Your thoughts on headphone cables

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

My Sennheiser HD 25 SPs have served me pretty well for nearly 20 years. They are lightweight, and sound pretty close to my HD 580s, but are more comfortable and much more portable.

Anyway, the thing that has always pissed me off about them is the headphone cable. When they were new, the left channel kicked in and out every time a butterfly flapped its wings in Madagascar, and this could only be (briefly) solved by pushing the left channel cable in harder. I had to send them back in for service. The headphones have been doing this again (although not to this degree) recently, and a change of cable a few years ago did not fix the problem. In addition, the cables get knotted AND kinked up like a SOB, and I usually have to spend a couple of minutes untying this Gordian knot before listening. I recently replaced the earpads, but now the cable has developed a new problem--I am actually considering dumping this pair and getting something different made by a company not named Sennheiser.

Anyway, the new problem is that the sound flips from stereo to mono (with a much lower volume) unless I turn and twiddle with the cable/plug. At first I thought this was a fault in my Fiio X1, but this happens with my laptop and desktop PC as well. My wife's Sony headphones have no such problem with the X1

Can anyone suggest alternatives to the Sennheiser cables--and not some ridiculous overpriced product? I really don't think high-end audiophile (ripoff) cables make sense with a 100$ pair of cans.

[Parsifal]

That is the reason I've sworn off Sennheiser. Supposedly the most advanced headphones on the planet, and they can't solve the problem of a connector that makes intermittent contact.

Beyerdynamic.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Interesting. I was wondering whether it was just me and my bad luck because the HD 580 had the same problem. What model Beyerdynamic do you have?

[drogulus]

     My Senns are just fine. The likely replacement if I was on a budget would be the Sony MDR-7506.

     

     The Wirecutter is where I go for a variety of tech stuff reviews.

[Holden]

If you prefer closed back then I can highly recommend the Shure SRH840s though portability may be an issue. You haven't said if you want to be able travel/move with them.

Shure also make a 940 which was supppsedly an upgrade to the 840 bit the jury is still out on that one.

If you want open back (you've already got the excellent HD580 as I have) then the Shure 1440 or 1840 is the open back version of the ones I've just recommended.

There are many other options as well but I'm recommending what I've heard and liked.

[Jo498]

If you want an affordable set, get the Alessandro Music series 1 (which is a Grado model) for about $100. This is about the best bang for the buck possible, I think. But try to try them on because their rather old fashioned design is uncomfortable on some ears/heads.