A community for discussion around all topics related to headphones and personal audio.
Focal cables keeps their shape/kinks so bad that it irritates you so much until you break and have to replace them right there that day.
I don't know about their stock cables, but the stupidly expensive meze cable I bought after the Focal Radiance one pissed me off so much is really good!
I just want to find a braided cable where the strands are as thick as the Meze ones but not as much as a rip off.
Yeah Audeze and ZMFs are not bad, but have you seen the stock cables on HarmonicDyne and Timsok headphones?
I think Audeze ,ZMF and Abyss have excellent stock cables . I also think the stock HD-800 cable is also very good but the HD-700 cable is just a tangly mess but solidly made. I have had several HiFiMan cables fail on me . I own 7 HiFiMan headphones and only 4 have a working stock cable. I have had a 6XX cable fail as well but being on the first Drop was sent a longer cable and it is still going.
Grado for worst, no question. It's not even the size, I have two pairs and they are always tangled from the factory.
Best on the lower end, final audio E5000 cable is great (IEMs are meh), cable on the sony Z1Rs are amazing
I've been pretty impressed with the cables from beyerdynamic so far. The coiled cables on the dt770 is nice and both of the cables that came with the dt1990 are also pretty nice. The dt1990 coiled cable is a bit heavy but that's about it.
I use the coiled cable and I don't have anything bad to say about it. All around, really love these headphones
Harmonicdyne has the best stock cable
Hifiman has probably had the worst I’ve tried in their price range, but I haven’t really been impressed with most headphones cables under $400 whereas IEMs don’t have this issue even at $100 in many cases.
Companies seem to cheap out on the cable and it’s wild because they cost so little to have made in China.
The Ananda cable was gross
Probably because the cables on the earlier version (2020 and earlier), which is dogshit, are different from the stealth and newer version (2021 and above), which is okay at least.
Audeze’s cables are good. I don’t own a ZMF (yet), but their cables look terrific. Sennheiser’s are deceptively simple and durable. HiFiMan’s cables are total janky trash. The cable that came with my otherwise superb value HE-400se had the thickness of Christmas tree tinsel. I shit you not. Grado’s cables are like a hose on a 1960s vacuum cleaner.
Sennheiser 😭 I have an IE 40 pro iem with proprietary cables thats not on stock anywhere anymore and third party replacement is bad. My ie 400 pro cables after 4 months ripped and with them being acquired by a some company their customer support and website in my country is non-existent. At least the 400’s is popular enough that there are still plenty of authentic replacement cables but my ie 40 pro is bricked. would love to get the 660s but idk if ill push through with this kinds of problems
Stax cables for the best. Their headphone cables are very flexible and durable.
For the worst? Hifiman cables. Cable material feels nasty, and right-angled plug is questionable for desktop use.
For IEMs the Sony EX800ST stock cable was the worst. Didn't like memory wire for the ears, cable felt too thin and flimsy, and 1.6 meters is too long for an IEM cable.
For IEMs, the best cable I’ve seen so far is on the Dunu Titan S. It is at least on par with some upgrade cables like the Tripowin Sirene/Solstice/Mirage.
The worst cable by far came with the Tripowin Léa. It’s ironic that a company known primarily for their excellent upgrade cables would include such pathetic excuse for a cable with one of their own IEMs, but it really is that bad. It’s honestly worse than if they hadn’t included one at all.
I think Noble has some nice ones on the IEM side. I like their ear shaping, which matters a lot for a cable beyond quality/build for an IEM compared to a regular headphone.
The Mod House Tungsten comes stock with Viking Weave cables, pretty snazzy.
I like my Denon AH-D5000 cables
I really like the HD 600 cable specifically, hence I bought a few more of the same cables for the HD 565, HD 58X and HD 660S2. The 600 cable is lighter and less tangle-prone than those (the 58X one is especially bad IMO), the length and 3.5mm termination are perfect for me and the black/red marks are also helpful because of how symmetrical these cans are.
I really like the HD 600 cable specifically, hence I bought a few more of the same cables for the HD 565, HD 58X and HD 660S2. The 600 cable is lighter and less tangle-prone than those (the 58X one is especially bad IMO), the length and 3.5mm termination are perfect for me and the black/red marks are also helpful because of how symmetrical these cans are.
I also like Audio-Technica's cables for the simple reason that you get multiple different cables in the package with one headphone (ATH-M40x comes with 2, M50x and M70x come with 3, MSR7b comes with 2 including a balanced one). They're generally simple and durable similarly to Sennheiser ones.
the cable that came with my hifiman sundara is pretty garbage. Real stiff with microphonics
The Sennheiser HD800S cable is freakin terrible.
Meze headphones with those excellent silver cables. Best in the business.
Moondrop over-ear stuff got great cables, I also quite like Thieaudio Ghost cable, quite unique, not sure how durable that will be
No idea about headphones, but for IEMs, I really like the silver-white cable that comes with Final Audio’s upper-range lineup (A5000/E5000 and above).
Shure cables are extremely durable.
Meze Empyrean 2 is supposed to have an excellent stock cable.
Also HD800S is good quality.
I like the Hifiman HE1KV2 stock cable, but everybody else hates it.
If you believe in cable magic voodoo then no stock cable is good enough for you, because you WANT to spend a 4-digit number on your cables.
Sennheiser IE Pro line has the best behaved cables for me and they’re very soft.
I’ve always enjoyed the stock sennheiser headphone cables Any of the 600 series… but most of all any cable made by Meze audio,,, plugs are great and cable quality is on point,,,, much love
Bang & Olufsen.
Hifiman goes for the worst can't imagine any premium brands close.
The cable that came with my HEDDphone is quite easily the most microphonic cable I’ve ever used and it annoys me to no end. It’s also very stiff, and since it’s covered in nylon it’s also rather uncomfortable
Susvara is the most dogshit stock cable ever. The cable actually come permanently bent and fucked up looking when you received the headphone. It’s like dried piece of shit bamboo that’s not flexible at all.
Some of the Sennheiser HD800s or HD820 have like £249 replacement cables, I'm not entirely sure if they're £249 worth cables... There are currently quite a few debates about cable qualities and if some are just unfairly expensive. I find Hifiman cables ok, but whether it's the chunky cables with metal attached to it, or the headphones, I can hear the knock sound whenever the cable hits me or a table or something. I think some older Focal headphones cables were similar, and disliked by quite a few.