Pure Silver Mini to Mini Cable

A short mini to mini cable cable can be very handy when connecting a portable audio player to a portable amplifier. In some cases it's worthwhile to use a digital audio output, but not all portable devices offer this, so the venerable 3.5mm mini to mini will work perfectly well. In this particular post, I will be assembling a mini to mini cable using Cardas 5N (99.999% pure) silver wire and a pair of Neutrik mini connectors, the Neutrik NYS-231 BG to be exact. The B in the nomenclature stands for the black shell, and the G stands for gold contacts. This particular connector is chosen over the Switchcraft 35HD and the Canare F12 as the body is smaller and more easily fits on the face plate of portable amplifiers. You'll notice below that the connectors come in three parts, the connector piece with solder tabs, a barrel and a small tube that acts as a dielectric so the left and right solder joints do not short to the barrel, which is connected to ground.

A pair of Neutrik NYS-231BG

You may notice that the barrel inlets are rather small and not completely ideal for thicker sleeved cable. Because of this, I dremeled out the barrel inlet to create a larger opening. 

Barrels dremeled for larger diameter cable

Once this is complete, it is necessary to sand or file the rough areas so they don't grind up against the wire during use. Once the barrels are prepared, the solder tabs should be identified with a multimeter. In this case, the shorter leg A is the left signal (aka tip), the longer leg B is the right signal (aka ring), and C is ground (aka sleeve). 

Pinout of the Neutrik mini connector

As mentioned above, this cable will be using solid silver wire from Cardas. This wire will be sleeved with Teflon (PTFE) tubing. 

Cardas silver wire and Teflon tubing

Each wire is trimmed to the appropriate length and the Teflon tubing is then slipped over top. The Teflon acts as a dielectric and prevents the strands (aka conductors) from shorting to one another. It's a very good idea to get Teflon that's for a larger gauge than the wire you are using so it slips over it easily. In this case, 24 gauge silver is covered with 22 gauge Teflon.

Silver wire sleeved with Teflon

The three wires are braided together and soldered to the Neutrik connector. It's important for the Teflon tubing to go right up to the solder taps to prevent shorting.

Silver wire soldered to the Neutrik connector

Next comes the black nylon multifilament sleeving made by Techflex. This is 3/16" size, cut to length using a hot knife from Partsexpress. The hot knife prevents fraying at the ends by slightly melting where it cuts. Also note the dielectric material is slid in place before the barrel is screwed on. 

Black Nylon Multifilament

The barrel can then be screwed in place, and the other Neutrik connector installed the exact same way. In the photos below, 1/2" heat shrink is slipped over the barrels to provide additional strain relief and to offer the feel of a "rubberized"-type layer.  

Completed mini to mini cable

This can now be the connection between a portable audio player and a portable amp and not take up much real estate at all. Thanks for taking them time to read this post. If you are interested in purchasing a completed mini to mini cable, please contact Zynsonix.com.

For more pure silver goodness, check out a previous post detailing the build of pure silver interconnects. 

The Fine Print:
The above steps detailing the building of a cable 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.

Silver Plated Copper Mini to RCA Cable

We've all been in that position when we want to plug our iPod / MP3 player / PCDP or other portable device into our home stereo. Today's smartphones let you stream music from your computer, radio stations and services like Pandora straight through the web; it's tough to disregard all this utility and flexibility when compared to something like the single disc CD player plugged into your rig. In today's blog, I will be constructing a simple but excellent sounding mini to RCA cable that can bring all those modern features to your home amplifier.

A mini connector, also known as a 1/8" or 3.5mm TRS (Tip, Ring, Sleeve) is the de facto standard for portable headphone connections and has been around since the mid 20th century, being used with earpieces on transistor radios. The original 1/4" version dates all the way back to 1878 (!) and was used for telephone switchboards.  This mini connector is connected to a braid of wires that then convert to a left and right RCA connection. RCA connectors were designed in the 1940s to connect phonographs to amplifiers. It's a mild curiosity why the industry is still using such an age-old connector designs. More modern and esoteric designs like the iBasso Toucan and Ray Samuels SR-71B make use of unique balanced connectors such as the 6 pin Hirose and 4 pin Protector, designs that will likely never make it to mainstream audio equipment, but it's nice to see the designers offering these options.

I'll be starting this mini to RCA cable by trimming four strands of equally long wire in preparation for braiding. I'm choosing silver plated copper in Teflon as it has nice sonic properties and is relatively inexpensive compared to boutique audio wire. Silver plated copper (SPC, as I call it) in Teflon is offered by companies such as Belden and can sometimes be found as military surplus (mil-spec). Not all SPC is created equal, and you'll want to be sure you're getting silver plated copper and not tin plated copper. SPC is discussed in more detail in my post describing custom made SPC Speaker Cables.

Four Strands of Silver Plated Copper in Teflon

Once the wire is laid out, the strands are braided into a formation of four wires so that the cable maintains the same EMI/RFI rejecting geometry all the way across the length of the cable. Do note that one needs to cut the wire a little longer than necessary as a few inches of length will be lost in the braiding process. 

A nice, tight litz braid leading to two twisted pairs

Once the braiding is complete, the wire is fed into a sleeve of soft black nylon multifilament. This gives the finished product an attractive look. Nylon sleeving can also help negate microphonics in headphone cables. At the Y-split, I melt the multifilament together to ensure that it does not separate when pulled or tugged. A Y-split is also added with multiple layers of adhesive heatshrink. You can see an another take on a Y-split in my custom AKG K1000 cable post.

The sleeved cable with Y-Split

RCA connectors will now be added to the two twisted pairs of wires. Some sleek-looking chrome plated RCAs were selected for this particular cable, but I will typically use Canare F-09 or Switchcraft 3502 series gold plated RCAs as I have found them both to be well-built and reasonably priced. 

Chrome RCAs attached

Next comes the mini to mini connector. I almost exclusively use Switchcraft 35HD series connectors. They are made in the USA, sturdy, and not too large. The Canare F-12 minis are nicely made, but the barrel is very large compared to other connectors. If one needs a plug that's physically smaller than the Switchcraft, the Neutrik NYS231 will fit the bill. It's about a quarter of the price of the Switchcraft but doesn't seem quite as solid in my humble opinion.


The Switchcraft connector has a small piece of metal on the ground connection that I personally don't use, so it's trimmed off with metal snips. Once the soldering connections are made, all connectors are tested for continuity and shorts using a multimeter. They are then isolated with heatshrink as an added precaution to prevent shorting. The crimp on the ground connection holds both the wire and sleeving in place and prevents strain on the soldered connections.  

Switchcraft mini connector attached

As an added strain relief, a piece of 1/4" polyolefin black heatshrink secures the sleeve to the ground crimp.

Added heatshrink as a strain relief

The barrel is now screwed onto the Switchcraft mini connector and that completes the mini to RCA cable.  

The finished mini to RCA cable

I hope you enjoyed this step-by-step walk-through. If you are interested in purchasing a custom, hand made mini to RCA cable, they are more affordable than you think, and are available from Zynsonix.com