Dekoni Audio Cablez for HD600 series Review
A potable friend
Pros: – Good build quality
– Sturdy quality connectors
– Sleek gold plated aluminium jack
– Lightweight
– Tangle free
– Soft to the touch
– Good handling
– Noise free
Cons: – Fierce competition
– Only one size available
– Only one plug available
We have asked for a review sample and Dekoni Audio kindly provided one free of charge.
This is a honest and subjective evaluation of it.
Introduction
The US based Dekoni Audio is a widely known manufacturer of aftermarket pads and ear tips for various headphones that offer improved durability plus sound fine tuning.
We have recently reviewed the Elite Hybrid ear pad for the HD660S.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/de…r-sennheiser-hd600-series.24739/review/24625/
For this review we have something completely different in our hands.
It is their first and brand new aftermarket cable for the Sennheiser HD600/650/6XX/660S/58X series of headphones.
With the Sony Pentacon 4.4mm plug becoming more and more widespread and adopted among dac/amp/dap manufactures it is of no surprise that the demand for compatible cables is steadily rising.
While the HD660S is sold with an extra 4.4mm balanced cable inside the box that is not the case with the rest models of the series.
Furthermore the included HD660S cable that additionally can be bought as an extra Sennheiser part is very long , heavy and cumbersome while the asking price of $239.95 is not a match for its overall build quality.
As it is to be expected various companies specializing at building headphone cables make their own variants in various sizes and materials from cheap to very expensive ones.
In that crowded market the Dekoni Audio bravely took the risk and released their own take on the product.
Build quality and handling
Meet the Cablez a balanced 4.4m Pentacon cable for the aforementioned Sennheiser headphones with a length of 1.2m especially suitable for desktop and on the go use.
Cable and plug options are fixed and there aren’t any other options available.
Price is $119.99 and you can buy it directly from Dekoni Audio or the authorised dealers.
https://dekoniaudio.com/product/dek…nnheiser-hd600-series-headphones-1-2m-length/
The material used is 5N silver plated copper and the cable is a braided design with 4 strands per channel a total of 8 eighth strands each one individually insulated for better noise and interference rejection.
The cable is sleek , lightweight and very soft to the touch while it stays tangle free even if you deliberately try to mess it up.
Microphonic noise is completely absent.
The Pentacon gold plated plug is a sleek but sturdy design made of aluminum while the headphone connectors are a little bit longer and rounded than the original Sennheiser.
It is a high quality connector that consists of two parts.
The half end that plugs into the headphone is made of good plastic while the remaining barrel is of lightweight aluminium in a mate black color.
The left channel connector is black while the other one is red and both have a small rounded bump indicating which side should face outside.
The cable entries into the headphone connectors are reinforced with heat shrink material.
A nice aluminium splitter is used to separate the two branches of the cable.
Handling of the cable is good and it looks like it can withstand the test of time as long as we treat it with some care and not abuse it.
Some extra reinforcement around the headphone connectors should be welcomed.
Sound
We are not going to provide an in depth sound analysis because as you already know this is a much debated and very subjective topic.
But we are going to clarify and assure our readers that the sound with the Dekoni Audio Cablez is crystal clear , detailed , full and effortless passing out all the available information without holding performance back in anyway.
And to our book a cable with such a performance is considered a very good one.
Brief comparisons
If we compare the Cablez with the original Sennheiser cable we definitely have a preference for the former because it is of higher build quality , noise free and overall handling is much better.
The only drawback is that users who might need a longer length cannot order one because as we have mentioned the Cablez is only available at 1.20m length.
Maybe in the near future Dekoni will add one more popular length like 2m and offer the cable with additional plug options like 2.5mm or 3.5mm.
Unfortunately we don’t own less expensive cables from China in order to do a comparison but we do own a little more expensive cable from the Polish Forza AudioWorks.
This one is made of 7N UPOCC hybrid copper and silver combined wire and not just silver plated copper.
It is braided with 4 total strands but it is of higher total gauge.
Build quality is very good and the headphone connectors are more like the original ones.
The cable is a little heavier but it is quite soft despite the increased diameter and tangle free without microphonic noise.
It looks a little more premium but for a total length of 1.25m with a Pentacon plug it will cost €129.
That translates roughly at $155 without the import taxes.
So at least for the US market the Dekoni Cablez is lot better deal with the added benefit that it is readily available while the FAW is built to order with a lengthy waiting time.
At the end
We liked the Dekoni Audio Cablez and we do believe that it can absolutely justify the asking price – at least for the US market – because of its great build quality , the good handling , the low weight and the absence of microphonic noise.
It sure is a crowded market with a lot of options for various prices and qualities and the end user should carefully judge and choose.
Among the various options the Dekoni Audio Cablez is a very solid choice and it is highly recommended.
Copyright – Laskis Petros 2021.