Ethernet Cable Mod to Replace HD 6XX Audio Cable

[ATFink]

First thing's first, I am no audiophile by any sense of the word. AT ALL. However, I do happen to have very good ears... I can hear frequencies ~18,500 Hz, I'm pretty good at picking out different pitches, and I can easily notice the difference in sound signature between similar headphones. Again, I can't even claim amateur knowledge in this field, I just have good ears. I only know rudimentary basics when describing audio that I have heard. Understand that this project is a way for me to learn as well as means to present my personal findings.

 

Now, on with the topic:

 

I've read from many sources (like this one: https://www.headfonia.com/sennheiser-hd-cables-comparison/) that state the cables that come with the Sennheiser HD 650 (assuming HD 6XX as well) could be better. At first it sounded like like snake oil to me, but now I'm intrigued because TONS of people seem to claim the headphone cable really can make a difference (especially with the HD 650). Since I have an HD 6XX I decided I'd test the claim and see for myself, so I looked for some "quality" cables online... they were all $150+ . That seems ridiculous to me so I began looking into my making my own cable. Still, DIY cables were nearly $100. I'm not going to pay $100 for a 5 foot cable, but I still want to test the claim for myself. So I began looking into ways to source my own components without buying a kit.

 

I don't know all the factors to consider, but if there is any difference in sound I assume it will result from a change in wire resistance, cross-talk, or external EM from power lines, radio waves, wifi, cellular internet, and whatnot. This leads me to believe that shielding is a MAJOR component to consider when making my own cables. After remembering that improved shielding and twisted pairs is what has lead to higher ethernet standards (cat 5 -> cat 5e -> cat 6 -> cat 7... etc) I realized "Hey, why not just use an ethernet cable as the headphone cable." Apparently I'm not the only person who's thought of this. The person in the link above created a headphone cable using a cat 6 cable as a testament to the "could be better" quality of the stock HD 650 cable. He/she said it was a noticeable improvement over the stock HD 650 cable. For this reason I'm planning to make my own headphone cable using a cat 7 ethernet cable since it should have even better shielding and less cross talk than a cat 6 cable. Buying an ethernet cable also happens to reduce the major pain of twisting and wrapping the wires myself to shield them (for the most part).

 

Amazon sells 25 feet of cat 7 cable for $13, but each of the 8 wires in the four twisted pairs are only 30 gauge. That seems high to me. I'd prefer thicker wires for the purpose of reducing resistance. I can only find the 30AWG cat 7 cables that are readily available (the black cables on Amazon look better than blue cables IMO. I will not use a terribly ugly cable, so the Chinese-factory-blue aesthetic is out of the question. I suppose I could put heat shrink around that ugly color... whatever. I'll figure that out later. Here is a cross section of the ethernet cable for reference:

I plan on cutting the cable to 10 feet. 10 feet of 30 gauge copper wire is roughly 1.03 ohms according to this calculator https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/wire/wire-gauge-chart.html (this ignores the twisting in the wires, so likely closer to 1.1-1.15 ohms), but a 10 foot cable means 20 feet of wire when stretching back to ground. I will make sure to splice the wires to that the white insulated wires in the picture above will all remain ground wires and combine the orange-teal and blue-brown wires so that each pair will be a singular positive lead for both drivers. Tying two positive leads together as I suggested should half the resistance, so we're back to the roughly ~1-1.2 ohm circuit (ignoring the 300 ohm driver). ~1 ohms of resistance might actually be noticeable since the drivers are each 300 ohms. For this reason I'm open to suggestions if someone knows of a better product (hence potentially wrapping black heat shrink on a Chinese-factory-blue 23AWG Cat7 ethernet cable also found on Amazon). Shielding seems like a more important factor to consider than resistance, this is why is really like the ethernet cable idea, but I don't know how to weight the importance of each factor.

 

If anyone can explain issues with my idea, other potential factors and remedies (if you know how to remedy the problem of course) to consider, or suggest products to use (like specific plugs) that would very helpful.

 

I can't wait to update this thread with pictures of the assembly process and my conclusions!

 

P.S. - I don't know where to buy the adapters for the headphone cables that plugs directly into the HD 6XX drivers. I can find 3.5mm and 1/4" adapters, but not the pronged ones that plug directly into the HD 6XX. If anyone can direct me where to buy some of those pronged adapters I'd really appreciate it.

 

P.S.S - Again, I'm very new to this, if you're reading this and have some instructions, a link to a guide, or know other LTT users you can tag in this thread please do so.

[Max_Settings]

Well you can turn a Ethernet cable into a headphone cord, that is somewhat difficult. A different wire will not change the sound of the headphones unless we get into balanced. If you want a better cable for not a crazy amount of money I reccomend you check out Periapt.

https://periaptcables.com/

[ATFink]

24 minutes ago, Max_Settings said:

Well you can turn a Ethernet cable into a headphone cord, that is somewhat difficult. A different wire will not change the sound of the headphones unless we get into balanced. If you want a better cable for not a crazy amount of money I reccomend you check out Periapt.

https://periaptcables.com/

I understand the cable will take effort, but that's part of the fun. I don't really care if the cable is better or not, I just want to see if I can spot a difference between the cable that came with my headphones and a cable I will make since some people say they can tell a difference between different cables (if it happens to sound better I'd be surprised, but happy).

 

I don't know what balanced means, but I'm guessing that means each cup sounds similar?

 

The periapt cable that closest to what I want is this: https://periaptcables.com/collections/frontpage/products/professional-pro?variant=37806921426, but I don't have a 6.5mm jack. I know I can buy an adapter, but now the cost is going over $60 again... for a cable.

 

Optimally I'm looking to make a cable similar to this design with with a 3.5mm plug instead of the 6.5mm plug. Do you know where I can find just the pronged ends without a cable (the sides that goes directly into my headphones, not the 3.5mm plug)?

[Max_Settings]

Just now, ATFink said:

I understand the cable will take effort, but that's part of the fun. I don't really care if the cable is better or not, I just want to see if I can spot a difference between the cable that came with my headphones and a cable I will make since some people say they can tell a difference between different cables.

 

I don't know what balanced means, but I'm guessing that means each cup sounds similar?

 

The periapt cable that closest to what I want is this: https://periaptcables.com/collections/frontpage/products/professional-pro?variant=37806921426, but I don't have a 6.5mm jack. I know I can buy an adapter, but now the cost is going over $60 again... for a cable.

 

Optimally I'm looking to make a cable similar to this design with with a 3.5mm plug instead of the 6.5mm plug. Do you know where I can find just the pronged ends without a cable (the sides that goes directly into my headphones, not the 3.5mm plug)?

If you want the Periapt to be a 3.5mm put in the order comments you want 3.5 and they will do it. I have them make me cables that aren’t even on their site and they do it. You could make a cable if you want, you will only need 2 of the twisted wires to do so. Here’s where you get the connectors.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F192491429747

[ATFink]

Just now, Max_Settings said:

If you want the Periapt to be a 3.5mm put in the order comments you want 3.5 and they will do it. I have them make me cables that aren’t even on their site and they do it. You could make a cable if you want, you will only need 2 of the twisted wires to do so. Here’s where you get the connectors.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F192491429747

Thanks a ton!

[Max_Settings]

2 minutes ago, ATFink said:

I understand the cable will take effort, but that's part of the fun. I don't really care if the cable is better or not, I just want to see if I can spot a difference between the cable that came with my headphones and a cable I will make since some people say they can tell a difference between different cables.

 

I don't know what balanced means, but I'm guessing that means each cup sounds similar?

 

The periapt cable that closest to what I want is this: https://periaptcables.com/collections/frontpage/products/professional-pro?variant=37806921426, but I don't have a 6.5mm jack. I know I can buy an adapter, but now the cost is going over $60 again... for a cable.

 

Optimally I'm looking to make a cable similar to this design with with a 3.5mm plug instead of the 6.5mm plug. Do you know where I can find just the pronged ends without a cable (the sides that goes directly into my headphones, not the 3.5mm plug)?

Oh and balanced is using 4pin XLR instead of 1/4in or 3.5mm so each channel has a separate ground. 1/4in and 3.5 share the grounds. Balanced does change the sound of the 650s and 6XXs and makes them sound much better IMO, but of course you need an Amp that supports it.

[Max_Settings]

In my opinion balanced on the 6XX brings forward the vocals a bit, cleans up the highs, increases the sound stage, and increases separation.

[ATFink]

11 minutes ago, Max_Settings said:

Oh and balanced is using 4pin XLR instead of 1/4in or 3.5mm so each channel has a separate ground. 1/4in and 3.5 share the grounds. Balanced does change the sound of the 650s and 6XXs and makes them sound much better IMO, but of course you need an Amp that supports it.

I am considering getting at a schitt magni3/modi2 stack. Do you think the extra money for a Jotunheim (since it has a 4 pin XLR plug) is worth it?

 

Edit:

What is the difference between the none, balanced DAC, Multibit DAC, and passive phone modules for the Jotunheim? (http://www.schiit.com/products/jotunheim)

Edited April 11, 2018 by ATFink

[Max_Settings]

Just now, ATFink said:

I am considering getting at a schitt magni3/modi2 stack. Do you think the extra money for a Jotunheim (since it has a 4 pin XLR plug) is worth it?

Depends, there are cheaper balanced Amps. Jotunheim has a lot of power, and is good, but there's cheaper balanced Amps. Aune X7S is good, and the SMSL SAP 9 is good to start with. If you don't want to spend the money on a Jot and just want to try with beginner balanced get a Magni 3 and SAP 9. Just note the SAP 9 isn't very powerful, but will drive 6XXs fine through the balanced, but not quite through the 1/4in.

https://www.amazon.com/SMSL-SAP-9-Balanced-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B01N5SB2L0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523488434&sr=8-1&keywords=smsl+sap9&dpID=31XyTD6lECL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

[Max_Settings]

2 minutes ago, Max_Settings said:

Depends, there are cheaper balanced Amps. Jotunheim has a lot of power, and is good, but there's cheaper balanced Amps. Aune X7S is good, and the SMSL SAP 9 is good to start with. If you don't want to spend the money on a Jot and just want to try with beginner balanced get a Magni 3 and SAP 9. Just note the SAP 9 isn't very powerful, but will drive 6XXs fine through the balanced, but not quite through the 1/4in.

https://www.amazon.com/SMSL-SAP-9-Balanced-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B01N5SB2L0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523488434&sr=8-1&keywords=smsl+sap9&dpID=31XyTD6lECL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Oh also the SAP 9 can be battery powered.

 

[Ahoy Hoy]

What are you talking about 100 dollar cables

https://www.amazon.com/Damme-Grade-Classic-pro-patch-268-006-000/dp/B009M3JLOM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523560257&sr=8-1&keywords=van+damme+mic+cable+1+meter

Van damme sells their cable at 2 dollars a meter. Cant beat it.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Neutrik-NC3MXX-BAG-Connector-Housing-Contacts/dp/B002ECZFMU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523560349&sr=8-1&keywords=neutrik+xlr

XLR connector if you want that

 

https://www.amazon.com/Neutrik-NP3X-3-Cond-4-Inch-Phone/dp/B002BESBHW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1523560452&sr=8-3&keywords=neutrik+trs

1/4 inch if your into that

 

https://www.amazon.com/3-5Mm-Trs-Plug-Silver-Headphones/dp/B00K9WN7AO/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1523560486&sr=8-11&keywords=neutrik+trs+3.5

3.5mm if you want that. Its a lot smaller so harder to make

 

https://www.toxic-cables.co.uk/product/cardas-sennheiser-hd6xx-connectors/

these guys sell the headphone connector

 

https://www.amazon.com/Ginsco-580-pcs-Assorted-Sleeving/dp/B01MFA3OFA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1523560635&sr=8-3&keywords=heat+shrink

Theres some heat shrink to put over the connectors

 

https://www.amazon.com/Inch-Expandable-Braided-Sleeving-10ft/dp/B00H2R9YWY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1523560684&sr=8-2&keywords=cable+sleeving

and some braiding to make the cable a bit nice.

 

soldering iron and a heat gun later spent less then 30 bucks as you americans say it.

 

p.s. may want to check sizes of things such as length of cables and thickness of stuff fuck the imperial system when referring to less than an inch.

 

if you are going for a four pin just search four cour van damme cable and also search 4 pin Neutrik XLR male.

[Max_Settings]

7 hours ago, Ahoy Hoy said:

https://www.amazon.com/Neutrik-NC3MXX-BAG-Connector-Housing-Contacts/dp/B002ECZFMU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523560349&sr=8-1&keywords=neutrik+xlr

XLR connector if you want that

This connector won't work. that's a 3pin, you need a 4pin for balanced.

[kasugatei]

On 4/12/2018 at 7:15 AM, ATFink said:

-snip-

I would suggest to take a look at https://www.redco.com/ as well. They have a huge selections of proper audio cables and tons of connectors. They are carrying industry standard brands which just work without "unicorn dust" treatments and promises and typical audiophile BS descriptions which adds 500% to the price.

[elira]

I like the idea of an Ethernet cable for headphones, sounds cool. I think 10ft is a little too long, but let's see what happens. Check this cable https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13660 it claims to be 26 AWG.