Marvey's Cable Rolling Adventures

Discussion in 'Modifications and Tweaks' started by purr1n, May 7, 2016.

  1. TwoEars

    TwoEars Friend

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    Not to be that guy but *cough*... ViaBlue... *cough*.

    http://www.viablue.de/cn/connectors_t6s.shtml
     
  2. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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  3. m17xr2b

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    Crafted my first DIY headphone cable to try and match the quality of the interconnect. I had 10 ft of red cable lying around and got to work. I doubled the the litz wire so four strands per channel instead of two resulting in a 5ft cable.
    Compared to my red headphone cable it pushed the stage forward resulting in a slightly perceived volume increase and the high end extended a bit further. A similar presentation to the interconnect but retaining the bass looseness and mid deliciousness of the red litz. Basically a super red cable. The platinum headphone cable still has better tonality, control and focus.

    Now I took the idea from the interconnect and added solid copper wire to the mix, the Duelund DCA26GA. The cable is stiffer but manageable.
    [​IMG]

    Been listening all day to this and I'm really impressed. The mid warmed is reduced, high end extended further as well as soundstage, bass got a bit more control, tonality is near perfection better than the platinum headphone cable.
    The detail and treble extension now matches my hardwired HD800, soundstage is the same size but the HD800 has a distant one and HD650 a forward one, just how I like it.

    The interconnect still has better bass control and still more focus and blackness but it's close.
    Took advantage of the 40% sale of wywires and ordered 20ft of platinum wire so I can make a super 10ft platinum cable which hopefully will result in the same sound as the interconnect. I might try both 26 and 20AWG for the solid core wire.

    Funny how a simple experiment resulted in a significant upgrade. Love this hobby right now.
     
  4. m17xr2b

    m17xr2b Friend

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    I'm in the process of upgrading my wywires platinum cable and I have to tear it down to add more wires. I was curious about the proprietary carbon/graphine compound and here it is, a bit of foam covered by what looks like an aluminium shell
    [​IMG]splitter
    I'm 99.99% sure it's snake oil and it makes for a decent splitter but that's about it.
     
  5. bixby

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    Looks like low level diy ferrite, perhaps to smooth highs a bit if any rfi is present. Then again there is always shielded cable and that is effective against most airborne rfi.

    Or it could not be graphene (isn't that expensive) and maybe just conductive foam and maybe it is just there to damp mechanical resonances only.
     
  6. m17xr2b

    m17xr2b Friend

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    Got the chance to compare two XLR to 6.3mm adapters. Mine is a DHC direct no wires and the other is a typical cable one.
    [​IMG]

    The difference is really subtle but subjectively I can say the cable one adds a super slight softness in the high end and low end is maybe a tad not as impactful. So I decided to double blind it. When practising I could swear I could just barely hear the differences. Placebo is a powerful thing.
    Did one run with HD800 4/10.
    My average with HD650 was 7/10. Weirdly my first half out of 10 was on average better than my second half.

    It can be argued the difference is because of different cables between my headphone ones and the adaptor rather than the extra connectors in the chain but unless you're at the edge of high end It shouldn't make any difference. On the Peak I couldn't tell them apart.
     
  7. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Anyone here use Oyaide cables? Looking at their digital offerings, especially pertaining to silver, you get a thicker conductor than other brands and tends to be cheaper! This seems to be a common "problem" as you go up various lines and into pure silver - the conductor gets smaller than the lower tiers that are copper. Blue Jean Cables has stated this as well and in their opinion, the smaller gauge completely negates any benefit silver would bring.

    Found a bunch of Oyaide products I'm interested in from here:
    https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/chuya-online/
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2019
  8. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    IIRC @fraggler is a fan of Oyaide cable and parts.

    believe I have/had a few connector parts on cables, etc. always delivered quality sound with no failures.
     
  9. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    I've been using the DST-75R for a few months now and have been quite pleased. It replaced a DIY VHAudio Pulsar AG. I'm also a big fan of the new Black Mamba V2 bulk power cable.
     
  10. bixby

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    Bought entry level power cable a decade ago, not impressed.
    Bought two recent usb cables, very impressed.

    Just checked a recent purchase, when you add freight the prices are not that great, cheaper in one example by buying from 3rd party azon seller with free freight.
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2019
  11. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    I love their connectors. Elite machining and finish. Have only used their headphone cables, none of their normal interconnects or power cables.
     
  12. msommers

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  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I think I recognize those cables. Remember guys, 98% of cables are made by the same four factories in China.
     
  14. netforce

    netforce MOT: Headphones.com

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    The Oxygen Free Cable looks like an oem I bought off Aliexpress for a project I did few years back. Decent enough, I am not great at soldering and had to fix it a few times.
     
  15. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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  16. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Actually looking at the Pangea stuff, seems pretty good value too. Now differences in price of Monolith, Pangea, Oyaide...ascending in that order...is there much (if any) difference audibly?
     
  17. ufospls2

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    Hey guys,

    I don't know much about cables and building them, but I've been on the hunt for affordable, well built cables. This guy and his company popped up on Canuck Audio Mart. Thought some of you might be interested. Feedback seems to be that they are really well made, "affordable", and do the job well. He only does power cables and speaker cables so far, but maybe he will do interconnects in the future. They seem to be about on par with other "budget" brands, so might be worth looking at :)

    https://nrgcustomcables.wixsite.com/nrgcustomcables/home

    The website is a bit rough though...
     
  18. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    I believe both the Pangea and Monolith USB cables are solid core silver plated copper, whereas the Oyaide NEO stuff is stranded copper. Whether that makes an audible difference is up to the listener, I suppose. Given the low cost of entry, there's not much reason not to try them. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I don't have much need for fancy USB cables, so I don't have any input.
     
  19. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    So I think I've narrowed things down to Oyaide and looking at their speaker cables, likely bulk because I'll either go bare or tin the ends.

    They have two versions I'm looking at, both have two poles. One is stupidly thick but does have a shield with a drain conductor while the other is (still thick at 12 awg) but doesn't have one.

    My router isn't too far away from my whole setup, like a foot outside the far speaker.

    So my question is: will the shield in a speaker cable matter here and if so, what do I do with the drain?

    EDIT: I've researched a bit and someone (elsewhere) suggested to put the drain on the negative amp speaker output terminal with the black/negative conductor if the amp doesn't have a ground terminal screw (mine doesn't), while floating the speaker-end drain.

    I don't think floating both sides would be helpful here, but also I dontd know if fussing over this shield for a speaker cable is even a useful endeavor. The router close by does impact my tube power amp if it's too close, I've tried and brings in weird noises.

    So to answer my own question I found this from someone claiming to be an EE and makes sense. Short story, speaker cable is self sufficient from noise and no shielding is needed.

     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2019
  20. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Interesting review pertaining to the Monolith RCAs:

     

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