# Sennheiser IE8: Dard (Dark?) Lord Telfon (Teflon?) upgrade cable [REVIEW]



## morethansense

I recently bought a budget (the cheapest) upgrade cable for my Sennheiser IE8s because I was annoyed at the non-integration of the moulding wire into the IE8 stock cable. The detachable ear-hooks provided no support for me and were annoying as heck. People think the Shures are annoying, they obviously haven't tried the IE8s.
   
  So I purchased these:
eBay: Dark Lord Teflon Senneheiser IE8 by sunricky
  Claiming to have silver plated wires, use 4% silver solder and gold plated pin connectors. They also claim to do what all the other upgrade cables do, increased extension on both ends, blahblahblah. Whatever.
   
  Pictures below:
   

   

   

   

   
   
  Here's the verdict:
 First thing that strikes me is build quality. The cable seems very, very thin. On top of that, plastic-y and very prone to kinks. Complete opposite to the stock cable which is thick, malleable and has a satin/matte-rubber feel to it.
  The cable slider is a really bad plastic tube that doesn't stay. I cut it off after an hour.
 All the shrink tube encompassing the wire has not been melted at edges and it's really scratchy.
  The earpiece connectors fit tightly, take care when pulling them off.

 Ok, so you want to know how it sounds too.
  Well, I can gladly say, and with much relief, that it doesn't sound worse than the stock cables. Woohoo.
  It does have a bit more air, the mid bass is less veil-y. But maybe because the decrease in cross-sectional are for the cable increases resistance, reducing current draw, in turn reducing bass response. Plenty of sub-bass remaining though.
   
   
   
  Oh, and also, there's no moulding wire. D'oh.
 This resulted in me buying some shrink tube and embarking on a project to add my own.

 I may have also gone overboard and decided to build my own, thread here:
  <Future Link Here>

 Any questions?


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## lee730

Strange. I never had any issues with the IE8 cable or IE80 cable when wrapping it around my ear (if anything I would rather there not be memory to the wire as that would lead to constant failures like Shure's ****ty cables.. It always stayed in place and was very sturdy. I use a Silver Cable now which sounds significantly better to these ears .


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## morethansense

Haha, I guess you don't go running with them or work in a live audio environment where snagging on a loose wire means feeling like a cattle prod has been stuck in your ear canal. My ear lobes are quite small and the IE8's cable doesn't seem to have enough weight to keep them well seated on my ears, most of the time I deliberately wear glasses to pin them down.

 Which Shure's have you used?
 The new cables on the 215/315/425/535's are pretty amazing. I can literally hang my body weight on them.
  You might have experienced the old ones, which I know nothing of.


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## H20Fidelity

I was thinking of buying one of these cables for my TF10 as he makes them for a range of models.

I'd like to know how much of an upgrade you consider it? And if you could explain a little more about the bass reduction you're experiencing? 

Thanks.


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## lee730

If you are talking about the Silver cable it brought the mid range more upfront. Added more emphasis on the treble, making it more detailed and articulate. The bass tightened up and the sound stage widened a bit. Now I haven't tried the cables on the TF10s but I have heard similar experiences from other headfiers even on the TF10s. If you do opt for the cable I'd like to hear your impressions on it.


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## morethansense

^ what he said. Except to a lesser extent. 

 Have never tried the tf10's, though I've heard that the cable is pretty average.
 If I had a choice to re-buy this thread's "upgrade" cable, I wouldn't.
 I'd opt for something at least slightly better quality.
  The only improvement is sound, and then, it is only slight.
   
  Unless you really dislike the tf10's stock cable, I don't think you'd be happy with this one.


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## lee730

The Stock cable on the TF10 is really bad to be honest. If he just wants to get a cable that is better and not so much just focus on the sound aspect the Fiio Cable will be a good choice. Although I heard it still does change the sound slightly (warmer sound).


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## H20Fidelity

lee730 said:


> If you are talking about the Silver cable it brought the mid range more upfront. Added more emphasis on the treble, making it more detailed and articulate. The bass tightened up and the sound stage widened a bit. Now I haven't tried the cables on the TF10s but I have heard similar experiences from other headfiers even on the TF10s. If you do opt for the cable I'd like to hear your impressions on it.



Lee my friend, fancy you see here. 

What you described is similar to changes I experienced using solid silver interconnects. I'm considering as it's of no real use to me cosmetically, only interested in sound quality changes. I've bought a cable in the past which was wired in reverse polarity, so I'm hesitant on making another purchase, even though this seller has assured me his + - pins will be correct unlike the other sellers. Though thanks for the info. Thinking.....thinking....


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## lee730

Are you talking about Zeroshoe? Why not check the actual buyer ratings and see if that will put your mind at ease. Generally behind a happy customer is a genuine seller.


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## H20Fidelity

The sellers name with the bad cable was liutaiyo. I have my suspension it was wired reverse polarity purposely. How he manages to change the sound so much which he boasted about in the listing. To the everyday normal mojo yes it does change sound a lot because you're going out of phase. Though my trusty multi meter detected the fraud when checked up against the stock cable. sunricky is the seller I'll be purchasing Dark Lord from. He has assured me via PM they're correct polarity.

(there's another one called White Angel)


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## lee730

Whats the price of the cable?
   
  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Advanced-Upgrade-Cable-UE-Ultimate-Ears-Galaxy-/110572888631?pt=US_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item19bea86237


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## H20Fidelity

$35 Aus. These aren't pure silver but silver plated which would explain the lower pricing. He has more expensive ones. I'm not that keen though atm. 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261068445486?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649


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## lee730

Dannbai has a cable similar to that for his IE8s. The effect was slightly different from pure silver cable but he still enjoyed them. My first upgrade cable was a mix of silver coated copper wire. I also enjoyed the sound and when that cable gave me problems I decided to just pay the additional to get the upgrade when I sent it back for warranty support.
   
  What I noticed with the silver plated cable is that is had this really nice effect on rock music. I really loved rock music on my IE8s when I had that cable. It made the treble extremely smooth. The mids and bass also slightly improved.


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## H20Fidelity

morethansense said:


> ^ what he said. Except to a lesser extent.
> 
> 
> Have never tried the tf10's, though I've heard that the cable is pretty average.
> ...




Hi,.....

I completely missed your post earlier dude sorry. I must of skimmed over it. I was refreshing from the bottom of the page. 

I'm only interested in the SQ department, Hmm....I'll have a think about it for a while then. 

Thanks mate.


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## H20Fidelity

.


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## Sauntere

Hi, Just want to say that i agree with lee730 regarding the Silver Galaxy IE8 upgrade cable available on EBay...   I bought it for my IE80 and noticed similar improvements although to my ears the treble has what i call a very slight hardening to it... I am very sensitive to treble though and i reckon that from a different source and possibly on the IE8 you won't even detect it... A worthwhile upgrade i would say.. I bought mine from Zeroshoe and the service was great...


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## lee730

Good to hear sauntere . I actually had more pronounce differences on the IE8s when I first got my silver galaxy cable. It made them extremely sibilant for 3 days. I continuously let them play night and day. After the 3rd day they sounded much better than previously. But the IE80 sounds is more controlled and to my liking. The Silver Galaxy just helped to refine it even more IMO.


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## clone1008

Thanks for the info


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