Suggested balanced cable for HD 800

[Tubejack]

I have been using my HD 800's with Crack/Speedball, using a Cardas Furutech cable.  I have ordered a Mainline and was wondering what people might suggest for a balanced cable / supplier.

Also, any more experiences or comments wrt the HD800 earcup damping mods reviewed earlier?  I have finally collected the materials but have not yet tried out the mod.

[adamct]

I have a guy who has recabled all my headphones (and that is a lot of headphones!). He makes stunning, highly personalized, incredibly beautiful and high quality cables. Much, MUCH nicer than any of the stuff available from the common names, who essentially offer "off-the-shelf" cables. Oh, and he is much cheaper, too. I'll dig out his contact details and send it to you.

Best regards,
Adam

[adamct]

JE Audio Design. Here is the website.

Below are links to a couple of the cables he's done for me. These were all made with DHC Nucleotide cable:

- HD800 - 4 strand, individually sleeved, terminated in a mini 4-pin XLR, with several adapters: mini-XLR to right-angle 1/4" TRS (perfect for most Bottlehead amps with socket on the top plate), mini-XLR to full-size 4-pin XLR, etc. I always found the HD800s both ugly and bland visually, so I went for some color.

- HE-6 - 8-strand, individually sleeved, terminated in a full-size 4-pin XLR, with a separate 4-pin XLR to right-angle 1/4" TRS adapter. The black splitter was custom painted.

- HD600 / HD650 - 4 strand, individually sleeved, custom wood splitter and sleeve for 1/8" plug. I later had him reterminate this to a 4-pin mini-XLR, and the 1/8" plug was converted to a mini-XLR to 1/8" adapter. This allowed my to use my HD600s with the HD800 adapters listed above.

- Denon AH-D7000 - 8 strand, indivually sleeved, custom wood splitter and sleeve. You can't tell from the pictures, but these are actually terminated with a full-size, 4-pin XLR. The 1/4" plug is from an adapter. I also have a full-size 4-pin XLR to 1/8" mini-TRS adapter made with pure silver cable.

- Ultrasone Signature Pro - 4 strands, individually sleeved. For this, he had to make a custom adapter to work with Ultrasone's proprietary jack. The main cable is terminated with mini 4-pin XLRs on both ends, then includes a mini-XLR to 1/4" straight TRS plug with a custom acrylic sleeve (not visible in the picture). Although the Sig Pros are not balanced, I wanted to cable to be 4-strand, and terminated with mini-XLRs, so it is modular and can be used with future balanced headphones if I desire.

Justin is a great guy to work with. He is 100% committed to getting you a cable that is exactly the way you want it. His attention to detail and workmanship are superb. I can't recommend him highly enough. If you do contact him, please tell him I sent you. I don't get any kickbacks or special discounts, but I do consider Justin a friend I've never met, just because the process of working with him on all these cables was so rewarding.

Best regards,
Adam

[dubiousmike]

Looks like he does very nice work indeed Adam.  Thanks for sharing this info!

[edit: deleted my prior question/comment regarding the balanced output given Doc's explanation below]

[Doc B.]

I have found that there is a sonic benefit (whether sonic benefits can be objective is a whole 'nother topic, what with trees falling in the forest and no one around and such). The output transformer secondary can be run balanced, and it does seem to improve the bass. I don't have a theory as to why but I have experienced the improvement enough times that I have rewired my main system to run all the speakers from balanced secondaries. As to the Mainline not being a balanced amp, presumably you mean that it is not a differential, i.e. push-pull amp. That is true, however the term balanced means something different than the term differential.

[dubiousmike]

Thanks for the clarification Doc!  I was under the misimpression that they were one and the same. 

[Tubejack]

Thank you for sharing the contact, Adam.  I will be giving Justin a ping.  Appreciate the help.

[FraGGleR]

I have been using my HD 800's with Crack/Speedball, using a Cardas Furutech cable.  I have ordered a Mainline and was wondering what people might suggest for a balanced cable / supplier.

Also, any more experiences or comments wrt the HD800 earcup damping mods reviewed earlier?  I have finally collected the materials but have not yet tried out the mod.

I don't know if I would have kept my HD800s without the earcup mod (I did the one that Tyll posted on Innerfidelity).  It reduced the treble energy of the HD800s just enough while keeping everything else I loved and turned them into the perfect headphones for me (along with my S.E.X. 2.1  ). 

The mod is very easy to do and is reversible should you not like it.  There are a couple further editions of it (found on Changstar.com) if you would like to tweak the sound more, but I haven't felt the need to try them.

[Doc B.]

The additional tweak (the shelf liner stuff) does help.

[Tubejack]

I just wanted to show you the cable Justin built for me for use with my Senn HD800s and the Mainline (under construction) and Crack.  The cable is 12', XLR terminated, with a XLR to 1/4" phone plug adapter  for use with the Crack.  It is 8 wire sleeved, 4/channel, Burgundy and Tan sleeving, UPOCC wire (Doublehelixcables).

Justin was a pleasure to work with, patient with special requests, and offered professional suggestions and alternatives.  He kept me posted and updated on progress all through the build, and supplied a detailed breakdown of all costs and labor.  Highly recommended if you are looking for a custom headphone cable.

[isldkid]

Am too enjoying Justin's four wire cable (4 pin 90 degree Neutrik) with the HD- 800 Mainline combo.
The HD-800 has Doc's Anax 2 hybrid mod.
With about 250 hours on the Mainliner, the detail retrieval, and leading edge transient speed are breathtaking, it does this in a very relaxed effort less manner, makes listening to music very enjoyable.

Isldkid