Headphone cable effect on sound

    There is much debate about the effect of cables on sound quality. Technocrats usually argue that the change in sound from replacing cables is only self-hypnosis, while golden-eared people think that technocrats are either deaf or envious when it comes to expensive cables. True, as usual, is somewhere in between. The most irreconcilable points of view are usually around inter-unit and power cables. With acoustic cables (including the headphone cable), the situation is not so categorical.



    What and how does the cable in the headphones affect? Should I change it to improve sound quality?


    The technical side of the issue


    From a technical point of view, the main characteristics of a cable are: resistance, capacitance and inductance, where usually all values ​​are neglectingly small. In addition to these characteristics, a parameter such as the degree of purification of the cable from impurities is often found.

    If you measure the "good" and "bad" (without obvious problems) cable, then usually there is no difference, because the measurement error of even high-precision equipment is greater than the differences between the cables. However, this is a problem of modern measuring equipment. Cable manufacturers sometimes indicate parameters on a running meter, which includes resistance, capacitance and inductance, but not a short distance, but a “kilometer” bay, where the obtained values ​​are divided by the final wire length, is used for measurements.

    Nevertheless, some characteristics can still be measured, and moreover, you can understand whether it makes sense in modding specific headphones.

    The subjective side of the issue


    The subjective component usually refers to the collection of opinions, which include both the difference that is actually heard, and frankly invented (placebo effect). Some shades of sound are introduced as “logical,” such as the Litzcendrat’s “more high” versus the mono-con. Some logical conclusions are transferred from adjacent areas, where some phenomenon manifests itself in a noticeable form in the megahertz region and is elusive in the sound range. And what is funny, in practice, a particular littsendrat can sound better in the high-frequency region, against a specific mono-core, despite the fact that the reasons for this difference are completely different, for example, the littsendrat has a high degree of purification and each lived in lacquered insulation against the old rust-proof mono core without insulation .

    It complicates the identification of differences and the conduct of blind tests, which are formally required to identify the placebo effect. Most of those who “hear” do not see the point in blind tests, but when they get to blind tests they “stall” at once. Moreover, the listener may “deafen” not because the difference was made up, but because the blind test should be correct and the listener should be prepared for it. Among the frenzied debaters, it’s often not true, but who was “right” and similar tests are conducted with gross violations with the creation of stressful conditions.

    Most adequate connoisseurs of quality sound usually try to make a choice without much fanaticism, equally giving preference to both the technical part and the accumulated subjective experience on the principle that if all this is inaudible, then it will not be worse.

    Returning to the technical parameters, we divide the “random combination” and “predicted”. Random combinations include a result in which the headphones “magically” sound with a specific amplifier and with any other cable there is no such result. In this case, the properties of the cable with the amplifier and headphones can ideally coincide, and neither the price nor the characteristics of the cable speak of anything here. Such ligaments are obtained only by the selection method.

    A predicted combination is an assessment of some parameters, on the basis of which a result can be predicted in advance. If we consider the technical measured parameters, then this will be the resistance of the cable, affecting the final frequency response of the headphones.

    Cable resistance effect


    Although the headphone cable is short, however, its resistance is sometimes not at all small, reaching up to 5-10 ohms. Cable resistance depends on cross-sectional area and length. In equal conditions with the same length, the larger the cross-section of the cable, the lower the resistance. However, a large cross-section is potentially not a flexible cable. With a small cross-section, the cable resistance increases and the threshold for the permissible current that can pass through the cable decreases further. Given that the current level for headphones is usually very low, the problem is irrelevant (unlike speakers, where at a small cable cross-section compression is in the best case at low frequencies and the cable burns out in the worst case).

    From a mathematical point of view, the cable is an additional series resistance. Each headphone amplifier has a certain value of the total output impedance (impedance), and the final frequency response of the headphones will be formed from the impedance curves of the amplifier and headphones. The cable resistance in this case will be added to the resistance of the amplifier.

    The change in frequency response will only be if the impedances of the headphones or amplifier are uneven.

    Reinforcing headphones


    The highest unevenness is usually found in multi-driver reinforcing-type headphones.



    In the example, let's look at the M-Audio IE40 / UE TripleFi 10 Pro multi-driver reinforcing bars, in which the impedance curve is one of the most “visual” ones with great unevenness.



    The graph shows how the resulting headphone frequency response will change with increasing cable resistance or internal resistance of the amplifier. In the example, there are two options: amplifiers with a resistance of 0 and 300 Ohms, when using different cables from 0 to 5 Ohms.
    In the case of an amplifier with zero resistance, the influence of the cable is quite noticeable (graphs 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), and with increasing cable resistance, the further effect is less pronounced.

    In the case of an amplifier with a high output impedance of 300 Ohms (graphs 300, 301, 302, 303, 304 and 305), there is no influence of cable resistance - the amplifier resistance has already exerted all possible influence.

    Thus, if an amplifier with a high output resistance is used, then chasing a cable with a low resistance simply does not make sense, it is better to pay attention to the degree of cleaning, material and other properties of the cable. In the case of an amplifier with zero resistance, the cable will affect the frequency response and it is possible to adjust the sound to your liking.

    High impedance headphones




    For example, the popular Sennheiser HD 650 were taken . The headphone impedance is 300 ohms, however, up to 500 ohms is observed at 80 Hz.



    The graph above shows that the resistance of the cable within 5 ohms does not bring a noticeable effect either with an amplifier with zero resistance or with a high resistance.

    Low impedance headphones




    For an example with low headphones taken Grado GS1000i . For dynamic headphones, usually the rise in the low-frequency region does not exceed twice the value. With a resistance of 32 ohms, the peak is approximately 64 ohms.



    As in previous examples, with a high-resistance amplifier, there is no difference between the wires from 0 to 5 ohms. Another situation with an amplifier with zero resistance, the difference is noticeable, although not large - 0.6 dB with a cable of 5 ohms. The result is a bit similar to the findings with reinforcing headphones, but due to the less unevenness of the GS1000i and the deviation is lower.

    This is the most noticeable measurable difference that the headphone cable makes. Everything else is the nuances that lie behind the measurement errors.

    Statistics


    Based on the measurement statistics of more than 500 headphones, the Reference Audio Analyzer project can draw some conclusions.

    Most in-ear headphones have a cable resistance of 2 to 3 ohms. At the same time, the resistance of the plug is 0.5-1 Ohm. You can change the cable, but without fanaticism and based on the collected subjective experience of audiophiles, with no chance that any measurement will show a definite increase in quality.

    For most full-size headphones, cable resistance varies over a wide range, from 1 to 10 ohms. Here, in the presence of an amplifier with a low output resistance, the cable resistance sometimes makes sense to reduce, because for low-impedance headphones, the cable resistance also affects the volume - there is a chance to facilitate the working conditions of the amplifier.

    Total


    If the headphone resistance curve has a noticeable unevenness and the impedance of the amplifier and headphones is low-impedance, then due to the resistance of the cable, you can slightly change the frequency balance. All other changes are not recorded by instruments and relate exclusively to subjective selection.

    Author Kuznetsov Roman romanrex

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    I think the impact of the headphone cable

    • 42.3% Exaggerated, all this is fiction 418
    • 3.8% The effect is large and the cable must be changed first in the headphones, manufacturers are too fond of saving 38
    • 6.6% And I switched to wireless headphones and my cable is violet 66
    • 47.1% Purple cables best in sound 466

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