than stock, I admit, but won’t go into length); however, I did experiment with a few supposedly higher up than the ‘catheter’ stock cable for OG Susvara - and in each case found them less balanced than the stock cable. Admittedly, people seem to have a preference for a weightier sound, or maybe I’ve just gotten attached to the stock cable signature. As an extension of this, I think, for example, I would love a great Estat set up, but I simply don’t have the initiative to go down this rabbit hole any time soon, though I have meditated on it and reached out to different amp builders, etc.

In any case, I did receive a high-end cable that is 50% OCC litz silver and 50% OCC litz copper and it is a beautiful, flexible, heavy thing and I’ve tried it on my Unveiled, to see.

In short, this cable, which is additively 17 gauges worth of top-shelf copper and silver, gives a more visceral, weighty, meaty, ballsy, yes ‘snarling’ - if I had to summarize - presentation, with a subtle boost at some point in the upper mids and treble, making the experience a touch more forward and aggressive. I believe that many would say that this higher end cable increases the punch and slam of the headphone, and I think on first listen I would have agreed with that, but I think that is more owed to the frequency response change than anything else. True, this cable does not really diminish Unveiled and enhances in many ways, though the vocals are less sweet. Overall, I can see how this cable would be preferred by many people, maybe most. I prefer a more lithe sound, though - and I would say the headphone with the stock cable has a more beautiful sound, whatever that means. I am not sure if it is just an impedance thing with this heavier gauge of cable, or how much of it is owed to signal conduction differences with these perhaps superior forms of copper and silver, better wrapped and better twisted, but I still prefer stock cable. Stock cable is lighter on its feet, has sweeter vocals, a better sense of airiness, and just leans in to what makes Unveiled work for me even on more intense music.

To be fair, there is no more information with this cable, at least in any meaningful way, so far as I can tell, but the information is presented differently. If there are gains in information, then the alterations in the frequency response nonetheless diminish those gains to the point where I prefer the tonality of the stock cable. This is better than the Forza Noir with OG Susvara for me in terms of balance - a fairly discontinuous sound profile that just wasn’t for me with OG Susvara and seemed like I had connected Susvara to two different non-harmonious cables and I was glad when someone else bought it.

I have the stock cable back in (the Unveiled stock cable I quite find a near-perfect cable, same thing as OG Susvara but much more flexible, better sleeve). In summary, there was a noticeable expense in balance at the benefit of a slightly more forward, heavier, more visceral, snarling sound, that is just not something I can stick with yet. Perhaps this cable is exposing my chain, but I really doubt that. It gets back to my opening sentence - unfortunately - now my skepticism is out - and I am getting stubborn again, and not wishing to be made a fool of an unnecessary upgrade. I’d rather spend my money elsewhere in my system at more substantial upgrades for now.