IEM Detachable Cables - Which to buy? Which feature makes a difference to the sound

[OK1]

OK - Done with Dongle - Got a TempoTec Sonata BHD, highly satisfied with this. Can imagine owning this for many more years to come, God enabling.
Also done with choice of IEM's for a while. Daily driving an Artti T10. Pretty pleased with it, still wondering about what to me is a huge amount of bass, for someone more familiar with an AKG K702 which has no where near this level of bass.

Am using the default 4.4mm balanced to 0.78 mm 2 pin cable, that came with the T10, woven, luxurious looking. With a solid metal housing at the headphone port end, and shiny gold contacts, that could blind you with their brightness. Really lovely looking cable.

I do not have any immediate need to change the cable, but if I wanted to use this IEM to listen to other DAC's such as the Apple Dongle DAC, I need a 3.5mm to 0.78mm 2 pin cable.

Reviewing the options, I read about copper oxygen free cable, silver coated, XXX number of strands, and XX number of cores. I'd hate to start on another rabbit hole, going down paths that waste money on snake oil. Of lest I forget, I hear some of these cables as single crystal...

Which of these cable features, makes any audible difference. I come from the professional audio engineering world, and in that world esoteric cables are discouraged, unless there is a scientific reason, e.g. speaker cables have be of a minimum thickness, for a reason, and you want a certain maximum inductance in an audio cable, based on the inductance per meter multiplied by the length of the cable in meters.

With IEM's does any of this matter? If I buy a longer IEM cable say 2 or 3 meters instead of the usual circa 1 meter cable, will it affect the audio quality?

Thanks.

EDIT. added requirement by

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?members/anaveragebear.74164/

You forgot one --- good-looking

While I was so focussed on the audio quality, I am reminded, that the cable must also be good looking, Thanks. @anaveragebear

More requirements.

These are the features I look for with an IEM cable:

- non-microphonic. Some cables transmit noise to your IEM's, e.g. if the cable rubs on clothing. All cables are microphonic to a degree, some are less. This is my no. 2 criteria (behind length)
- memory wire for hooking around ears. This may be a matter of preference.
- tangle resistance.

The no. 1 reason why IEM's die is failure of the solder joint between IEM and cable. I will not buy an IEM without a detachable cable feature.

Thanks @Keith_W

One more : While I do not expect the basic cables supplier by KZ/CCA which get the job done, to fail or be easy to get damaged, I can see why the woven cables, can be even more resilient to damage, cos the weave makes these cables almost indestructible. You would have to have a terrible accident with a sharp object, or a deliberate cut with one, to split/damage a woven cable e.g one with 4 cables. Also feels more luxurious, not sure if it does anything to the sound, Maybe I'm being converted over the last few days, by the cable that came with the Artti T10. I was perfectly happy with the plain KZ/CCA cable., which I think is also indestructible. The cable that came with the T10 just feels more luxurious. With one flaw, the handling point for the insertion of the cable into a headphone socket, is lovely cosmetically nice, metal, but smooth, which makes inserting require a lot more effort on my part. I would have preferred the handling point to have some friction, rather than smooth, to make it easier to grip. Now I have to hold the dongle a lot more firmly, and hope I do not damage the dongle casing of the TempoTec Sonata BHD, which is plastic, not metal, in the process.!

 

[Somafunk]

Tripowin Zonie 3.5mm .78 2 pin is all you need £18 in the UK or $ 20 in the states (don’t know your country of residence) very supple, very well built and sounds exactly like what you’d expect a cable to sound like - utterly transparent

 

[DVDdoug]

Most audio cables are not critical (most are audibly transparent) despite what you might read on non-scientific "audiophile" websites.

And headphone/IEM cables are probably the most non-critical.

But sometimes the cables can transmit mechanical nose when you move or bump them. It's entirely mechanical (sometimes called "microphonic" noise) and it happens even when they are not plugged into an audio source.

 

[Brian Hall]

OK - Done with Dongle - Got a TempoTec Sonata BHD, highly satisfied with this. Can imagine owning this for many more years to come, God enabling.
Also done with choice of IEM's for a while. Daily driving an Artti T10. Pretty pleased with it, still wondering about what to me is a huge amount of bass, for someone more familiar with an AKG K702 which has no where near this level of bass.

Am using the default 4.4mm balanced to 0.78 mm 2 pin cable, that came with the T10, woven, luxurious looking. With a solid metal housing at the headphone port end, and shiny gold contacts, that could blind you with their brightness. Really lovely looking cable.

I do not have any immediate need to change the cable, but if I wanted to use this IEM to listen to other DAC's such as the Apple Dongle DAC, I need a 3.5mm to 0.78mm 2 pin cable.

Reviewing the options, I read about copper oxygen free cable, silver coated, XXX number of strands, and XX number of cores. I'd hate to start on another rabbit hole, going down paths that waste money on snake oil. Of lest I forget, I hear some of these cables as single crystal...

Which of these cable features, makes any audible difference. I come from the professional audio engineering world, and in that world esoteric cables are discouraged, unless there is a scientific reason, e.g. speaker cables have be of a minimum thickness, for a reason, and you want a certain maximum inductance in an audio cable, based on the inductance per meter multiplied by the length of the cable in meters.

With IEM's does any of this matter? If I buy a longer IEM cable say 2 or 3 meters instead of the usual circa 1 meter cable, will it affect the audio quality?

Thanks.

I think the most important consideration in headphone / iem cables is length. I've got short cables for using with my DAP carried in my pocket, slightly longer ones for desktop use and long ones to reach my AVR in the living room.

Cables won't make a difference in sound quality. They either work or don't. I've standardized on cables with 4.4mm balanced connectors and then use adapters as necessary.

 

[Dunring]

The best deal is the multi kits you can get on Amazon or AliExpress. They have interchangeable 3.5,2.5, and 4.4mm tips so it saves wear on those fragile plugs on the IEM. All are transparent if they're not defective.

 

[OK1]

Tripowin Zonie 3.5mm .78 2 pin is all you need £18 in the UK or $ 20 in the states (don’t know your country of residence) very supple, very well built and sounds exactly like what you’d expect a cable to sound like - utterly transparent

Thanks. Highly appreciated. I'm in the UK.

 

[OK1]

I think the most important consideration in headphone / iem cables is length. I've got short cables for using with my DAP carried in my pocket, slightly longer ones for desktop use and long ones to reach my AVR in the living room.

Cables won't make a difference in sound quality. They either work or don't. I've standardized on cables with 4.4mm balanced connectors and then use adapters as necessary.

Cool idea. So that will be 3.5mm to 4.4mm adapter. Will search for one. Thanks. This way I do not have to detach cable from the IEM. Cool.

 

[Brian Hall]

Cool idea. So that will be 3.5mm to 4.4mm adapter. Will search for one. Thanks. This way I do not have to detach cable from the IEM. Cool.

Adapters are almost always cheaper than separate cables.

 

[Keith_W]

These are the features I look for with an IEM cable:

- non-microphonic. Some cables transmit noise to your IEM's, e.g. if the cable rubs on clothing. All cables are microphonic to a degree, some are less. This is my no. 2 criteria (behind length)
- memory wire for hooking around ears. This may be a matter of preference.
- tangle resistance.

The no. 1 reason why IEM's die is failure of the solder joint between IEM and cable. I will not buy an IEM without a detachable cable feature.

 

[anaveragebear]

These are the features I look for with an IEM cable:

- non-microphonic. Some cables transmit noise to your IEM's, e.g. if the cable rubs on clothing. All cables are microphonic to a degree, some are less. This is my no. 2 criteria (behind length)
- memory wire for hooking around ears. This may be a matter of preference.
- tangle resistance.

The no. 1 reason why IEM's die is failure of the solder joint between IEM and cable. I will not buy an IEM without a detachable cable feature.

You forgot one --- good-looking

 

[OK1]

You forgot one --- good-looking

Thanks - I have revised the initial post.

 

[OK1]

These are the features I look for with an IEM cable:

- non-microphonic. Some cables transmit noise to your IEM's, e.g. if the cable rubs on clothing. All cables are microphonic to a degree, some are less. This is my no. 2 criteria (behind length)
- memory wire for hooking around ears. This may be a matter of preference.
- tangle resistance.

The no. 1 reason why IEM's die is failure of the solder joint between IEM and cable. I will not buy an IEM without a detachable cable feature.

Revised the initial post, to add this requirement. Thanks

 

[OK1]

One more : While I do not expect the basic cables supplier by KZ/CCA which get the job done, to fail or be easy to get damaged, I can see why the woven cables, can be even more resilient to damage, cos the weave makes these cables almost indestructible. You would have to have a terrible accident with a sharp object, or a deliberate cut with one, to split/damage a woven cable e.g one with 4 cables. Also feels more luxurious, not sure if it does anything to the sound, Maybe I'm being converted over the last few days, by the cable that came with the Artti T10. I was perfectly happy with the plain KZ/CCA cable., which I think is also indestructible. The cable that came with the T10 just feels more luxurious. With one flaw, the handling point for the insertion of the cable into a headphone socket, is lovely cosmetically nice, metal, but smooth, which makes inserting require a lot more effort on my part. I would have preferred the handling point to have some friction, rather than smooth, to make it easier to grip. Now I have to hold the dongle a lot more firmly, and hope I do not damage the dongle casing of the TempoTec Sonata BHD, which is plastic, not metal, in the process.!

I added this also to the list of requirements.