Headphone Heights

After-market headphone cables

99.1.116.231

newvinyl

A

Can anyone suggest a good headphone cable company?
I'm sure most people DIY, but I've never soldered before.
Thinking about changing the Canare L-4E5ST cable that came with my Hifiman HE-500s. There's nothing wrong with the headphones and I'm not trying to change the overall character of the headphones; I guess I'm looking for more "clarity", or "openness" (if that makes sense).
I saw one listed on eBay, but I'm not sure the Mogami W2534 cable would be any better (although it does have less resistance and less capacitance than the Canare).

ULTIMATE HIFIMAN CABLE for HE560 HE500 HE400 HE300 HE/6 5 4 (Open in New Window)

Edits: 04/22/20

Follow Ups:

RE: After-market headphone cables - newvinyl 10:59:43 05/08/20 (1)
Thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunately, I have to put my mega-buck cable upgrade on hold for now.

However, I did purchase the HiFiMan cable for $60. The old cable had a bad connection and would short-out if I moved too much. I'll get around to repairing the old cable later.

The new HiFiMan cable is a side-grade - not worse, but not that much better.

I would have gone with Periapt but I didn't see anything compatible withe the screw-type connectors of the HE-500.
- Screw Connector Headphone Cable (Open in New Window)
- RE: After-market headphone cables - livinghigh@bellsouth.net 11:46:44 05/10/20 (0)
  I have Periapt for my Audioquest Night Hawks and Owls, and it is a be improvement over the AQ stock cables. Call them, as they will do special orders.
  
  Al
RE: After-market - hifitommy 14:59:38 05/03/20 (0)
periapt is one that i have considered.
...regards...tr
- periapt (Open in New Window)
RE: After-market headphone cables - Todd Krieger 22:35:10 04/30/20 (0)
If you're willing to spend a little bit more, I just got a set of Synergistic Atmosphere cables on trade for my Audeze LCD-2 Closed Back 'phones..... This one is a match in heaven, I can now hear the background choirs in the symphony orchestra very easily..... Makes me tempted to try tube electronics with this combination. (Using Nuprime Hi-mDAC.)
RE: After-market headphone cables - newvinyl 15:18:42 04/24/20 (0)
Thanks for the Audio Envy recommendation. Looks interesting. Something else to consider.

The old style, screw-type Hifiman connectors are not something Audio Envy keep in stock. I contacted Audio Envy and those type of connectors are something I would have to supply, or give them a link of where to get them.

I've also contacted Hifiman to check if those connectors are available.

Speaking of Hifiman, I saw in their store that they sell a screw connector, silver coated copper headphone cable for the HE-500 for $60. There's not much detail about the cable but it looks like some sort of braided cable. Maybe worth checking out as a low-cost option.
RE: After-market headphone cables - rrsands 05:10:38 04/24/20 (1)
For a more budget-friendly option, I've had good luck with Periapt Cables.

Audio Envy is a higher cost alternative that I picked up at RMAF for my Elears and 6XXs. Balanced. But got them for half price with show discount.
https://audioenvy.com/

Very happy with both as regards sound and quality of construction.
- https://periaptcables.com/ (Open in New Window)
- RE: After-market headphone cables - LineSource 11:15:49 10/01/20 (0)
  Thanks for that link! I've been wanting to upgrade the cable that comes with the Meze 99 Classic that's more budget friendly.
  LineSource
RE: After-market headphone cables - newvinyl 19:41:35 04/22/20 (7)
Thanks for Cardas suggestion.

After poking around, there are 3 cables I'm considering...

Cardas Clear Light $405
Moon Audio Blue Dragon $300
Double Helix Molecule SE $284

I'm not going to ask if anyone has heard and compared all three - because that's ridiculous.
- RE: After-market headphone cables - gadio4533 22:58:46 09/20/20 (0)
  I have the Blue Dragons for my Nighthawk Carbons and so far they are impressive. Have only had the cables a short time but they are a significant upgrade over stock
- RE: After-market headphone cables - claud 05:51:51 05/01/20 (4)
  Double Helix and Norne Audio produce some of the best headphone cables. All my headphone cables are Norne and my ICs and digital cables are WyWires.
  - Double Helix and Norne - Jon L 08:43:44 05/07/20 (3)
    Double Helix and Norne, unfortunately, do not come cheap..at all.
    - RE: Double Helix and Norne - claud 08:13:12 06/13/20 (2)
      $279.99 for a great Copper cable is High Dollar????? Draugr 3 Makes a nice upgrade for my Sennets HD 600 and HD 800.
      - Silver - Jon L 14:07:19 06/17/20 (1)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Double Helix and Norne posted by claud on June 13, 2020 at 08:13:12
        
        Well, I'm thinking about their pure silver cables, such as Norne Silvergarde S3, which is about $700. Double Helix Prion 4 is about $1800 unfortunately..
        
        RE: Norne, Double Helix and Penon - claud 12:53:42 09/20/20 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Silver posted by Jon L on June 17, 2020 at 14:07:19
        
        Stick with Norne. Trevor builds very nice reasonably priced cables.There is one hitch. You may have to wait up to 60 days to receive your cables. The Norne cables are similar to the Double Helix, only cheaper. I have several cables built by Trevor. I even have three IEM cables.
        Recently got into IEMs big time. Found good reasonably priced cables from Penon in China. Fast shipping by DHL.
- RE: After-market headphone cables - gadio4533 14:19:46 04/27/20 (0)
  I have the Blue Dragon for my Senhieser 6XX and it was a significant improvement over stock. Don't regret it at all...
RE: After-market headphone cables - Dawnrazor 19:38:05 04/22/20 (0)
Diy guy here. Bet the mogami is more of the same

Make my own but these are supposed to be good.
https://periaptcables.com/
https://www.moon-audio.com/dragon-audio-cables.html

Cut to razor sounding violins
I've had my best headphone cable experience with Cardas - The Killer Piglet 13:58:26 04/22/20 (2)
Using their Clear cables.

I have adapters to use with pretty much all of my headphones.

Have one pair with Utopia connectors and one with mini xlr (Audeze/Verite) and have adapters to use with HD800, HD6x0, and Hi-Fi Man's nast mini-coax PoS connections.

KP
- RE: I've had my best headphone cable experience with Cardas - Audio Snob 17:21:12 04/22/20 (1)
  Got a Cardas cable for a pair of Senn's HD600's maybe 15 years back. Good improvement over the stock cable that came with phones. Happy camper here.
  - RE: I've had my best headphone cable experience with Cardas - SgreenP@MSN.com 07:03:07 06/16/20 (0)
    I got Cardas as well for my 650's I had them wired for balanced operation.

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