# [FIRST TIMER / NEWBIE] Headphone Recabling Supplies & Questions



## l337toast

Hello. I have lurked on the forums for a while, and I've recently decided I want to try my hand at re-cabling. I am almost completely uneducated when it comes to electronics/circuitry (beyond putting together a few PCs).  
   
  I have assembled a parts list and I was hoping someone could just help me make sure everything will work/fit together *[i.e. SIZES OF SLEEVING, HEATSHRINK, PLUG COMPATIBLE W/CABLE size]*. I was also unsure about some of the vendors & prices so any word on that would help [I realize the multimeter is terrible, but I was thinking I would only need to measure current to verify which wire (left v. right) I'm dealing with].
   
  Note: I already have solder and a soldering iron from an older monitor repair job, but if I am missing any supplies I would appreciate any input. I am additionally considering the use of a hair-dryer and/or soldering iron for the heat shrink part, so any help on the technique would be great. Same goes for stripping wires (was considering a knife/scalpel).
   
  MARKERTEK
   

   
  WIRECARE.COM  
   

  EBAY

   
  Connection Questions (having been thoroughly confused by a lot of vague guides):
   
  1) I was wondering if it would matter how I connected the wires to the driver as long as the wiring orientation on both drivers is identical (in phase?). I was thinking of doing this to a pair of Denon's but am unsure (and don't know how to find out) about which solder pad on the driver is for the signal wire and which is supposed to be ground.  
  2) Finally, if I choose the two blue wires as ground and the two white wires as signal, I would imagine that the two blue wires would be soldered to the bottom ring of the 3.5mm plug, and the two white wires going to left and right. Please correct me if I am mistaken here.  
   
  Thanks for all the help.


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## qusp

markertek are decent as long as you dont need international shipping, they dont offer any of the midrange options like EMS or ups express saver.
   
  the canare is ok, but its pretty chunky, heavy and stiff, nothing that special to have a cable that bulky. I prefer the mogami quad personally for the fullsize, but I would recommend you go for W2799 mogami mini quad, or the brother of that, mogami 2893 which is also even lighter weight (same wire gauge), and higher quality as well.
   
  if you go for a chunkier cable, you may as well have it be effective as a stereo cable, the canare (and all star quad cables) is a mic or audio cable, its not meant to be a stereo cable even though it does a decent job, if you are going to bother with shielding a headphone cable, each channel should really be shielded individually like this Mogami W3106 
   
  26awg is plenty large enough gauge for a headphone cable and the miniquad is only 3.2mm, so you wouldnt have to drill out the barrel of your switchcraft mini like you would with a sleeved canare like you linked. you could go for 3/16 multifilament, half the size of the one you linked.
   
  for the cables you linked the shrink and sleeve is about right, though you could probably get away with 1/4" sleeving, but it would be unnecessarily large and you would have to drill out the mini barrel. you would have to drill out the barrel for the dual channel one I linked too, but that cable would be a definite upgrade and depending on your usage might be worth while. a chunky cable means the headphones are much less likely to pull that disappearing act we all search for than the miniquad, which is lighter, much more flexible etc.
   
  the multimeter will be fine for making cables and basic electronics


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## l337toast

Alright so I've revised a bit and come up with this (total w/shipping = ~$33.00). Would the sleeving and shrink tubing work for this particular cable size?
   
  REDCO - 

 mogami 2893 (Quantity 5...I suppose this means a continuous length and not 5 1ft cables?)
 ST221-1/16
 1/16" Shrink Tubing​   (quantity 4)..again assuming this is a per foot ordering basis
 ST221-3/16
 3/16" Shrink Tubin​g (quantity 4)
   
   
 EBAY - seller:  furryletters
 [size=medium]3/16" BRAIDED *NYLON* SLEEVING techflex 25 ft.[/size]
 [size=medium]3/32" BRAIDED *NYLON* SLEEVING audio TECHFLEX 25 ft.[/size] [ Can't seem to find 1/16" sleeving for the cable above the Y-split....would this be fine?]
  

 same multimeter
   
 THE SOUND PROFESSIONALS -  [not exactly sure as to the legitimacy of this site, but it's the cheapest option for the plug I'm considering] - 
 *SWITCHCRAFT - 35HDBAU 3.5mm Plug*
 http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category.cgi?item=SC-35HDBAU&source=froogle


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## Hagios

Quote: 





> Note: I already have solder and a soldering iron from an older monitor repair job, but if I am missing any supplies I would appreciate any input. I am additionally considering the use of a hair-dryer and/or soldering iron for the heat shrink part, so any help on the technique would be great. Same goes for stripping wires (was considering a knife/scalpel).
> 
> [snip]
> 
> ...


 
  First: you need a heat gun for heat shrink.  Hair driers don't get hot enough, and you can damage your soldering iron easily.  In a pinch you can use a lighter, but the end result will look substantially less professional if you do so.  Bottom line: drop the money on a heat gun--it doesn't need to be anything fancy.
   
  Second: buy a couple pairs of cheap headphones of the sort that you want to rewire (IE circumaural headphones in this case) and PRACTICE on those.  It's a bit more money, but it's a LOT less money than buying a new pair of nice cans because you didn't have enough practice under your belt.
   
  Finally: based upon your questions it seems to me that you probably don't have a multimeter.  Definitely invest in one--even a cheap 5 dollar job is more than adequate for continuity testing, though I'd tend to recommend you get a slightly nicer one, so that you can test the impedance of your lines post solder and work to keep the channels identical.  The cheap DMMs you can get will test such, but their reliability in terms of accuracy is a bit suspect, in my eyes.


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## qusp

Quote: 





l337toast said:


> Alright so I've revised a bit and come up with this (total w/shipping = ~$33.00). Would the sleeving and shrink tubing work for this particular cable size?
> 
> REDCO -
> 
> ...


 
   
  markertek have the switchcraft, 3/32 I think will be borderline too small and 1/16 would be way too small if it existed in this stuff, the multifilament does not have the expansion of the other types and I think you should stick with wirecare, thats who I use and I live all the way over in australia, as they have such a great range of high quality stuff in one place, there is heatshrink and there is heatshrink, the stuff from them is very nice. no affiliation, i'm just a happy customer
   
  the initial canare you linked is large for the wire gauge as it has quite a lot of wadding, the outer rubberized sleeve is thick and heavy, as is the braided sleeve and foil. the mini quad is quite a bit thinner, but you dont need to halve the size of the thinner arm too, stick with 1/8 IMO so 1/8 and 3/16 will be fine, or you could just use heatshrink over the arms, if you twist them well this looks quite stylish IMO. 
   
  get a hot glue gun too and some small zipties (again wirecare) you can use these for strain relief inside the cups, put a dab on the twisted paiur inside the cups with a bit of extra slack on the inside and add a dab of hot glue to it, then tighten the ziptie over it, you can cover this with heatsrink if you like as well. this makes it so the cable cannot be yanked and damage, or pull off entirely the solder pads on the drivers. on denons the positive and negative terminals will be marked with red and black markings nearby, mine were, maybe not all are but the d2000, d5000, d7000 all are and yes as long as both sides are wired the same, the phase is not a big deal, the phase of the signal has been inverted already several times on its way to you, those who worry about absolute phase are tilting at windmills


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## l337toast

First off, thanks for all the help. I really appreciate the advice.  And yes, I was hoping that the signal solder pad would be marked, as I have seen that in a guide pertaining to Denon's.  As for the soldering, I'll see if I can get a bit of practice with some old equipment laying around; that's probably a good idea after all.
   
  @Hagios: Thanks for the word on the heatgun. I'll look into obtaining one from a friend
   
  @qusp: So *above the y-split* I'll use 1/8" nylon sleeving and follow suit with 1/8" heatshrink
   
  In terms of vendors: Only problem with markertek and wirecare is the exorbitant shipping cost.  Using those sites pretty much increases the cost of parts by ~67%. I'd rather put that money towards something other than shipping.
   
   
  EDIT: While I am here, I was thinking I would solder the copper shielding (that surrounds the 4 wires) at the ground tab at the plug with my two ground wires.  I'm assuming this should be sufficient to ensure shielding (any interference just hits the copper and is taken to ground).  I guess this implies that the other end will not have any copper wrapping around any ground wires (at the drivers). In fact, I am not even sure how I would go about routing the copper to one/both drivers.


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## qusp

well I was assuming you were in the states, you dont have your location listed and tbh that makes it hard to make specific recommendations to help you. its ok for me as i'm usually making a pretty decent size order and actually if you ask them by email, at least wirecare will do EMS which is usually not too bad. but markertek are downright rude for international shipping I agree.
   
  for the reasons you mention above I hardly ever worry too much about shielding on headphones, you'll never surround the voice-coil and this acts like an aerial, so your best bet is just to twist tightly and rely on that for noise rejection. so I would and do, just stop the shield at the Y split; yes you solder it along with the ground wires at the ground tab.
   
  for 1/8" heatshrink cover, no 1/8 shrink wont cover it, certainly not for any length, you could stretch a short length with needle-nose pliers to get it over, but you wont get it over any length. you need 3/16 or 1/4 for that, I use 1/4, make sure wherever you buy the shrink specifies expanded size, or shrunk size and if you arent sure, email them to clarify.
   
  no worries on the help, I tend to drop in here from time to time and try to give a bit back, i'm not here as much as I used to, so i'm doing some intensive posting while i've got a bit of time (long weekend)


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## l337toast

I actually am in the states, but I was still looking at a combined shipping cost of ~$20 from those two places, which takes a very reasonable cost of parts way up.
   
  As for your comments on the heatshrink dimensions, I am somewhat confused. So I should not use 1/8" shrink above the y-split?  I apologize if I'm getting this wrong repeatedly, but would you be able to briefly reiterate what I would need *below* and *above* the y-split?
   
  I was considering 
   
Heatshrink (I've been looking at all 2:1 expanded:shrunk ratio):
  below: 3/16"
  above: 1/8"   <------ I'm assuming this needs to be changed
   
  Sleeving:
  below: 3/16" nylon
  above: 1/8" nylon


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## Hagios

I personally like to use 1/16" heat shrink to isolate each individual solder joint as much as possible.  A spool of 1/16" will last practically forever, and makes your work just that much more professional.


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## DogandPonyShow

Hello.
   
  I hope you don't mind me tacking onto this thread.
   
  I've never re-cabled and haven't soldered in a long time, but am very keen to re-cable my Sennheiser 202s as one side is out.  Ideally I'd like to make the cable detachable, and better still one-sided detachable.  I see there are good threads on this (ATH-M50 and AKG K518).  I have some questions... if you'd be so kind to humour me with some answers (sorry if they're straightforward/basic):
   

 Could you supply some guidance how to wire a 3.5mm mini jack chassis?  ie, which wire should be attached where?
   

 If I go for two-sided, removable cables - would I need to use two mono plugs or two stereo?  My thinking here is that each side headphone is mono, which combines with the main 3.5 jack (iPod-end) to make stereo.  Have I got this right?!
   

 If I were to attempt a single-sided connection, how would I go about combining the left headphone wires to the right (3.5 female jack)?  I gather in each earcup there are two wires (+ and -) so this totals up to 4 wires.  How would I go about connecting these up?
   

 Which is better a standard TRRS/TRS/3.5mm stereo phono connector or an RCA plug (I think this is also called a mini-coaxial plug) for the headphone connection/s?  I'd guess a regular 3.5mm male/female would be best.  I see there are other possible connectors to use, like the two-pin Sennheiser connectors.  Are these worth considering, or just stick to the standard issue 3.5?
   

 What cable do the Beats Solo HDs use?  This is the strongest part of these headphones, so I'd like to reuse this.  I guess it's teflon coated.  What grade wire is it?
   
   
  Thanks!  Sorry if these are popular/tedious questions.  Perhaps it's been answered before on another thread.  Any responses would be appreciated.


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## Hagios

If I go for two-sided, removable cables - would I need to use two mono plugs or two stereo?  My thinking here is that each side headphone is mono, which combines with the main 3.5 jack (iPod-end) to make stereo.  Have I got this right?!
  You've got this right; two mono signals = 1 stereo signal
   

 If I were to attempt a single-sided connection, how would I go about combining the left headphone wires to the right (3.5 female jack)?  I gather in each earcup there are two wires (+ and -) so this totals up to 4 wires.  How would I go about connecting these up?
  Both channels have a ground.  For a balanced source, these will be kept separate; for an unbalanced source (IE TRS connector) you will join the grounds.
   

 Which is better a standard TRRS/TRS/3.5mm stereo phono connector or an RCA plug (I think this is also called a mini-coaxial plug) for the headphone connection/s?  I'd guess a regular 3.5mm male/female would be best.  I see there are other possible connectors to use, like the two-pin Sennheiser connectors.  Are these worth considering, or just stick to the standard issue 3.5?
  In terms of sound quality, neither should be appreciably better.  Go for ease of work/convenience/aesthetics.  If I wanted to create two separate jacks on a set of headphones, I'd be looking at the 2.5mm mini connectors, personally.
  All this being said, there are worlds of difference in terms of difficulty getting clean solder jobs done.  It's much easier to solder to the lugs on a 3.5mm chassis mount and a 3.5mm TRS jack than, for example, to the pins on a Sennheiser style plug.
   
  Hope these answers help!


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## DogandPonyShow

Great! Thanks for those.
   
  I think for convenience I'll stick to standard 3.5mm jacks.
   
   
  Do you have any details about how to wire the mini jack (female) in the headphone housing?
   
  For the single cable mod, I'm not 100% what should happen to the wires from the left headphone (non-jack plug side) - would I need to solder them all to the female jack socket on the right headphone?  Which connectors should they go on/to?
   
   
  **out of interest (on the two cable set-up), what would happen if the two connectors were stereo plugs?  Presumably nothing, as the wiring would only be mono (there'd be one empty ring, on the plug, without any wires attached?)


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## qusp

Quote: 





hagios said:


> If I go for two-sided, removable cables - would I need to use two mono plugs or two stereo?  My thinking here is that each side headphone is mono, which combines with the main 3.5 jack (iPod-end) to make stereo.  Have I got this right?!
> You've got this right; two mono signals = 1 stereo signal
> 
> 
> ...


 

 2.5mm connectors will not last long, they focus the strain on one tiny little space and there is nothing to support the jack from the leverage, it will become loose and fail pretty quickly depending on usage. mini xlr from neutrik/rean is your best bet and most available, these will actually plug into the cup/socket that way and there will not be any possibility for leverage/movement. the lemo type connectors the senns use are not cheap and yeah a bit challenging for a novice builder. the mini XLR are pretty straight forward to use, should be fine and assemble very easily. the switchcraft version is a bit more rugged, but are 2-3x the price
   
  my personal favorite is lemo OB series, but these are expensive, I like them as they are compact and locking, but I have a bit of a connector fetish


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## Hagios

Quote: 





qusp said:


> 2.5mm connectors will not last long, they focus the strain on one tiny little space and there is nothing to support the jack from the leverage, it will become loose and fail pretty quickly depending on usage. mini xlr from neutrik/rean is your best bet and most available, these will actually plug into the cup/socket that way and there will not be any possibility for leverage/movement. the lemo type connectors the senns use are not cheap and yeah a bit challenging for a novice builder. the mini XLR are pretty straight forward to use, should be fine and assemble very easily. the switchcraft version is a bit more rugged, but are 2-3x the price


 
  This is absolutely true and all worth considering.  That said, I think 2.5mm TRS is stronger than the 2 pin Sennheiser style connectors, though I don't have any hard evidence to back that statement up.


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## qusp

no you dont, because there isnt anything to back that up i'm afraid. the lemo types are aerospace, nuclear physics research based and must adhere to some mil specs, I hazard a guess their requirements are a bit more stringent than a 2.5mm mini; 3,5 would be bad enough.
   
  Any mini used in this manner is usually of the recessed type, its the way they connect ie. inside and over a larger recessed connection and/or with 3 pins that makes it stronger, not the physical size. i'd lay money the mini would break/damage far quicker; its about mechanics


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## nikongod

Quote: 





hagios said:


> This is absolutely true and all worth considering.  That said, I think 2.5mm TRS is stronger than the 2 pin Sennheiser style connectors, though I don't have any hard evidence to back that statement up.


 
   
  There are 2 types of 2-pin sennheiser connector. 
   
  The one used on the HD414, which I own an original set that works nicely. This connector has been upgraded through the years to fit tons of senn headphones like everything the HD580/600/650 cable fits. 
   
  and the one used on the HD800 (maybe the 700 too)
   
  they are both pretty awesome. 
   
  TRS or TR plugs are a sad compromise. When they were originally used for telephone switchboards fast switching was worth more than contact reliability or the ability to withstand funky stress.


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## Hagios

Quote: 





nikongod said:


> There are 2 types of 2-pin sennheiser connector.
> 
> The one used on the HD414, which I own an original set that works nicely. This connector has been upgraded through the years to fit tons of senn headphones like everything the HD580/600/650 cable fits.
> 
> ...


 
  Fair enough!  I've heard a couple of coworkers complain that the dual-prong (HD600 style) was easy for them to damage, which is where my guess regarding the strength of one vs the other came from.  The HD800's connector, however, I have no experience with.
   
  Anyway; not to derail this post: I do agree with the earlier statement that Mini-XLR connectors tend to be the nicest to work with overall.


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## l337toast

And my first recable attempt, on a pair of Denon D5000's no less, is complete...
   
  Observations:

 A heatgun is not at all necessary. I simply used a flame and it worked quite well after several passes
 DO have a decent wire stripper. I can't imagine how much a pain it would have been to have used a knife.
 
 I should have gone with a smaller diameter multifilament above the y-split. This made cable entry into the cups needlessly difficult and I will have to go back with heatshrink/ liquid electrical tape to really finish the job.
   
  Here are several pictures of the recabling:
   
   
   

  The headphones, with the orig. cable shorted, sitting on a pile of materials
   
   

   

 Mogami 2893, 6ft.
   

   

 Wire stripped; both ground wires twisted with the copper shielding
   


 I found using this improvised vice made it much easier to solder the wires
   


 Oops, ended up forgetting to take a photo post-soldering
 top-left = plug ring / Right channel
 center = plug tip / Left Channel
 bottom = plug sleeve / Ground
   


 cable sleeved, heatshrinked, and terminated with switchcraft 35HDBAU 
 Note: I ended up redoing the heatshrink at the plug
   


 Did not realize how easy it is to fray the sleeving
 The y-split: blue and red are signal; black and white are ground
   


 heatshrinking the y-split
   


 A finished, albeit unattached
   


 This will lead into one of the cups
   

  removed earpads by gripping the hard edge at the bottom of the earpads, and giving a slight twist. The plastic tabs should now be out of their respective housing and one can easily pull away the cups.
   


 Inside the ear cup, staring at the driver housing.
 Red marks signal.
 Note: the original cable has been removed and pulled through the hole (still some hot glue residue from Denon's job)
   


 Artistic shot of the newly soldered wires, I suppose
 strain relief was comprised of a ziptie (too large in retrospect) and hot glue
 I was wary of using the knot method as I did not want to accidentally break the wire
   


 RT earcup reassembled.
 The entry will be revisited as it looks a bit rough and doesn't look as secure as it could be
   


 Functional product
   


 Detail of the plug
   
  UPDATE: Painting over the cable entry with black liquid electrical tape (not exactly easy to use)


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## mchang

Nice work, l337toast! And excellent documentation.
   
  For future reference: I had success with 1/8" multifilament above the y-split. It went into the stock strain relief just fine.
   
  Here is my how-to for comparison: http://www.head-fi.org/t/616707/how-i-recabled-my-denon-ah-d5000-markl-modded-using-dhc-and-viablue-components#post_8501353


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## qusp

Quote: 





nikongod said:


> TRS or TR plugs are a sad compromise. When they were originally used for telephone switchboards fast switching was worth more than contact reliability or the ability to withstand funky stress.


 
  can you believe Denon's form using mono minis on the D7100 cups? a flagship headphone with mono minis? first denon with detachable cables I know of and they do this with all of the options visible in the marketplace! I really dont get it and I predict it will be a point of failure that will cost them money


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## Pingupenguins

Looks very good. I don't like the look of heat-shrink, (edit) Electrical tape, but for a first re-cable, on a D5000 none the less, great job.


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## mkmossop

How much should a re-cable cost for parts? I wrote Moon Audio telling them I wanted to re-cable my ESW9's, and the guy suggested this cable:
   
  http://www.moon-audio.com/diy-audio-parts/audio-wire/moon-audio-silver-dragon-v2-bulk-headphone-cable.html
   
  Which is $18/foot. I'm not sure if this is normal or if he's just trying to sell me the most expensive stuff. Seems very expensive for a cable, but I don't know anything about this at all.


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## FraGGleR

Quote: 





mkmossop said:


> How much should a re-cable cost for parts? I wrote Moon Audio telling them I wanted to re-cable my ESW9's, and the guy suggested this cable:
> 
> http://www.moon-audio.com/diy-audio-parts/audio-wire/moon-audio-silver-dragon-v2-bulk-headphone-cable.html
> 
> Which is $18/foot. I'm not sure if this is normal or if he's just trying to sell me the most expensive stuff. Seems very expensive for a cable, but I don't know anything about this at all.


 
  It should cost as much as you feel comfortable paying.  Many people pay north of $300 for replacement cables.
   
  You can buy Mogami or Canare microphone cable for less than $1 a foot and have a very nice cable to work with.  Moon Audio also has cheaper varieties as well.  They probably recommended the silver because the ESW9 is a very warm headphone and they believe that silver will help balance that.  $18 a foot for a quad of stranded silver isn't actually that bad.   Check out the DIY Cable Gallery thread for ideas of what you can do.  Search it as well, as any question you could have has been asked and answered many, many times in that thread.


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## mkmossop

Great thanks for the info!


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