Hi Torq, could you share which cables you use to interconnect the Mscaler and Dave? I’m considering pulling the trigger…and with AQ Diamond and AQ Dragon feeding my sources and dac/amp, the interconnect I imagine being highly important to maintain fidelity.
Thank you!
I use my own design/build of coax cables between the M-Scaler and DAVE.
Ah ok, wow…thank you!
How does one make his own USB or coax cables?
There are two basic approaches.
Choose and buy the appropriate connectors, along with pre-made bulk USB or COAX cable, and optional sleeving (since bulk-cable will already be sheathed), and solder them up appropriately.
Choose and buy the appropriate connectors, and build your cable up from raw components yourself.
The first method is, of course, much easier and in the case of COAX cables doesn’t necessarily required soldering (though the best COAX connectors are generally not available as crimp-termination).
The second is rather involved and requires that you know what you’re doing, understanding the cable specs and have enough knowledge and skill to implement them properly.
For a ground up coax cable, you have to have, at a minimum, an inner conductor, an insulator, and an outer braided/matrix shield/conductor, and a sheath of some kind. And you want to maintain a characteristic impedance for the whole assembly of 75 ohms (to avoid internal signal reflections). Of course, if you’re going to that much trouble, you’ll probably want to use special materials, multiple shield and dielectric layers outside the second conductor, and use proper spacers and binders to maintain consistent spacing between inner and outer conductors so that bending/compressing the cable doesn’t shift the impedance etc.
For USB, you need to decide what version of the spec you want to implement. For USB 2.0/UAC2 you’ll need a pair of conductors of appropriate gauge to limit resistance over the length you want to achieve for the power lines. Then you’ll need a precisely wound twisted pair for the signal lines, properly shielded, spaced and toleranced, achieving a characteristic impedance of 90 ohms (+/- 15%) and with no more than 100 picosecond differential across the wave-front propagation between the two conductors.
And if you want that USB cable to not change impedance etc. every time it bends or is pressed, you’ll also need to apply proper spacers, binders, fillers etc. to maintain the internal geometry.
Once you have that down, you can do fun things like build cables with NO power connections between host and device, or break those power connections out to be supplied from an external, ultra-low-noise, power source. Though you can also do that with pre-built bulk-cable.
Hey guys what gauge wire is often used for headphone cables?
This isn’t really a cable but a custom cable mount I’ve made. I got a standing desk recently and put all my source gear on a shelf a bit away. I wanted to reduce cable clutter so I extended my cables to under my desk using some surface mount thing I’ve made.
Here are the components – Neutrik stuff (Parts list at end of this post)
Here’s what the final product looks like once you soldered wires from the male to female connectors and attached the housing.
And here it is mounted under my desk, using 3M Command strips
Next to it is a 3.5mm version, which I just bought on amazon premade. 
Here is the XLR parts list:
1
RoHS1568-NC4FD-L-BAG-1
NC4FD-L-BAG-1
Neutrik XLR Connectors
US HTS:8536694020 ECCN:EAR99 COO:LI 1 1
2
RoHS1568-NA-HOUSING
NA-HOUSING
Neutrik XLR Connectors
US HTS:8538908180 ECCN:EAR99 COO:LI 1 1
3
RoHS1568-NC4MDL1B
NC4MD-L-B-1
Neutrik XLR Connectors
US HTS:8536694020 ECCN:EAR99 COO:LI 1 1
@Torq is there a difference in rhodium or gold plated plugs? Like the 3.5mm ones offered by Oyaide or Furutech. And also, do you know why the Furutech plugs cost so much more than the Oyaide?
http://www.furutech.com/2016/04/25/12948/
Vs.
http://www.oyaide.com/ENGLISH/AUDIO/products_category/etcplug/pg523.html
Furutech has a copper conductor, Oyaide has brass. So I guess the Furutech is superior?
Love this thread!
I’m looking into building a custom cable for my HD6XX. Will post here if/when that happens.
Well, let’s start with basics … namely what the purpose of the plating on a plug/connector is; it’s there for three reasons, generally:
To prevent oxidization/corrosion of the connector simply from exposure to the air. This can have a massive effect on resistance, contact area and overall conductivity (the right metal, and the right level of oxidization and you may wind up with an insulator).
To protect the connector itself from abrasion/pitting that would reduce the surface area available for signal transfer (thereby increased resistance).
To smooth the surface of the connector material to offer the best possible contact area, lowering resistance.
Rhodium is only 39% as conductive as gold but since you’re only going through a micron or two of it, this really doesn’t matter in any practical sense. And Rhodium is much harder wearing (it’s also a cast-iron bitch to solder). Since audio frequencies are so low that they are not really subject to skin-effect transmission, the plating/coating doesn’t really affect conductivity to any material degree.
HOWEVER, the core conductor material does!
Silver is the best option, but is very soft, and copper is the next best choice. Brass is WAY down the list with just 28% the conductivity of copper (assuming good brass). But it is hard-wearing and less expensive.
Well, Rhodium is much more expensive than gold, and copper is rather more expensive than brass, and carbon fiber is much more expensive than anything else on the Oyaide connectors, so raw materials cost is probably what’s driving up the cost of the Furutech stuff.
Thanks @Torq, soooo if I had the money I should definitely go for the Furutech plug, am I right? I already had those Oyaide plugs for a small interconnect cable between DAP and portable amp and they were great, but of course I don’t know if the Furutech plugs would have been even better. In my case: I have a upocc silver headphone cable and just reread in the specs that the plating of the Oyaide is silver/rhodium (on brass) in contrast to the Furutech which has rhodium (on copper). Do you still think that the copper would have a better synergy with my cable?
From an engineering/materials science perspective, yes.
Audibly?
Very unlikely it matters.
I use Furutech connectors where possible. More because of theory and aesthetics than anything else.
Synergy doesn’t enter in to it.
Certain, self-proclaimed (and quite mouthy) expert “trained listeners”, have failed to discern issues at -30 dB (laughable - I can name a dozen personally-known people that can pass that test reliably at better than -60 dB). You’re talking about theoretical differences at > -130 dB.
It’s not worth stressing over.
Amen.
If people were to really nitpick this stuff, they should look at how their cables are soldered before worrying about the coating on the connectors.
Personally, I look for connectors that use copper conductors, not brass. I also look for connectors where solid mechanical connections between the wire and connector can occur.
Also, concerning solder, look for 20/80 solder on this list, and prepare for the nervousa to wreck your day.
http://eddy-current.com/conductivity-of-metals-sorted-by-resistivity/
Silver - 105
Copper - 103
Gold - 70
Rhodium - 38
20/80 Solder - 9.8
Buying pure copper connectors used to mean only a few choices, usually expensive, but you knew what you were getting, i.e Vampire copper, Xhadow pure copper (silver-plated). Even the famous Cardas connectors are plated brass. Nowadays, with so many choices from different countries out there, it’s difficult to tell what those companies mean by “copper.”
One can end up buying “copper” connector to find it’s just copper-plated only. Once plated, it’s difficult to really tell what’s underneath. Various choices like tellurium copper and “Red Copper” pop up. To this day, I still cannot find solid information on what exactly “Red Copper” is. I mean, is it truly 99.99% OFC like certain ads say, or is it Copper(II) Oxide causing the red color.
@Torq One last question about solder wires: Is there something like a „best“ solder wire for a silver cable?
What about Mundorf: https://www.hificollective.co.uk/solder/mundorf-95-silver-solder-supreme.html
Or the Viablue silver solder (which has less silver than the Mundorf if I am not mistaken)
https://viablue.de/com/menu_accessories_silver_solder.php
Or this one: Cardas Quad Eutectic Silver Solder
Thanks, as always, for your thoughts!
Mission accomplished.
Can we just acknowledge that every value better than 20 nano ohm per meter is okay, yes?
LOL
Sure. I will concede that.
It’s like conceding a noise floor at -130dbfs is better than one at -129dbfs.
No prizes for guessing what inspired the aesthetics, but here’s a new variation on my modular cable system … (better pictures if/when I can be bothered):
It is compatible with my existing, flagship, modular cable components, but employs different core materials and construction. It’s 40% more flexible and 25% lower weight (cable only), still uses Furutech, Eidolic and HiRose connectors (no fake parts), and is still cryo and EBI treated.
