Modular headphone cables

[Jose Hidalgo]

Hi everybody,

As many people here know, the problem with headphone cables is... what to do with them when you're not actually using them ?

Assuming you have more than one pair of headphones (and that you take care of them), surely you will store them somewhere (on headphone stands, yoga bricks, whatever). Now you have four choices :

1. You store them each WITH their (usually long) cable
   • It may be a hassle : the cans fit nicely on their stands/bricks, but not the long cables
   • You have to disconnect the cable from your source every time, which may result in bad contacts in the long run
     .
2. You store them WITHOUT their cable
   • You have to disconnect the cable from the headphones every time, which may result in bad contacts in the long run too, especially with some delicate/proprietary connectors
   • The cable remains on the source, and then you may have to remove it anyway if you need to plug in another pair of headphones
     .
3. You store them WITHOUT their cable AND you store the cable separately
   • Same bad contacts problem as before, multiplied by two (on the headphones side and on the source side)

OR...

4. You have modular cables like these ones :​

These cables are a real solution to all the previous problems, since they're made of two parts, connected in the middle by usually a 4-pin XLR which is a rugged connector, easy to plug/unplug. One part stays always connected to the source, and the other part stays always connected to the headphones. It's even better when you have several headphones : You can have one single interconnect permanently plugged in your amp, and as many headphone cables as you want, permanently plugged on your headphones ! It's brilliant IMHO.

I've found some nice modular cables at Hart Audio. If some of you didn't know about them already, check their website. You can design your cables from A to Z and beyond : custom connectors, custom lengths, hundreds of custom colors, they do everything you may desire ! I guess there's nothing bad to say about them.

Only downside for me before placing a custom order with them, is the fact that they're located in the US. They do ship internationally, but I'm worried about shipping costs + customs taxes (I've had some bad experiences in the past). So I wonder if there are similar modular headphone cable suppliers in Europe. There probably are, right ? Any links ?

 

[JustAnandaDourEyedDude]

Hi everybody,

As many people here know, the problem with headphone cables is... what to do with them when you're not actually using them ?

Assuming you have more than one pair of headphones (and that you take care of them), surely you will store them somewhere (on headphone stands, yoga bricks, whatever). Now you have four choices :

1. You store them each WITH their (usually long) cable
   • It may be a hassle : the cans fit nicely on their stands/bricks, but not the long cable
   • You have to disconnect the cable from your source every time, which may result in bad contacts in the long run
     .
2. You store them WITHOUT their cable
   • You have to disconnect the cable from the headphones every time, which may result in bad contacts in the long run too, especially with some delicate/proprietary connectors
   • The cable remains on the source, and then you may have to remove it anyway if you need to plug in another pair of headphones
     .
3. You store them WITHOUT their cable AND you store the cable separately
   • Same bad contacts problem as before, multiplied by two (on the headphones side and on the source side)

OR...

4. You have modular cables like these ones :​

​

These cables are a real solution to all the previous problems, since they're made of two parts, connected in the middle by usually a 4-pin XLR which is a rugged connector, easy to plug/unplug. One part stays always connected to the source, and the other part stays always connected to the headphones. It's even better when you have several headphones : You can have one single interconnect permanently plugged in your amp, and as many headphone cables as you want, permanently plugged on your headphones ! It's brilliant IMHO.

I've found some nice modular cables at Hart Audio. If some of you didn't know about them already, check their website. You can design your cables from A to Z and beyond : custom connectors, custom lengths, hundreds of custom colors, they do everything you may desire ! I guess there's nothing bad to say about them.

Only downside for me before placing a custom order with them, is the fact that they're located in the US. They do ship internationally, but I'm worried about shipping costs + customs taxes (I've had some bad experiences in the past). So I wonder if there are similar modular headphone cable suppliers in Europe. There probably are, right ? Any links ?

Good link. Never came across Hart cables before.

A couple of years ago or so, I noticed the Awesome Plug Cable, brought to market initially by Dunu I think it was, but licensed or copied by other vendors soon after. It seems to be the same concept and style as Hart's "Standard" cable style, the one with the short interconnect. I did not care for the prices, though I realize that the bunch of interconnects that it comes with (to give you the various plugs) adds quite a bit to the BOM. Also did not care for a new connection type between the two parts where Hart use XLR. IIRC, the Awesome Plug Cable uses slender pins that fit into holes, and one of the two mating ends screws onto the other, which makes frequent connection/disconnection of the two halves annoying. Also, the earphone end is limited to 2-pin and possibly MMCX. So I never bought any of those.

I aim to get all my IEM cables terminated in 4.4mm 5-pole Pentaconn plugs, because I will mostly use them with DAPs, and by now all the DAPs I use have 4.4mm Pentaconn jacks. So I replaced the cables on most of my IEMs with balanced cables terminated in Pentaconn plugs. I still have a couple of IEMs with 2.5mm plug terminated cables, that I use with EarStudio ES100 (and maybe FiiO BTR5 or Qudelix 5K in the future) bluetooth receivers. For any of the older DAPs with 2.5mm balanced jacks, I bought six-inch or foot-long adapters that turn the jacks into 4.4mm jacks, and I leave the adapters permanently plugged in to the DAPs.

Similarly, I aim to get all my headphone cables terminated with 4-pole 4-pin XLR plugs, as most of the desktop amps I will use them with have XLR headphone jacks. The headphone cable conversion project is not as far along, so I still use most of the headphones with the 6.35mm plug terminated cables they came with, using the 1/4" jacks on the amps for the time being. And of course, with adapters, I plug the 6.35mm plugs also into 3.5mm (1/8") TRS sockets when desired.

I also bought several of this type of short adapter to adapt every balanced IEM/headphone cable plug type into every other balanced or unbalanced plug type so as to be able to use any IEM/headphone with any DAP/amp output socket at all. Similarly I bought adapters to adapt every unbalanced cable plug into every other unbalanced plug type (though not into balanced plug types), so that I can use the IEM/headphone with any unbalanced DAP/amp socket at all. I just rummage through my big box of adapters to find the right one (easy - they are all in labeled little boxes they came with), and I am all set to hear music. Once you get all your IEMs and headphones onto balanced cables, you can always plug a balanced cable into any socket with an adapter, but you should not plug an unbalanced cable into a balanced socket.

I do not worry about the contacts going bad with use, as I would imagine the connectors are generally rated to survive thousands of plug/unplug cycles. If I did worry, I could leave the adapters plugged into the sockets, and plug and unplug the IEM/headphone into the adapter socket. I do in fact do this when I go through a phase of consistently using a particular IEM/headphone with a particular DAP/amp in which the plug and socket were originally not of the same type. There are now plenty of adapter choices and cable choices to be found on Amazon and AliExpress. This way, I am not locked into a particular cable, but can use any that pleases me. The build quality, principally the soldering, on many of the adapters I sampled along the way, however, is poor, giving static or drop-out problems, as I found out the hard way. But I found a couple of reliable brands, Youkamoo being one that I never had a problem with.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

I'm bumping this topic because I still hope somebody knows a Hart Audio equivalent somewhere in Europe. Thanks in advance !

 

[Jimbob54]

Large number of ebay sellers will make you both the "extension" part to any length and termination you require plus the relevant cables in matching sleeves of any length and termination at both ends.

Hart Audio or their EU equivalent will just have a nicer looking website. The downside of the 4 pin mini xlr "mid-point" is of course you cant then use the stock cable with the extension.

A more universal 6.35mm male to female extension of whatever length at the amp end plus custom length 6.35mm male cables would be easier if you will only use the L30s

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Well, that makes sense of course.

I'd be happy to check some well-known eBay sellers that do custom work with reasonable shipping costs for Europe (so, not american ones unfortunately). Any links, please ?

For the record I wasn't aiming at Hart's standard cables. They do custom cables with any termination, length, color, for a reasonable price too : https://hartaudiocables.com/pages/custom-shop

As for the stock cables, our goal is to not use them at all, because we're aiming at the 18" Split concept (see above pic). We'd like 2 long interconnects (say 4 ft each) permanently connected to both L30s, and as many short headphone cables as we have headphones. That way, when we put the headphones back on their stands (protected from the dust, etc.), we won't have to deal with long cables anymore.

So I'd say that for us, the most important part is having long interconnects and very short headphone cables. Thus, the connector at "mid-point" is irrelevant. It could be a 6.35 Jack of course. Or a mini-XLR, with the added value of being a rugged connector (maybe nicer to the touch although that's subjective) with a locking feature (although it's true that 6.35 Jacks can be locked too). Or anything else.

 

[Jimbob54]

Well, that makes sense of course.

I'd be happy to check some well-known eBay sellers that do custom work with reasonable shipping costs for Europe (so, not american ones unfortunately). Any links, please ?

For the record I wasn't aiming at Hart's standard cables. They do custom cables with any termination, length, color, for a reasonable price too : https://hartaudiocables.com/pages/custom-shop

As for the stock cables, our goal is to not use them at all, because we're aiming at the 18" Split concept (see above pic). We'd like 2 long interconnects (say 4 ft each) permanently connected to both L30s, and as many short headphone cables as we have headphones. That way, when we put the headphones back on their stands (protected from the dust, etc.), we won't have to deal with long cables anymore.

So I'd say that for us, the most important part is having long interconnects and very short headphone cables. Thus, the connector at "mid-point" is irrelevant. It could be a 6.35 Jack of course. Or a mini-XLR, with the added value of being a rugged connector (maybe nicer to the touch although that's subjective) with a locking feature (although it's true that 6.35 Jacks can be locked too). Or anything else.

The guy I have used before seems to have stopped doing it. This is a similar offer- paracord clad cable of any length, colour, terminations (and choice of materials- no idea why more than basic copper needed)- If you messaged them with your requirements I'm sure they would point you to a suitable listing to put the transaction through but built to spec. https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/skyaudiocables?_trksid=p2047675.l2559 . There are many doing similar things

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Good to know. I have spent a good amount of time earlier today, on eBay and AliExpress, trying to find anything suitable, without success.

That eBay seller looks nice, there's only a couple of problems about him :

• He's not in Europe (because Brexit), hence taxes just like the US
• He's actually more expensive than Hart Audio :
  • A custom cable from Hart is 30-35$ (25-30 €) excl. shipping (which is reasonable and would be perfect for me without all the shipping/taxes).
  • A custom cable from Sky Audio seems to be at least 50 £ (55-60 €) excl. shipping.

The purpose of this topic being to find a seller that would be cheaper than Hart Audio for Europe. And by "cheaper" I mean "including shipping and taxes" : the cables may be as expensive as Hart's, even a little more, provided the shipping is much cheaper and there are no taxes.

 

[Jimbob54]

Good to know. I have spent a good amount of time earlier today, on eBay and AliExpress, trying to find anything suitable, without success.

That eBay seller looks nice, there's only a couple of problems about him :

• He's not in Europe (because Brexit), hence taxes just like the US
• He's actually more expensive than Hart Audio :
  • A custom cable from Hart is 30-35$ (25-30 €) excl. shipping (which is reasonable and would be perfect for me without all the shipping/taxes).
  • A custom cable from Sky Audio seems to be at least 50 £ (55-60 €) excl. shipping.

The purpose of this topic being to find a seller that would be cheaper than Hart Audio for Europe. And by "cheaper" I mean "including shipping and taxes" : the cables may be as expensive as Hart's, even a little more, provided the shipping is much cheaper and there are no taxes.

No change in Uk-EU customs as we stand , treat as EU- maybe January onwards will have duties/ taxes etc but not at the moment depending on agreements tbc. (Im UK and buy from EU no problems)

I doubt you will find cheaper than Hart- their prices very reasonable (excluding customs etc obv). Cheaper would be buying from China or other Asian locations which I am guessing you wont entertain.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Thanks for the UK update.

Actually I wouldn't mind at all buying from China, if I found somebody able to do custom work to my specs. That's why I tried to find something on AliExpress, without success. It's true that China still has a way to go quality-wise, but they have improved a lot in recent years. Heck, state-of-the-art DACs and amps like Topping's are from China now! Plus cables are... well, just cables, so less likely to fail than electronics (hopefully).

Who knows, maybe people like @JohnYang1997 could help here ?
The other solution would be finding somebody travelling from the US to France and willing to carry 5 Hart cables, lol.

 

[Berwhale]

You can have one single interconnect permanently plugged in your amp, and as many headphone cables as you want, permanently plugged on your headphones ! It's brilliant IMHO.

Not if you need to unplug your headphones to enable the pre-amp outputs on your amplifier, like on my JDS Labs Atom or the Topping A50s i'm still waiting for.

 

[Jimbob54]

Thanks for the UK update.

Actually I wouldn't mind at all buying from China, if I found somebody able to do custom work to my specs. That's why I tried to find something on AliExpress, without success. It's true that China still has a way to go quality-wise, but they have improved a lot in recent years. Heck, state-of-the-art DACs and amps like Topping's are from China now! Plus cables are... well, just cables, so less likely to fail than electronics (hopefully).

Who knows, maybe people like @JohnYang1997 could help here ?
The other solution would be finding somebody travelling from the US to France and willing to carry 5 Hart cables, lol.

I'm not sure custom and cheap ($30-50) for a custom terminated and length cable go together.

 

[Jimbob54]

Thanks for the UK update.

Actually I wouldn't mind at all buying from China, if I found somebody able to do custom work to my specs. That's why I tried to find something on AliExpress, without success. It's true that China still has a way to go quality-wise, but they have improved a lot in recent years. Heck, state-of-the-art DACs and amps like Topping's are from China now! Plus cables are... well, just cables, so less likely to fail than electronics (hopefully).

Who knows, maybe people like @JohnYang1997 could help here ?
The other solution would be finding somebody travelling from the US to France and willing to carry 5 Hart cables, lol.

I meant assumed Asia a no go because of (potential) customs fees etc into EU. Not quality issues.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Not if you need to unplug your headphones to enable the pre-amp outputs on your amplifier, like on my JDS Labs Atom or the Topping A50s i'm still waiting for.

Of course. Thankfully I won't be using any of my headphone amps as pre-amp.

I meant assumed Asia a no go because of (potential) customs fees etc into EU. Not quality issues.

I order stuff from AliExpress and other chinese sites on a regular basis (30 orders per year or so). Never paid any customs fees, and shipping is cheap or even free (except for heavy furniture which I don't order). So if I found a cable seller from China it would probably solve my problem. I'm sure there are many of them that do custom work (connectors, etc.), I just need to find one.

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Actually I have just thought of an even better idea :

• Interconnect cables : TRS Jack (Stereo) to 2 x [Connector X] (Mono), about 2m long
  
  
• Headphone cables : 2 completely separate cables per headphone (provided the headphone has 2 connectors of course)
  2 x [headphone connectors, depends on the headphone] to 2 x [Connector X] (Mono), and as short as possible (15-30 cm)
  Having 2 completely separate and extremely short cables per headphone would make them even easier to store on their stands.

The goal of the game is to find [Connector X] : the most suitable, robust, maybe locking, etc.. What do you think ? Jack ? (6.35, 3.5, 2.5) XLR ? Mini-XLR ? Something else ?

 

[Jimbob54]

You are increasing the cost. One extra female per extension, one extra male per headphone (amp end) . 3 headphones, 2 extensions is 5 extra terminations in your order.

Actually I have just thought of an even better idea :

• Interconnect cables : TRS Jack (Stereo) to 2 x [Connector X] (Mono), about 2m long
  
  
• Headphone cables : 2 completely separate cables per headphone (provided the headphone has 2 connectors of course)
  2 x [headphone connectors, depends on the headphone] to 2 x [Connector X] (Mono), and as short as possible (15-30 cm)
  Having 2 completely separate and extremely short cables per headphone would make them even easier to store on their stands.

The goal of the game is to find [Connector X] : the most suitable, robust, maybe locking, etc.. What do you think ? Jack ? (6.35, 3.5, 2.5) XLR ? Mini-XLR ? Something else ?

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

I get what you mean, but that's not how I think.
The cheapest solution would of course be to keep the stock cables and deal with them.
If I'm going to spend some money on custom cables, I'd better have them fit my exact requirements for storage purposes first, and THEN look for the cheapest manufacturers.
I think the solution I just imagined should be the best one for storage purposes. Don't you think so ?

Plus it doesn't have to be more expensive. For example :

• 2 x (Senn mono male to 3.5mm mono female adapter) : 42,04 € --> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001575125875.html
• 2 x (3.5 mono male to 3.5 mono female adapter) : 14,60 € --> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001284716254.html
• 2 x (2.5 mono male to 3.5 mono female adapter) : 2,25 € --> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32787242240.html

Now all my headphones magically have 3.5 mono female outputs, and I only need...

• 2 x (2 x 3.5 mono male to 1 x 6.35 stereo male cable, 1,8 m) : 37,52 € --> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32847273241.html

Total price incl. shipping and customs : 96,41 €
Could this really work ?

I wish I could find fancier mono adapters, but that's all I could find.
I also wish that [Connector X] was something else than a 3.5mm mono, but again, that's all I could find.

 

[Jimbob54]

I get what you mean, but that's not how I think.
The cheapest solution would of course be to keep the stock cables and deal with them.
If I'm going to spend some money on custom cables, I'd better have them fit my exact requirements for storage purposes first, and THEN look for the cheapest manufacturers.
I think the solution I just imagined should be the best one for storage purposes. Don't you think so ?

Plus it doesn't have to be more expensive. For example :

• 2 x (Senn mono male to 3.5mm mono female adapter) : 42,04 € --> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001575125875.html
• 2 x (3.5 mono male to 3.5 mono female adapter) : 14,60 € --> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001284716254.html
• 2 x (2.5 mono male to 3.5 mono female adapter) : 2,25 € --> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32787242240.html

Now all my headphones magically have 3.5 mono female outputs, and I only need...

• 2 x (2 x 3.5 mono male to 1 x 6.35 stereo male cable, 1,8 m) : 37,52 € --> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32847273241.html

Total price incl. shipping and customs : 96,41 €
Could this really work ?

I wish I could find fancier mono adapters, but that's all I could find.
I also wish that [Connector X] was something else than a 3.5mm mono, but again, that's all I could find.

That would work in theory. Guessing you have noticed you would be buying 50 items for some of those listings. They are dirt cheap adapters so failure might be a risk- but at that price you have a drawer of spares.

Not sure why you need the second one in the list- 3.5 to 3.5. Isnt that just copying whats at the cups anyway? EDIT- I get you- stereo to mono. I might be wrong but I think they will take a mono straight to the cup.

Be careful of recessed connectors in the cups by the way- some go deeper than the shaft of the jack and take in some of the casing so you might need slim barrels (like on the long cable you linked)

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

I hear you and I absolutely agree with you here.

The goal of the 3.5 to 3.5 isn't stereo to mono, the connector is mono to mono if you select the first one on the page. The goal would be to keep these connectors permanently plugged into the headphones, in order to preserve the headphones.
As for the recessed connectors, yes, absolutely. That only happens with the NHC though (see here). The Sundara and the HD600 are fine.

With that said, I don't think I would be happy with such a solution (plus the adapters would probably not work on the NHC like we both noticed) I think I just wanted to prove myself that I could come up with a working solution at a reasonable price.

A few hours ago, when I was about to give up, I ended up finding THIS SITE, and it blew my mind. No fancy/overpriced stuff, just a young guy who's passionate about what he does and seems to do great custom work at reasonable prices. You may like it, he's UK-based too. I think I may work with him on this in a few weeks.

Based on cable specs alone (see the website), what cable would be more suitable : Ika 2, Kiore or Tumuku ?

 

[Jose Hidalgo]

Some news on this project. I have finished the custom cable specs, and I could use some help in case anything can be optimized. There are currently two options (see pictures). The cables aren't balanced, but it doesn't really matter since the L30 isn't balanced anyway (plus balanced isn't necessarily better).

What do you guys think ?

• Pro/Cons of each option ?
• Any mistakes ?

Thank you.

.
.
.

 

[Quomz]

Option 2 will be lighter and cheaper I guess. It omits the Y split for the "A" assembly (might be ~10€ material cost) and one pair of mini XLR for each "B", "C" and "D" (~5€ upwards for a pair Rean or similar).

I would personally prefer a straight connector for a desktop source, but you might have other preferences or needs.