Recabling the Beyerdynamic Tesla DT-1350 Portable Headphones

Beyerdynamic has a number of different headphones featuring Tesla drivers now. Some are very impressive, like the Beyer T-1 and T-5p (see my recable of the T-5p here) and some aren't really my cup of tea, such as the Beyer T-70 with what I perceived to be a bright and peaky sound signature. So if you are considering purchasing one of the Beyerdynamics with Tesla drivers, to audition it before purchase if you can. In this post I will be recabling the Beyerdynamic DT-1350 portable headphones with Tesla drivers.

Like all Beyerdynamic headphones I've ever used, the DT-1350 is robustly built and designed to withstand many hours of use. The headphone splits in the center, much like the Sennheiser HD25-1 II headphones, for additional adjustment and comfort. The drivers have an 80 ohm impedance, so a headphone amp can be beneficial to bring out the best in these. Overall, I would say that the sound very clear, coherent, and is more concentrated on the higher end of the spectrum, more treble-oriented with a bit less bass quantity than I'd desire. I could see the similarity in signature to the DT880 250ohm headphones, which many audio enthusiasts enjoy for their even-handed presentation.

So in order to add a little warmth and bass to the equation, I decided to recable the DT1350s with Cardas internally litzed wiring. The Cardas 2x23.5 is a great size for portable headphones when you don't need balanced operation. It's relatively flexible and thin for an aftermarket cable. I also chose to use an Oyaide rhodium plated plug (see here for a 3.5mm plug rundown) as it works great with portable devices such as a phone with a case on it due to the slim barrel.

Oyaide Rhodium Plug and Cardas wiring

The end of the wire is stripped revealing two 23.5 gauge conductors and a shield which will be used for the ground (also called return). You'll note the Oyaide connector has teensie-tiny soldering areas, so care is required to ensure there is no shorting of the left and right channels or melting of the dielectric.

Stripped Cardas Wiring

As you can see, the Cardas wire fits perfectly in the thin barrel of the Oyaide connector, no drilling or dremmeling was required. 

With the cable ready for installation, the Beyerdynamic cups would be opened. The pads are held on with a sticky tack that goes around the outer circumference. In my experience, they can be pulled off with a bit of force and reinstalled without losing the tackiness, although I'm sure if removed multiple times, they would need to be replaced, or some sort of double sided tape might need to be installed.

Examining the interior, the Tesla driver is hiding under this white plastic shell, so not quite as fancy as the interior of the T5p. The wiring attaches to a small solder board, which allows the ground to be split, and would potentially protect the driver solder pads if there was some major yanking on the wire.

Beyerdynamic DT1350 with driver exposed

Installing the Cardas wire requires the existing wire entry area to be Dremelled slightly to accomodate the larger cable. Holding it in place is a pair of miniature zip ties and epoxy to ensure that when the wire is pulled, it will not damage the solder joints inside the cup. Heatshrink is used to provide some additional strain relief. The wire is soldered to the solder pad that distributes the different channel signals and ground to each of the earcups. 

Note the soldering pad near the top of the cup

After the soldering work is complete, the driver is returned to its original position.

The tacky pad is replaced on the headphone cup and the recable is now complete. 

A complete DT1350 with Cardas cable

If you'd like to purchase a new pair of pads for the DT1350, Beyer offers original replacements (of course) and they have some suede-type pads which some people find more comfortable for longer listening sessions. That part number is 908363 and can be purchased from Beyerdynamic USA. 

Suede Pads from Beyerdynamic

The DT1350s come with a very nice traveler case, and the recabled version fits inside just fine. 

So after performing the recable, the DT1350 has what I would perceive to be a warmer and deeper sound signature. It doesn't rival the Amperiors or HD-25 aluminums for bass quantity, but it has a nice, palpable midrange and upper treble presentation that other headphones can't match. 

The Fine Print: The above steps detailing the recabling of a headphone are for entertainment purposes only, and not to be performed under any circumstances. The owner of this blog and all associated parties can not / will not be held responsible if you attempt the process posted and cause physical harm to yourself, your surroundings or your property. Please keep this in mind.

Beyerdynamic T5P Recable

Beyerdynamic is a family-owned audio equipment manufacturer based in Germany that produces headphones, microphones and wireless audio systems. The headphones produced by Beyer feature great build quality and the sound produced by their top-tier headphones is something the discerning audiophile can really appreciate. The DT770, DT880 and DT990 models are ideal choices for the listener on a budget, and if one likes what they hear, there are the pricier Tesla-based models that Beyer introduced over the last four or so years: the T1, T5p, T50p, T90 and T70.

Beyer's Tesla lineup

The Tesla nomenclature comes from the redesigned transducers that achieve efficiency values of over one Tesla, which is the unit of measurement for magnetic flux density. This provides the listener with nearly double the volume at the same input level as typical headphones. Also unique to the Tesla line are the drivers which are angled toward the listeners ear.

Today I'll be recabling the luxurious Beyer T5p. The T5p is effectively the mobile version of the T1 (The "p" standing for portable) and with it comes a few changes, including a short 4 foot cord and a 32 ohm impedance which can be driven easily from sources like the iPhone / iPod and other portable music players, and leather pads to help attenuate outside noise.

Beyerdynamic T5p

Something I've found with some Beyer headphones (especially the DT880 / 250ohm) is the upper-midrange can cause me ear fatigue over long listening sessions. This certainly doesn't affect everyone, but a few other people with sensitive ears have mentioned the same finding to me. I've found the best remedy for this is to recable the headphone with Cardas enameled copper wire, which effectively warms up the sound signature and subtly rolls off those frequencies which I personally find fatiguing.

Cardas copper wire

The first step is to braid the Cardas copper wire in a litz-braid. I've chosen three different colors in this case, red for right signal, blue for left signal and black for ground.

Braided Cardas wire

The cable is then sleeved with the soft black nylon multifilament sleeving. You'll notice below that electrical tape is over the ends of the wire, this prevents the small conductors from snagging the sleeving while they are fed through by hand. 

Sleeved with black nylon

Once the leather earpad and sealed ring are removed, that gives access to the driver housing. Note the angled driver in the photo below. 

The T5p angled driver

Take a look below at the beautifully machined Tesla driver housing, I've never seen anything like it. 

T5p Telsa driver backside

The existing wire and solder is removed. This is done using as low a temperature as possible as to not damage the delicate drivers. Next the Cardas wire is prepped. The Cardas wire is enameled, so it has to be either dipped in a solder pot or heated up with solder on the tip on an iron to tin it and remove the enamel. Once appropriately tinned, it is soldered in place. 

Cardas wire soldered in place

Once the wire is soldered in place, a stain relief system and adhesive is used to keep the wires in place (and helps prevent the tugged cable from yanking on the solder tabs). The headphone is then put back together with extra attention paid to the sealed ring (the seal is very important to the sound). Below is the completed product. 

Recabled T5p

The T5p has a incredibly clear, detailed and coherent sound signature. Color me impressed. I hope you enjoyed this post, if you'd like to have your headphones recabled, please contact Zynsonix for a quote. Since Beyerdynamic T1, T5p, T70 and T90 are all quite similar, the same mods /recables can be performed on all of them. Here is a Beyer T90 that has been recabled for balanced listening with dual XLRs.

Beyerdynamic T 90 balanced with dual XLRs

The Fine Print:

The above steps detailing the recabling of a headphone are for entertainment purposes only, and not to be performed under any circumstances. The owner of this blog and all associated parties can not / will not be held responsible if you attempt the process posted and cause physical harm to yourself, your surroundings or your property. Please keep this in mind.