I wanted a balanced cable for my HD600 because the SMSL SH-9 that I use has balanced out.
This is a description how to built a (highend
) balanced cable. (maybe this has been posted before but I couldn't find a recent post)
Step 1: buy a headphone cable for a Sennheiser HD650
According to the guys on head-fi.org this cable sounds better then the original cable from the HD600 but because this is ASR the main reason is that a cable for the HD600 = € 24,99 and a cable for the HD650 € 9,99.
Step 2: buy a 4 pin male XLR (prefeable from Neutrik)
I went crazy and ordered the black gold-plated version.
Step 3: cut the headphone cable at the desired length, strip the isolation from the wire (1,5 cm) and apply solder tin to the end of the wires.
This is a double cable and each side contains 2 strands of wires, in this type of cable every strand has been isolated and it's a bit of pain to apply solder tin to the wires. My method is to put the soldering iron in a fixed position and hold the tip of the wire onto the soldering iron, then apply solder tin untill this starts to flow onto the wire. I use solder tin with silver for my audio cables but I guess that's not really necessary. It's important to use solder tin with resin core.
(Sorry the photo is not very sharp)
Step4: solder the wires onto the XLR connector
In this case the green strands are the Left+ = XLR pin 1
The copper strands with the green are Left - = XLR pin 2
The red strands are Right + = XLR pin 3
The copper strands with the red are Right - = XLR pin 4
Don't forget to put the rubber boot of the connector over the headphone cable before you solder the wires!
Step 5: assemble the XLR connector and ready is your balanced cable.
My setup:
One last remark about the HD650 cable, although it is a lot cheaper the the HD600 cable it is a more substantial cable then the HD600 cable. If this is only the isolation or that internal is also different I cannot tell.
Personally I don't like this cables were every strand is isolated but that is just my feeling I don't know if a different cable is better or worse.
Maybe intersting for a follow up cable project but then I first have to find the connectors that attach to the headphone.
BR, Marc
This is a description how to built a (highend
) balanced cable. (maybe this has been posted before but I couldn't find a recent post)Step 1: buy a headphone cable for a Sennheiser HD650
According to the guys on head-fi.org this cable sounds better then the original cable from the HD600
but because this is ASR the main reason is that a cable for the HD600 = € 24,99 and a cable for the HD650 € 9,99.Step 2: buy a 4 pin male XLR (prefeable from Neutrik)
I went crazy and ordered the black gold-plated version.
Step 3: cut the headphone cable at the desired length, strip the isolation from the wire (1,5 cm) and apply solder tin to the end of the wires.
This is a double cable and each side contains 2 strands of wires, in this type of cable every strand has been isolated and it's a bit of pain to apply solder tin to the wires. My method is to put the soldering iron in a fixed position and hold the tip of the wire onto the soldering iron, then apply solder tin untill this starts to flow onto the wire. I use solder tin with silver for my audio cables but I guess that's not really necessary. It's important to use solder tin with resin core.
(Sorry the photo is not very sharp)
Step4: solder the wires onto the XLR connector
In this case the green strands are the Left+ = XLR pin 1
The copper strands with the green are Left - = XLR pin 2
The red strands are Right + = XLR pin 3
The copper strands with the red are Right - = XLR pin 4
Don't forget to put the rubber boot of the connector over the headphone cable before you solder the wires!
Step 5: assemble the XLR connector and ready is your balanced cable.
My setup:
One last remark about the HD650 cable, although it is a lot cheaper the the HD600 cable it is a more substantial cable then the HD600 cable. If this is only the isolation or that internal is also different I cannot tell.
Personally I don't like this cables were every strand is isolated but that is just my feeling I don't know if a different cable is better or worse.
Maybe intersting for a follow up cable project but then I first have to find the connectors that attach to the headphone.
BR, Marc
