MLXXX Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 (edited) The Sennheiser HD800 phones provide outstanding sound quality, but a number of users have experienced premature failure in the cable insulation in the initial section of cabling from the left and right sides of the headphones. Here is an opinion expressed in the opening post of a thread on another forum: Why $200 cable shield of the HD800 is less durable than a $1 cable shield? I saw two cracks on my Sennheiser HD800 Headphones cable today. I really didn't do anything to cause that. after looking closely I saw many small cracks on the cable. cable shield is cracking down and making the cable naked. some parts of the cable is without cable shield now! Just like the picture that this guy posted in the head-fi forums. and that's just the cable. Headphone headband and ear pads are so cool at first. they have good quality at the first month but after awhile you see top layer of the fabric falling down just like black powder. I'm not against HD800 and I love its sound quality. I know these things can be replaced but why these things happening to this product? Why $200 cable shield of the HD800 is less durable than a $1 cable shield? I really came to the conclusion that when you buy a German product, you're not using it. you just simply maintaining it at any cost! I myself had the issue of prematurely failing insulation for HD800 phones and I have recently replaced the connectors at the phones end of the cable. I was not inclined to pay $250 approx for a genuine Sennheiser repacement cable: https://en-au.sennheiser.com/accessories--hd-800--hd-800-s--connection-cable What I did instead was to pay about $36 for (non-genuine) headphone connectors; snip off the frayed part of the old cable, and solder the remaining good part of the old cable to the new connectors. Here you can see a photograph of the repaired phones, and on the left of the picture the original connectors and frayed cable: The connector pin spacing is very small, and it is a challenge to ensure that solder doesn't bridge the gap. Here is the old cable next to the new connector, prior to soldering: The correct connections are as per the following image in the thread https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hd800-connectors-pin-out.575344/ :- I used electrical insulation tape wound tightly around the cable to serve as an anchor to stop the cable pulling through the opening in the outer shell of the new connector. Note: the original Sennheiser connectors appear to use a plastic anchor that is permanently affixed, trapping the original cable in the connector. I imagine a number of non-OEM connectors would work. The ones I used appear on ebay Australia under the description "Adapter Plug Parts Connector For Sennheiser HD800 HD800s Dharma D1000 Headphone". (I was reluctant to purchase from Sennheiser for two reasons, firstly because I felt the asking price for a replacement cable rather high, and secondly because it was not clear whether Sennheiser had actually improved the quality of the outer insulation for the left and right channel cabling near their proprietary headphone connectors.) After repair, the cabling is a few centimetres shorter than it was originally, but still more than long enough for convenient use. Edited February 8, 2019 by MLXXX 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iam Nemo Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 I have the exact same problem. Same place. Cable was never abused, actually barely used. Just bad design and/or materials. I also had to replace the cable on my Sennheiser HD600... German engineering is not what it once was for a loooong time now. Replacement cables are stupidly expensive with 0% gain in sound quality of course! But construction can easily be better than the original Sennheiser cables and connectors, especially at this price-point!!! Come on Sennheiser...You should be ashamed!!! Iam Nemo, physicist and studio owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 The Eidolic HD800 connectors are similar to a typical RCA, with the inner part extending down to hold the cable, with two prongs you bend around to clamp down. That plus some heatshrink over the whole thing feels pretty secure. You could the heatshrink over the connector too if you didn't mind losing the bling aspect of the Eidolic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iam Nemo Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 Thank you Bengineer for the heads-up ! Will check them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 I have a spare set if you want too. Else you can order them from Cosmic Cables UK or Double Helix US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iam Nemo Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 Thank you! I will consider your offer. Still undecided if I rebuild the original Senn cable (since its I disliked insulation, tangling, amp connector side could have convertible mini / 1/4", etc.) or go for a prebuilt one (at some reasonnable price). Maybe somethink like https://www.cosmic-cables.co.uk/product-page/razorback or equivalent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 Ian at Cosmic is very helpful. Happily answers any question you have, regardless if it's for a sale or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillCloudX Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Just found this thread as I was searching for users with similar cable issues. After some tinkering and great difficulty, I've managed to get the whole connector out so that I can hopefully rewire it. In the connector image, there is some rubber material that keeps the connector from moving so solid grip is required to twist it free from the other parts. I achieved this by plugging it back into the headphone and using pliers to twist it although the amount of force required is concerning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prymortal Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 (edited) Liquid Electrical Tape. The left one had no rubber covering the wire. Right had decent cracks, Both exposed wiring. 2 coats over 3 hours, 24H drying. Fixed, solid & works. While not pretty, functional! Edited July 13, 2021 by prymortal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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