DIY cable and adapter making. Looking for others.

[DonDish]

Where from?
I need some Lemo connectors

Parts #´s Male: FGG.1B.304.CLAD62 and female: PHG.1B.304.CLLD62 These are the one I got.

 

[DonDish]

quick grip vices are invaluable. To hold other vices.

 

[mhardy6647]

View attachment 233002quick grip vices are invaluable. To hold other vices.

That's delightfully meta.

 

[DonDish]

That's delightfully meta.

He was a poet, and he didnt know it

 

[antikryst]

i asked a local cable builder to build headphone cables for me with quick disconnects like the ones hart audio sells but using LEMO connectors (not the real LEMO due to cost). is there a reason why these are not being used in audio in a quick disconnect adapter application? my first experience with LEMO is for USB to USB C custom keyboard cables (really just for aesthetics).

sample below for the adapter kits in XLR:

Multi-Kits

Our goal is to make purchasing aftermarket headphone cables straightforward, fast and affordable by offering a modular system designed to maximize your headphone cable's versatility.

hartaudiocables.com

anyway.. i asked him to order some LEMO connectors to make me 2 cables.. one for an Aeon X (hirose) and one dual 3.5 mono (hifiman) that terminates to 3.5 and 4.4 with a LEMO connector so i can swap out the 3.5 and 4.4 when needed... and use both 3.5 and 4.4 on multiple headphones.

is there anything to watch out for? maybe i can tell him to do some tests. what tests should be done?

if it wont work i can just scrap the project and have him use XLR instead.

 

[DonDish]

i asked a local cable builder to build headphone cables for me with quick disconnects like the ones hart audio sells but using LEMO connectors (not the real LEMO due to cost). is there a reason why these are not being used in audio in a quick disconnect adapter application? my first experience with LEMO is for USB to USB C custom keyboard cables (really just for aesthetics).

sample below for the adapter kits in XLR:

Multi-Kits

Our goal is to make purchasing aftermarket headphone cables straightforward, fast and affordable by offering a modular system designed to maximize your headphone cable's versatility.

hartaudiocables.com

anyway.. i asked him to order some LEMO connectors to make me 2 cables.. one for an Aeon X (hirose) and one dual 3.5 mono (hifiman) that terminates to 3.5 and 4.4 with a LEMO connector so i can swap out the 3.5 and 4.4 when needed... and use both 3.5 and 4.4 on multiple headphones.

is there anything to watch out for? maybe i can tell him to do some tests. what tests should be done?

if it wont work i can just scrap the project and have him use XLR instead.

LEMO is certainelly sleeker and a smoother systems. The best you get is reducded weight I think. The contacts are a bit fiddly but OK enough with small solder pots. Some magnification is good to have. I have some fake LEMO´s here. They seem just like the other one.

 

[antikryst]

LEMO is certainelly sleeker and a smoother systems. The best you get is reducded weight I think. The contacts are a bit fiddly but OK enough with small solder pots. Some magnification is good to have. I have some fake LEMO´s here. They seem just like the other one.

thats the goal. is just to make the adapter part smaller and thinner vs XLR. not sure if it will work though. might mess up something thats why im asking here if there are any watch outs that could be measurable objectively... so i can give the go or no go to the project.

 

[antcollinet]

There are no watchouts. At audio frequencies, as long as the connectors make a secure connection, they will have no influence on the sound. You can use a couple of paperclips if you like. Just choose secure, easy to use, easy to get connectors that meet your size and robustnes requirements.

 

[antikryst]

There are no watchouts. At audio frequencies, as long as the connectors make a secure connection, they will have no influence on the sound. You can use a couple of paperclips if you like. Just choose secure, easy to use, easy to get connectors that meet your size and robustnes requirements.

really? i thought there was more to it that that.

parts have been ordered by my cable maker. hopefully it turns out well. cant wait to get it.

 

[Philbo King]

Thats a really nice building blog, now im thinking of documenting my own work. Genius move to put the 2.5 into xlr barrel instead off cable between.

I got a nice weller station, so it will do the job. Do you have experience with enameled copper? In paralell to my adapter im doing a cable mod for my HD650. I was hoping(praying) for it to normal wire, but sadly it doesnt.

I've soldered enameled wire before. The easiest way is to touch a bit of solder to the iron and touch it to the very end of the wire. The heat quickly burns away the enamel so you can tin it while it's hot. Far better than scraping it.
That said, enameled wire is mostly useful to wind inductors or transformers. Not recommended for use on connectors. It is pretty fragile.

 

[DonDish]

I've soldered enameled wire before. The easiest way is to touch a bit of solder to the iron and touch it to the very end of the wire. The heat quickly burns away the enamel so you can tin it while it's hot. Far better than scraping it.
That said, enameled wire is mostly useful to wind inductors or transformers. Not recommended for use on connectors. It is pretty fragile.

The method I ended up with. I put the iron in a vice @350-400c put some solder to it to form a drop. Put a chunk of rosinpaste on the enameled wire end and drive it through the drop of molten tin. Clean the iron between each solder instance, slagg builds up quick. Prepare this setup and soldering laquered wire is easy

 

[Waxx]

I somewhere saw years ago measurements (don't find it back) of silver and copper cables, and there was a difference, but one of like 0.01dB so not important or hearable. But silver tend to favor high frequencies a bit wit 0.01dB compared to copper of the same gauge and length. I don't remember how it was done and how scientific it was, but even when it was right, it's like said so little that you can't hear it, even with so called "golden ears".... So for me, within practical use, there is no difference in sound, only in price (silver is more expensive) and in prone to oxidation (silver oxidate way faster than copper). But many audiophiles insist that they hear a difference.

But maybe that is how the myth came that silver sound bright and copper warm.

And btw, many so called sivler cables are actually silver plated copper cables, very few are pure silver. And those who are are way to expensive to be reasonable. I stay with OFC copper, and the "OFC" is only important for durability (less fast oxidation), not for sound.

 

[DonDish]

I somewhere saw years ago measurements (don't find it back) of silver and copper cables, and there was a difference, but one of like 0.01dB so not important or hearable. But silver tend to favor high frequencies a bit wit 0.01dB compared to copper of the same gauge and length. I don't remember how it was done and how scientific it was, but even when it was right, it's like said so little that you can't hear it, even with so called "golden ears".... So for me, within practical use, there is no difference in sound, only in price (silver is more expensive) and in prone to oxidation (silver oxidate way faster than copper). But many audiophiles insist that they hear a difference.

But maybe that is how the myth came that silver sound bright and copper warm.

And btw, many so called sivler cables are actually silver plated copper cables, very few are pure silver. And those who are are way to expensive to be reasonable. I stay with OFC copper, and the "OFC" is only important for durability (less fast oxidation), not for sound.

Silver is overkill if it works or not I think. I ended up with Mogami coaxial bulk cable and Mundorf contacts. Dont remember price, but around 120-150 euros including shipping and a nice cable sleeve.

I have some Nordost "blue heaven" here. copper/silver cables. Cant say I can tell difference from other signal cables.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

But maybe that is how the myth came that silver sound bright and copper warm.

It's visual. Copper looks warm, silver looks bright.

 

[DonDish]

It's visual. Copper looks warm, silver looks bright.

Magic of advertisement

 

[Wolf]

A few more...

The grey speaker cables are GearIt brand (from Amazon) marine speaker cable 14awg 10' with Parts Express polycarbonate BFA bananas. The sub cable is a Mediabridge (Amazon) 15' split that I sheathed to match. Made these for a customer.

The BlackWhite cable is 10/2 GearIt marine cable, 17' long. Amphenol speakon with glands and CMC Rhodium plated BFA-Z bananas terminate it. Aluminum splitters were made on a lathe by a friend of mine. These were made to use for the events I host, as the 10' were just not long enough in some cases.

As usual, sheathing was purchased from here:

sleeve sheath cotton | eBay

 

[Wolf]

Just did these, patterned after some older XLO Signature speaker cables. I found the clear BFA-Z on Amazon, but apparently they are cheaper elsewhere. Solder type 4pole Neutrik SpeakOns wired as 2pole since I had them, using 2/16x10' copper as a single strand per, then once sheathed, twisted and resheathed with clear nylon sheathing. Clear heatshrink for majority, black at the y joint. This is very flexible for being equivalent 13awg. Color sheathing from Superiorsell2014, in clear PET/purple cotton and clearPET/blue cotton varieties. Not as inexpensive due to 3x the sheathing for the look intended.
I took the shots in direct front and across from the side lighting angles, adding closeup for detail.