How to make a cable?

DIY Audio DIY Cables
#1

Bit of a stupid question but hear me out a bit here. So, I have connections with a wiring factory, essentially make any wire in existence from silver to copper as well as insulated and not insulated. Due to this, when I thought about this(not sure why I didn’t think of this sooner) I can probably quite easily just make my own custom cable…

question is, what would I need, and how would I go about making my own cables. Is there any guides you trust or something of reading material to go on to help me out? Not at my computer station so not sure if this was covered on already, feel free to link to said thread and I will check later. Thanks again

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#2

I’ve been using “Audio Wiring Guide” by John Hechtman as my guide. I think you can still find the book in Amazon. The book went through everything you need to know about audio wires and it is doable for people like us. Really recommend that book if you like reading.

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#3

Important question being: cable for what usage?
Which pin-point’s to what details there are that should be taken care of when actually making cable for “end use”.

#4

Let’s say for headphones such as a balanced cable. Say duel 3.5mm to balanced xlr

#5

Hardest part will be soldering.

#6

I’m looking to make my KSC75 balanced, so I’m in the same boat as you. Here are a couple of Youtube channels I found, though someone with knowledge of soldering would have to speak to their quality.


Here’s one that’s literally the cable you want to make.

And for good measure, a USB one that shows how to use paracord and braid.

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#7

Spec sheets for XLR, TS, TRS (TRRS is a mess) and Pentacon can help you with what goes where.
Most pro-gear has a section regarding pinout, can consult that.

From a Mackie manual:
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Not sure how applicable this is, but for selling goods in the EU, you need a CE declaration (states that the product will not kill the user or pose harm to the environment etc.)

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#8

Just depends on the type of cable you need but they’re all super simple. You get the number of conductors needed and solder the tips you need. Done.

#9

Going to sit down this weekend and study into this more, if you guys have more reading material or helpful information I am all ears.

Gotta work on updating my write up too so I guess that should be done this weekend potentially as well.

Then Gotta study Pro Tools more as I am messing with some of my songs

Lot’s of book learnin lol

#10

Depending on how patient you are you can get a lot of nice connectors from Aliexpress. Ive been building myself cables with a bunch since a year and im quite happy with them but well delivery time is an issue. For the cabling itself I used Copperlitze from Amazon with clear insulation which I quite like the look of.
Note that Coaxial cables like mostly used for RCA Cables are a good design due to the noise supression of the sleeve but for the lengths of a Headphone cable that doesnt matter.

#11

It’s not the length that matters. RCAs are more susceptible to noise because the voltage is much lower. Also they tend to live right next to power cords.

#12

you making an argument for girth?

#13

:rofl: they both matter

#14

It is length, distance to EMI-Source and angle.

Thing is though: To get meaningful (as in more than measureable) noise on a signal, you would need quite the powerful EMI-Source. So extension cord running to the cheapest LED bulb running full length next to line level into an amp might get you some audible noise.

#15

The usual argument in cable designs is that RFI noise is more critical than EMI, so longer is worse since it’s acting as a bigger aerial.

#16

Well yes, ultimately length matters. I was trying to point out that the low voltage RCA signal is WAY more susceptible to noise than the (relatively) high voltage headphone wire signal. Moreso than length of conductors.

#17

EMI just means electromagnetic interference. So any noise introduced by anything at any frequency.
RFI specifically means Radio Frequency Interference.
Semantics :stuck_out_tongue:

#18

Yes, this is generally accepted to be the case, and I know people who prioritize RCA over speaker wires for much the same reason. But at some point the extra length starts to make a difference.
The general concensus seems to be is that perhaps unsurprisingly higher quality balanced interconnects make less of a difference than higher quality RCA interconnects.

All that being said designing complex cable geometries (which some of the higher end cables are) isn’t really practical to DIY, unless you have someway to measure what your designing for. You can fake that for RFI to a point by literally using the candidate cable as an antenna, but it’s only one aspect of a cable and many of the cables designed to eliminate RFI, have other issues like high capacitance.

Personally I would just go buy some decent connectors and some Mogami Microphone cable (since that’s designed for long runs with low voltages), and call it, or find a DIY recipe I thought sounded well designed and just build that.

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#19

This would be the road i would also take. Maybe not the Mogami cable but cable with similar qualitys. General idea or principal still remains.
Shielding and specs, depending of course what cable type and for what purpose i would make it. Shielding specially imo it’s better to have some or more than nothing. There is change and possibility some noise or interference is present.

Since im “bit” lazy now days i mainly buy what i need. Trauma from making 10 custom length shielded RCA cables for a car project… with detail and finishing quality.
Last “cable” made was for car usage, battery jump cable from 1/0 AWG +20ft copper+silver cable with huuuge clamps so it’s like 350$ jump cable. :crazy_face:

#20

And that’s really the issue - like everything else, it’s a compromise between noise rejection, capacitance, resistance and, inductance.

100% agree with this.