Not sure if this is a hot or cold take, but I was thinking about how much I like the HD 600 series cables, love Audeze cables, and loathe Hifiman cables. So yeah, what stock cables do you all think are really good or really bad for whatever reason?
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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
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Yeah Audeze and ZMFs are not bad, but have you seen the stock cables on HarmonicDyne and Timsok 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.
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.
The Ananda cable was gross
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.
The Mod House Tungsten comes stock with Viking Weave cables, pretty snazzy.
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.
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