There is so much truth in that.
3 Likes
To everyone asking about the cable, it’s this one -
On the retailer’s website, it is listed as manufactured by HiFiMan. They even sell “balanced” cables the retailer themselves make. Although the cable that is shown in the image is significantly different from what I received.
After checking on HiFiMan’s website as per the suggestion of @l0rdm0rd and @Blackscreen I did not find any balanced cables for Sundara either. Which makes me wonder why the retailer listed this cable the way they did. They are a very well reputed retailer here in India, who specialize in everything audio related.
1 Like
Hello,
The Pentacon plug does not look trustworthy.
If you hold the golden part with a pair of pliers and with another pair of pliers on the housing, it can be unscrewed.
I once had something similar, soldered it cleanly and when I turned it, the cables twisted inside and a driver failed because of that.
So bad plugs are often unfavourable for such things.
Personally, when I build one myself, I often use the Furutech connectors as the connection.
Because there is enough space, even if they are a bit expensive, and they are easy to handle.
I wouldn’t use the cable any more, even though it’s a pity for the money.
It really is very different from what is pictured and what you have.
That is just marketing. 
Some one will buy the stuff no matter what is in the description.
But oh my… those bends in the cable, that joint plastic piece and those connectors again!
My blood boils right away.
That looks more shitty than normal china cables… did not know it’s even possible? lol
I actually found another that looks like that.
The connectors clearly are the “cheapest china” (shit) you can get, they sell those everywhere, different names, different companies but the shitty cables and connectors remain.
I had one for the Hifiman 400i and it was also a “Hifiman” made cable… yea right! Nope. Was exactly with the same connectors but not with a bendy cable.
I even saved it to remind myself. Never again.
Compared to something like Neutrik ones, they are like the great example what they should be and those bad cables… should not even be allowed to sell.
soo… a couple of interesting information i found about that:
-
i actually found the store you mentioned myself. The reviews there show pictures of exactly the same cable you have. So you definitely are not the only one who got on of those:
-
if you filter in the shop for Hifiman branded stuff, the cable shows up. There are also 3rd party cables for the sundara that won’t show up with the filter. Also, the site advertises with an authenticity certificate to be an autorised online seller for Hifiman products, also in the product view of said cable. All this clearly suggests, that this is a cable by Hifiman.
-
the cable looks exactly like this " HE1000 V2 Stock Cable-3.5mm-to-XLR 4 Pin Balanced Cable" one on the Hifiman shop, just with a pentacon plug instead of XLR:
https://store.hifiman.com/index.php/crystalline-copper-silver-xlr-4-pin-balanced-cable-for-he1000.html -
i even found another store that sells a cable nearly the same as yours, it’s a shop registeres in italy. The cable even has the same bends like yours:
HiFiMAN 4.4mm Balanced Headphone Cable 3.5mm - PlayStereo
BUT: this cable also has a different pentacon plug! This looks like the plug that’s also used on the pictured black cable from the indian store.
Now all of that smells a bit fishy, but might still be completely normal. The question remains, if this is an authentic cable by Hifiman, just with a different connector attached by Hifiman - or has the store, or some middlemen, cut off the XLR plug from the Hifiman cable and has made a terrible job attaching the pentacon plug…?
I am very curious.
1 Like
Anyone contacted HiFiMan about these “shady” cables?
I’ll be doing that in a few hours, got some work to do right now.
1 Like
Man that’s some detailed findings. Thanks a bunch, I think I’ll share all this information with the retailer and ask them about what’s going on with the shady looking cable.
@Cupcake would be the best to do that since he made the purchase and has purchase information that will be helpful assuming this cable is being modified/misrepresented.
1 Like
i would definitely get in direct contact with Hifiman as well. All this information here already can have a negative impact on their reputation. It has to be clarified:
- if this is only one bad cable or if all of them have the same design flaw
- if the cable is build like that by Hifiman themselves or not
- if not, who build the cable
- why it is sold under the Hifiman brand
Hifiman needs to know about this and they should be given a chance to respond to it. As i said, all of this might be completely normal and we just have one damn broken cable. But there might also be more going on there which Hifiman should be aware of, especially if these would be (not saying that these are!!!) unofficial/fake. Just contacting the retailer might not be enough, if you understand… but i’m just theorizing, i’m not impliying anything!!
1 Like
Alright, it makes sense to me. I’ll definitely do that.
So there’s this…Sundaras and Schiit equipment problems with static…
Pay no attention to what the “preview” below says.
2 Likes
booaar is not really true,why?
So happy to buy the Lcd 2 C last year and no worries with it. And with my Amp´s too.
Courious to see how it ends.
Interesting.
So what do iFi and Schiit have in common design wise that lets the Sundara kill them?
Hello @Maze
I have a question for you as an electrical engineer.
Is it possible that the Sundara is causing this due to the metal housing and poor insulation? For example, the driver colliding with the cabinet.
Or does it really come from the amplifier?
As you read above, a defective cable was the cause.
With the Topping L30 it was clear that they had messed up.
But with Ify, Schiit and Co, I find it a bit hard to believe.
I wish! Still only a filthy hobbyist.
Possibly? I don’t own a Sundara, nor a Schiit Amp or iFi anything.
What I find curious is this hitting two very different device types. iFi is really fancy with a micro-Controller and the like to the point where I am way into uncertainty territory (not even taking guesses anymore).
Schiit has a very pure, analog style.
Yet both died to ESD from a Sundara. If there is a connection, I am not seeing it.
Note
With some practice, you can read a lot from PCB layouts and referencing with spec sheets.
That tells you how stuff likely works, what the intentions were and so on.
In the case of ESD or overheating, the max spec obviously was exceeded. The “Why?”-question (with a few exceptions) is rarely presented on a silver plate.
1 Like
they’re american?
Ok, sorry, i’ll show myself out… and i know, iFi is actually from the UK. Chinese headphones destroying murica amps and dacs haha what a bad joke.
But this gets more and more interesting. At the moment, i find it irritating, that we had or have a clear lead, what has caused the problems with @Cupcake’s iFis. A balanced cable with a definitive flaw. And he tested his regular cable and didn’t find any problem. Now we get new information on head-fi that there are static issues with the stock cable and a different amp. What the HELL. So… at the moment, all we can do is speculate. The guy on head-fi should probably check the ground connection on his stock cable or on the Heresy output. If there also is a problem, then maybe, just maybe the metal housing of the Sundara can be what’s “special” about it and only cause severe problems when something with the GND connection in the chain is funky?! Maybe it’s some kind of weird design choice or something?!
1 Like
This could very well be just planars and an overdose of static electricity, that’s all. You’re sending electric current via a box probably made out of electric-conductive metal, to headphones producing sound with… “dual metal mosquito nets” (lol). So, electricity being electricity, this just can happen. It happened to me with T50RPs. 
So “ground” yourself often before touching your planar headphones or amp… or maybe listen to music with a guitar string in your mouth. 
This user on h-f who ran into the same issue confirmed that after switching to a SE cable to his Sundaras, the equipment no longer has issues. I’m noting this because in both cases (here and there) the commonality appears to be some sort of interaction between the Sundara and balanced cables that presents problems for the amplifier.
actually, it’s the opposite. He has swapped the stock cable, which is unbalanced, to an aftermarket unbalanced cable, nothing balanced here! EDIT: the Magni Heresyhe uses doesn’t even have a balanced output! With the stock cable, he had the humming problem, and with the aftermarket cable, he has sparks flying, but no humming anymore. Now i don’t know what’s worse lol
@Cupcake also had the problem, that the Zen DAC with the already-broken balanced output, was finally killed by a static discharge using the stock cable in the SE output. So single ended cables, regardless of stock of aftermarket, and static discharge don’t seem like a good thing either…
WTF is happening here? I’d assume, that all of this has to do with the Sundaras’ metal frame, and only in some circumstances that are yet to be identified.