Submitted by undecidables t3_zw938o in headphones
Hi all. Audiophile for a long time but relatively new to headphones. I have a pair of Senheisser 660. They're great, but being an audiophile, I'm always looking for tweaks. Curious if I buy a replacement cable with all the fixings that is about a tenth the capacitance of the stock cable (apparently) whether this will be a readily noticeable improvement. Cheers
If it looks cool, it sounds betta.
Haha!
It's entirely possible that, with a blindfold on, you might not notice any difference between Nonni's secret recipe and Hunt's out of the can, but then...you don't eat spaghetti with a blindfold on, do you?
minimal to none.
> I have a pair of Senheisser 660
No difference at all.
The reason to buy aftermarket cables are for everything but "sound improvement"
Sound quality differences? Unless these are extraordinarily long cables, only the imaginary sort.
None
It all depends on the impedance curve of the headphones... But in practice, you can expect generally no perceptible difference in the majority of cases.
They look and feel nice
Probably none
None whatsoever - This has been a marketing gimmick for decades , whether its speaker cable or HDMI, etc...
There was a booth at CAF this year that was trying to sell HiFi ethernet cables with a demo to show that it "improved the sound"
Kind of like how Roon ($800+ music player software) has "bit perfect sound". You can't tell how many times I just stop listening on my device thinking to myself "That bit sounded like a 1 but it REALLY should have been a 0. FUCK THIS SHIT".
Except USB-C cables. My mortal enemy that I hate beyond all reason. I have 8 on my desk, 2 transfer data 10Gbit/s, 1 transfers 480Mbit/s, 2 do not transfer data at all. but 1 of them turbo charges my phone the other one charges only at normal speed, also out of all of them only 1 of them works with my computer monitor.
They are all the same, all black cables with usb-c on one end and uncolored usb 2 / 3 /3.1 looking end at the other end. No markings of anykind on anyone of them...
I go with Hart Audio cables because of the inter connect system. Makes it easy to use different headphones with different amps. This isnāt generally an issue for sane people with 1 or 2 sets of headphones and a single amp.
From a sound perspective the cables make no noticeable difference.
The only time you realistically hear a difference with different cables is with sensitive IEMs. Otherwise it'll just look prettier/more comfortable/feels better. And anything that makes you feel better is a W in my book.
No
Little to no difference in sound between 2 cables that function as intended in 99% of consumer applications
May I refer you to a test comparing professional cables to a coat hanger, where the results were pretty inconclusive of any audible difference ; https://www.soundguys.com/cable-myths-reviving-the-coathanger-test-23553/
(note that roughly 1/3 said the coat hanger sounded better and 1/3 said the cable sounded better)
Is there a difference? Yes but it's very minor and possibly inaudible, If there's already diminishing returns when comparing a coat hanger to an actual cable that tells you all you really need to know
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This isnt to say to completely cheap out on cables either but there's no needs to be spend $100s or $1000s on snake oil cables
if you want a nice custom cable there's plenty of makers around and that'll run you around $80-150 depending on seller and terminations and such . Recommendation from me if you go that route is fogcityaudio on etsy
You might have better build quality which will enhance your comfort which will enhance your listening experience
You'll get all the "soundbetta" your heart can conjure, and exactly nothing that would show up on a graph. But I won't knock "soundbetta," as all sound is imaginary.
Likely none at all. Not having to send as much power is fun for balanced but most people have short cable runs so it isn't going to matter. Would be more fun to use that money on beer.
Can you tell a difference between a FLAC file and 320kbps mp3's? Really? Honestly? I am not doubting you can. A lot of people can't and that is fine.
If you can, that's great. If not, there is absolutely no reason to get aftermarket cables.
If you can, then know that aftermarket cables will have an even more imperceptible better sound quality. They may be technically better (99.9% silver or whatever other marketing gimmick they will throw at you), but it will be extremely hard to tell any difference.
The only good thing about aftermarket cables is that it means you can replace your original cable if it gets damaged.
Zero
I've blindly A and B tested multiple cables and it wasn't surprising at all that there was no difference at all between them.
A friend insists that his weird cotton wrapped cable enhances treble and whatnot.. I would say it only enhances the seller's bank account.
Hmm š¤ all of my cables are $15-25 from Amazon. Mainly theyāre labeled as 6N OFC or something.
But recently I got to try something āpure silverā. Somebody was selling this used French X-Symphony cable for $20 on eBay so I grabbed it.
Iāll tell ya this. I use it on my M1060C(planar) and it might of provided maybe a 1-3 extra reverbs on some piano keys or guitar plucks, and thatās if I was really trying to be picky.
Iām so glad š I havenāt been missing out on anything. Love ā¤ļø them Amazon cables.
I don't want to just shit all over "soundbetta" and mock people who go in for it, but you can buy real things with money.
Yeah man theyāre real. Love affordable quality. Cheap Amazon cables are amazing š¤©.
Thereās more choices now that thereās custom wrapped cables produced for the masses from over seas.
Isnāt it weird how you like Custom wrapped cables that cost $50-120 for no perceived sound quality yet you would call it āsound bettaā for people that are willing to spend THE SAME AMOUNT of $$ for perceived quality?
If youāre really for NO SOUND quality in cables, then thereās no point in paying some American $$ to wrap the same $ cables from overseas.
Too many people in this sub in promote these expensive cables from companies like Periaptcables, and then absolutely sh1ts on anyone who would spend the same $$ if did it for perceived sound quality.
š¤
>snāt it weird how you like Custom wrapped cables that cost $50-120 for no perceived sound quality yet you would call it āsound bettaā for people that are willing to spend THE SAME AMOUNT of $$ for perceived quality?
Probably the best investment as far as improving your listening experience is reefer, although there too...is the High Times centerfold really worth more than good ol' Reggie?
Ohhh I heard of this. lol only got high maybe 2x in my life but never thought to put on my headphones. š
Hey man. I used to have an all silver system for a bit - tonearm wire, interconnects, and speaker cable. There was definitely a change in the sound. It sounded exactly as you would expect. Very clear and airy in the top end. Unfortunately it also had a bit of a "sheen" that always bugged me. I eventually sold it all and went back to Blue Jeans. When I did the change was also very apparent. Night and day actually. It was an interesting venture but cost a lot of money and I ultimately couldn't justify keeping it. Silver definitely sounds different if you have a system that can resolve it.
Totally agree. Just wouldnāt pay for the msrp $200-400 these X Symphonyās probably were.
But now I know if I ever come across another amazing deal like these pure silvers, Iād probably get it. š
I'd say headphones that are $999 and below will benefit from an aftermarket balanced cable around $50 and headphones costing more will only see a difference spending $200 or more. I know I'm going to get slack and down voted but this is my experience and you're asking a question.
As long as the cable isnāt too expensive it will make some difference but only if your headphones are detailed enough to tell. A super expensive cable makes no sense since headphones donāt cost that much to begin with. Better to spend your money somewhere else. My headphones are around $500 and I can tell a very clear difference in digital cables so an analog cable with that big of a difference in specs should be pretty noticeable.
you can tell a difference in digital signals? really?
you do understand digital signals are literally just binary, 1's and 0's. You aren't going to tell any fucking difference if that 1 is going across a copper wire or silver wire.
Jeez people are so quick to crap on anything related to cables I think itās hilarious. Remember everyone Iām not spending your money, so calm down! Also, digital signals are passed via analog voltages and they are sampled and passed through to an analog output stage by the DAC so noise in the signal path can and does carry on to the output. Better DACs do a better job at recreating the analog wave and shaping the noise but obviously it isnāt perfect so the less noise on the input, the better. I encourage people to listen, try things, and learn with curiosity. If you donāt want to learn and try, then pick a different hobby. Happy holidays!
Yeah a custom cable won't make any difference for HD600 unless it's a balanced cable that will give you more power. Very revealing headphones like my HD800S or LCD 4 will show sonic differences with different cables.
No, no they will not. That's not how it works.
Idk about headphones but there's definitely a difference between cables when I listen to sensitive IEMs like Andromeda. Sound change by cables aren't inherenly improvement imo, more like slightly different seasoning.
Roopit22 t1_j1tj936 wrote
I have thick green Periapt cables on my 660Ss. Makes absolutely no difference to the sound, but it looks cool.