DIY DC power cables

[Speedskater]

First, it only applies to chassis with a 3 wire power cord not to the newer 2 wire dounble insulated components. Those have a square inside a square safety symbol. Older 2 wire legacy and boutique components can be tricky, they did some strange things.

 

I have 2 different views on just where to connect the Paralleled Earth Conductor wire .

a] Near the audio input connectors.

b] Near the AC power cord entrance.

My guess is that might be better.

 

[asdf1000]

48 minutes ago, Speedskater said:

I have 2 different views on just where to connect the Paralleled Earth Conductor wire .

a] Near the audio input connectors. 

Thanks.

 

In the case of near the audio input connectors, literally anywhere on the metal chassis?

 

Is under a screw (like in the attached, right next to the XLR connector) with spade/fork connector good place to attach this external wire?

 

Cheers

 

[Speedskater]

That might be a little tricky. It doesn't need to be that close. I would go for a screw that holds the bottom plate, cover or back panel on. Or if you have a spare, a XLR connector shell. Note that audiophile products don't correctly wire the XLR pin#1.

[asdf1000]

2 minutes ago, Speedskater said:

Note that audiophile products don't correctly wire the XLR pin#1.

Thanks.  If I connect it to a spare XLR connector shell, where does that shell then go? The XLR above in that photo is an input - that's ok?

 

And what do you mean with correctly wiring XLR pin #1?

 

With this cable I do know the shield (and nothing else) is wired to pin #1. Do you mean, sometimes it's not?

 

[Speedskater]

The XLR cable connector has a solder tab for the shell. You could solder the wire to that tab and plug it into a spare chassis connector.

 

The chassis XLR connector is to have pin #1 connected to the chassis at the connector, with a wire that is about ½ to 1 inch long. In audiophile products we sometimes see pin #1 not directly connected to the chassis, but with a longer wire connected to the audio circuit common.

[asdf1000]

7 hours ago, Speedskater said:

In audiophile products we sometimes see pin #1 not directly connected to the chassis,

 

I see, so you're talking more about DACs and preamps and power amps sonetimes not having the wiring from the XLR pin #1 cable done/routed correctly, internally

[Speedskater]

Yep, 22 years ago, Neil Muncy (RIP) wrote an AES paper about connecting all shields and XLR shields in particular. It took over a decade to get the pro audio equipment manufactures up to speed. Now another decade later the not all audio equipment manufactures have caught on.

[R1200CL]

Ethernet DIY cable update:

 

Today I went to the local Belden dealer, in order to try to understand what could be the best Belden Ethernet cable to use. And also to advice Ghent, as he now is convinced a Belden cable is the best way to proceed.

 

Belden seems not to have a cable that has stranded conductors, "proper shielding", and in addition bonded pair. And if it exist it is probably very stiff.

I think Belden is not offering this combinations as it seems to be the same thing twice over. (Or an overkill).

At least that was the guys explanation.

 

Bonded par means that the pairs is glued together. In order to achieve better impedance stability as the main goal.

I would expect we will have this according to our needs in normal twisted pair as well, and the shield is probably more important over glued twisted pair.

 

The best cable so far seems to be the 1303 cable. It has a proper outer shield (braid), that will make possible to make the JSSG loop cable. It also has the individual foil for each pair. As I understand it, these two shielding technologies serve two different purposes. One for high frequencies, and one for low. I suppose Belden literature can explain this much better than me. I'm just telling what the guy told me.

 

Further I learned that you you want to do an ultimate patch cable, don't go below 1 meter. He also confirmed to me as I suspected that the plastic plugs is not good enough. He said most errors was related to HW, and within HW, bad cables and plugs was the majority of errors.

 

I looked at quite many samples, and I can confirm that the 1303 is a very soft, and easy to bend cable. Much easier to bend than the BJ's, and about 3 mm thicker.

 

I did also look at an alternative plug to the Telegätner, and this from Metz priced equally, seems to do the job as well. And it should be available in China.

 

Hopefully this cable, only available in black, will be the one Ghent is using. I'm not sure about the plug yet.

That is the expensive part. Maybe he can offer different options.

 

Picture shows a BJ cat 6 vs Belden 1303

 

 

Anyone has a suggestion for a different cable ?

[agladstone]

Finally got my Ghent DC Cables from china today! I was also so excited to see (and evaluate) the special custom split JSSG USB cable that I had described on this thread. To my disappointment, NO Split JSSG USB cable was in the box!! (I paid for it and it was supposed to be included in the shipment). 

I hope that Ghent will make this right for me and get me the Custom Split JSSG USB cable that I paid for that was missing from shipment (and ship it expedited at his expense, since I paid for expedited shipping and it was not included as it was supposed to be in the shipment). 

Anyone else here have any problems with shipments from Ghent and did he make good on the problems? (He seems trustworthy and professional in my experiences so far). 

[kennyb123]

 

On 7/12/2017 at 6:39 PM, agladstone said:

Anyone else here have any problems with shipments from Ghent and did he make good on the problems? (He seems trustworthy and professional in my experiences so far). 

 

Interesting timing...

 

I had originally ordered a DC cable from Ghent in early June.  Ghent shipped it out but it has yet to make it to me as it got stuck in Melbourne.

 

I contacted Ghent to ask if there was another shipping option I could use that might better guarantee that I receive cables.  He mentioned that he could ship expedited and would even pick up the cost since my cable hadn't made it to me.

 

I went ahead and ordered a pair of cables last week and they just arrived today.  They are beautifully done.

 

Ghent made good on my problem, even though he wasn't at fault. So I suspect he will do you right as well.

[agladstone]

All:

so, as it turns out, in my communication with Ghent about the missing Split USB JSSG cable, he told be he put it in the box inside a tube, I thought that tube was just packing material!! 

Mia Culpa! 

It was inside the tube, I will post some pictures of the cable, so far it sounds really good! 

Since it is made of silver coated Teflon cable, I suspect it needs at least 500 hours to fully break in, so hopefully it gets even better with burn in! 

[Middy]

lol been there myself...

[agladstone]

Here is a picture of the Split USB JSSG cable (had I known it would have looked so ugly, I would have had Ghent put a nice tech flex sleeve on it:) 

if I order another one, it will be with a sleeve! 

(This is a bit short (about 7" / 0.2 meters), in hindsight I should have ordered it at least 1 foot /0.3 meters or even 0.5 meters since it is really stiff and hard to bend. 

Listening impressions so far are really good, definitely better than the Pangea split USB Premier XL cable. 

It also sounds different than the Cardas Highspeed 2.0 USB cable, more warm, yet less detailed and airy than the Cardas. (that cable has power and data split with separate wires for each, but has only single USB A and USB B connectors on each end (I'm probably going to have Cardas re-terminate it for me with two seperate USB A connectors). 

Im sure it needs 250-500 hours of break in so I will keep it playing, but it does sound really good and I would recommend it (it's a huge value vs IFI Gemni, Cardas, and other split cables, I think I paid around $40 USD +/- for it whereas the Cardas cost me $400 USD )! 

[agladstone]

[asdf1000]

Ghent is really cool. I've had a few analogue cables and DC power cables made by him, based on the Guru's (John's) recommendations. Great build quality. He's had a pretty loyal and happy customer base for a few years, I've seen across a few forums. I would recommend everyone choose the $20 Fedex/DHL option - seems to have less risk of hold-ups and customs issues.

 

I've stayed away from digital DIY cables though. John seems to be really into impedance matching, and for USB cables I wasn't sure about if Ghent's cables meets the 90-ohm USB spec etc etc, so I've stayed with John's Supra USB cable recommendation. And for ethernet, I've gone FMC's, powered by Uptone LPS-1's and with really short BJC Cat 6 cables at each end of the fibre cable.

 

[R1200CL]

3 hours ago, agladstone said:

Listening impressions so far are really good, definitely better than the Pangea split USB Premier XL cable. 

 

I think Ghent USB with JSSG is a ?. 

 

I just connected 2 of his cable between my PC and the Explorer2 with the ISO Regen in the middle. (My MicroRendu is out for upgrade). 

 

Unbelievable what I hear. Yes, of cause IR play the main role, but still, I've used his USB for a while, and I can only advise people to tryout, and make their own opinion. 

 

Are they equal to USPCB ? Maybe very, very,  similar. And at the price, well worth trying. 

 

I'm not good at describing sound, so please don't ask to much details.

 

[agladstone]

So far Ghent's USB JSSG split cable sounds very nice! It's high quality silver coated PCOC Teflon cable with very thick copper mesh shielding around it. Then it has the JSSG wire attached to both ends and gold connectors. 

For $40.00 for my hard to make Split USB JSSG - not a better bargain out there I think!! 

@R1200CL - have you noticed that it gets even better with break in?? 

 

[agladstone]

Also in regards to the $18.00 extra for DHL, I received my package (China to Philadelphia, PA in USA) in 4 Days!! (Including going through customs in both Hong Kong and Ohio, so it is the best $18.00 you can spend (especially if like me you're ordering 6+ cables). 

[R1200CL]

10 minutes ago, agladstone said:

have you noticed that it gets even better with break in?? 

 

 

Well, I tell you one thing: My MicroRendu is out for a clock treatment, and my ears doesn't miss it ????

 

And I have yet to test these cables and ISO R using my Theta Gen 8 DAC ( well the Explorer2 use its volume control)

 

A few more beers ? and I will have to list my MicroRendu for sale ??

 

The reason I have the Explorer2 in my system was to test MAQ. 

With the ISO regen in the chain and those USB JSSG ? music sounds extremely nice even not being MQA.

 

Still, if @Superdad could offer USPCB with mini or micro USB  (forgot which it is), i would like to test that as well. 

 

This JSSG desig for digital cables is setting a new standard ?

 

I have enough parts here now to make a (actually 5) JSSG Ethernet cable. 

Belden 1303 and the Metz plugs. A heatscrink tube, and a 23 AWG blue cable. 

 

Pictures tomorrow hopefully.

I hope Ghent can beat me in what it cost me ?

Also I nice sleeve is probably the way to go.

 

I know it looks so easy from YouTube to do, and all these nice manufacturers videos. I'm afraid it's not ?

And if you don't own a heart gun, (no you can't use a hair dryer), you probably better off purchase from Ghent. Just hope he is able to do this one. 

He will have to buy a 500 feet rool cable, which won't kill him, but those connectors isn't cheap, so he need some orders, I suppose. 

 

Now its time to get some online help from Andrew and SMG, as he has offer this to find out why I can't do USB direct from my SonicTransporter to my Singxer F1. 

 

 

[R1200CL]

So I did it.

 

 

[R1200CL]

Now, you think this is easy. Looks easy. YouTube video even more easy. 

 

It's not easy. And if easy, it takes a lot of time. 

Well if you where to produce many, I suppose time can be reduced 

 

So purchase from Ghent, that is if he will do. He will. I think. Parts is available in China.  Just give home time. 

 

Now, let me tell you why use Metz and not Telegärtner. 

I don't know the correct English term or word. Norwegian is "strekkavlaster" it means basically how the plugs hold on to the cable and how pull forces is distributed. 

In our use a total overkill, but this connector goes up to above 10 mm, or at least more than the other. And that is important. 

 

When adding heat shrink tube and the 24 AWG JSSG cable we're getting into limitations. 

 

The cable has dual jactets. So by removing only one jacket where the connector shall crimp, and add the heat shrink tube with "the secret cable", up front, we have a perfect fit ?

 

Now, I thaught adding the heat shrink tube to that about 120 cm cable was easy. It isn't. Actually more or less impossible. You have to do some tricks. 

 

There is a huge difference in adding a condom to something less than 30 cm vs 1 meter ?

 

 

[MikeyFresh]

44 minutes ago, R1200CL said:

I don't know the correct English term or word. Norwegian is "strekkavlaster" it means basically how the plugs hold on to the cable and how pull forces is distributed. 

 

I believe you mean strain relief (in English).

 

Well, at least I see you helped yourself to a beer (or 3?) to ease the situation?

 

Nice cable, perseverance pays off!

[Middy]

Cable strain relief and condoms...This thread is full of suprise's. These Scandinavians.......

8 hours ago, R1200CL said:

There is a huge difference in adding a condom to something less than 30 cm vs 1 meter ?

 

[R1200CL]

Edit:

 

I think the stardard to be to be used is T568B. 

I thaught for one moment I've done 568A

 

Ghent will most likely list this Ethernet cable some time next week. 

[R1200CL]

Today my colorful sleeves arrived. 

 

Having a beer and next step is adding plugs. 

 

I think, (actually know) we're just hours away from being

able to order ?

Tough it will be black. Of cause a demand can change things.