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My stock cable had cosmetic issue with exposed wire at the Y section. That is why went to look for aftermarket cables. Apart from being cheaper and looking nice. This cable unexpectedly made a difference in sound quality. It actually delivered INFERIOR sound quality to the stock cable and made everything sound noticeably worse. I guess I got what I paid for. Being way cheaper than a stock replacement cable.
SQ change - The bass of my songs now sound uncontrolled and bloated - Harsher highs(like the stock HD800's treble wasn't harsh enough), - Lifeless vocals. the vocals are now has a metallic feel to it. both female and male What's worse, there's almost no instrument separation in my tracks now, everything sound muddled together. With the stock cable, I can distinctly hear different instruments playing. I switch tested back and forth many times and the difference is obvious.
Now I know the whole lot of you think cable shouldn't make a difference in sound quality, (blah blah. ooooh audiophile snake oil etc etc). Can't blame you. I thought the same way until I did a hands on comparision. In my experience it DOES make a difference and I'll put it simply. If you can't distinguish the stock cable sound from this rubbish cable sound, then you don't have good enough ears to appreciate high-end headphones like the HD800 in the first place. I'm gonna put this cable up for sale on craigslist. Obviously I'm not gonna tell the buyer the real reason I'm selling this. XD Wish me luck in selling this cable and finding one with the same or better SQ to the stock. Peace.
A community member
Jan 28, 2016
qualitytechonlyplsthere isnt any label on which left or right on the cable that goes into the headphones, only red and black colored each side. anybody knows which one is which?
I was thinking the same thing. Since the the joining section has "ZY Cables" written on it. Let that face the front. I figured red is right, and blue is left.
A community member
Jan 28, 2016
qualitytechonlyplsso what's the next step for you for your HD800? are you going to get another aftermarket cable? what would be the best candidates for you?
I don't know yet. Most of them are stupid expensive. I might get another stock cable just to be safe.
dgorbik
3
Jan 28, 2016
qualitytechonlyplsUnless you did a real ABX switch test...
Doogie
67
Feb 22, 2016
qualitytechonlyplsHurr durr "My ears are better than yours" that's the exact same claim every "audiophile" makes when they get called on their woo. Get your ears tested buddy, you'll find they're exactly the same as everybody else's. What we have here is confirmation bias, you want to believe you have golden ears, and you want to believe that you can tell the difference between types of cable, so you literally trick yourself into thinking you can without even realising what you're doing.
Any time a so-called "audiophile" has taken a real double-blind A-B comparison test, they have been unable to discern between different cables.
DoogieHow much are HD800 headphone connectors, in Australia?
Bansaku
17
Sep 27, 2016
DoogieMerely YOUR opinions. Just because YOU can't hear any difference (while you never mentioned you couldn't, it's implied) doesn't mean other can not. I used to work for a company that dealt with 100's of different wire types. I had an engineer with a Master's degree in a million dollar test lab show me the difference between copper wires he used to make custom interconnects, all because I said " What difference does a wire make? ". Numbers don't lie, and neither do my ears!
Doogie
67
Sep 28, 2016
BansakuConfirmation bias is a hell of a thing. Once you're using OFC wire in cables with soldered connects, there is literally no way to make an analogue headphone cable any better electrically.
elmura
15
Sep 28, 2016
DoogieSooo wrong there. I'm an engineer - cables have 3 key electrical characteristics. Resistance, Capacitance & Inductance. All can be changed even if using the same conductor material, and even same wire gauge. Then there are minor characteristics: microphonics, skin effect, interference susceptibility and more I can't think of now.
Bansaku
17
Sep 29, 2016
elmuraWish I could give you two thumbs up!
Doogie
67
Sep 30, 2016
elmuraIf you're stupid enough to use a gauge and length of wire that would significantly change either or all of those three characteristics in your headphone cable, then you're a PHENOMENALLY bad electrical engineer. Microphonics is the cord hitting things and the sound of that physically (not electrically) travelling through the wire and into your ears. As for interference susceptibility, if you're worried about that just shield your damn cables. And skin effect? That's AC you dolt. Headphones are DC. You really ARE a terrible electrical engineer!
elmura
15
Sep 30, 2016
DoogieYou know, I was restraining myself before. But you are just so ignorant, and making rude accusations that I can't hold back. First of all dipshit: music is AC ! That alone tells me & everyone else that you are a dumbass that claims to know shit when u are simply spewing verbal diarrhea. The rest of your arguments are like a 15 year old who thinks he knows what he's talking about, but just prove that you're just plain dumb.
Here's a tip: think before you open your mouth or write down unintelligent arguments then defend by attacking someone presenting FACTS!
Doogie
67
Sep 30, 2016
elmuraYou are CLEARLY not an electrical engineer - "music is Alternating Current"?!? You have absolutely NO idea what you're talking about! There are ZERO facts in your rambling diatribe. Please get off the internet and go learn something, anything.
elmura
15
Sep 30, 2016
DoogieWhat's idiotic is that you, and others like you (ignorant, highly opinionated, egotistical) are SPREADING MISINFORMATION to the audio community and making a mess of the audio hobby.
Doogie
67
Oct 1, 2016
elmuraYou need to go look in a mirror, kiddo. Because what you wrote applies perfectly to you. I can't believe that you don't even know the difference between AC and DC current flow and you're trying to talk about skin effect...
Bansaku
17
Oct 4, 2016
DoogieActually, you and Elmura are correct. The "connection" for headphones are DC (fixed polarity) however the "current" , the pulses that occur 20K+ times per second (the music) is in fact AC! Kind of odd that way. Too bad you couldn't do a 3 second Google search (like I did to confirm what I learned in school 20 some years ago), instead went full retard!
Doogie
67
Oct 5, 2016
BansakuThat's not what AC current is for the purposes of discussing the difference between DC and AC. The analogue current flow to a headphone driver or a speaker is indeed a current that goes from positive to negative electron flow on the "positive" wire, because it is an analogue waveform signal expressed electrically across an electromagnet. It is NOT single phase alternating current flow. Where is the third wire? Live, Neutral, and Earth, you need a third wire or for the device to be double insulated (which headphones are not) for true alternating current. For the purposes of our discussion, skin effect would be irrelevant on headphone cable wiring anyway because the wire we use is multi-stranded, not solid wire.
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