Blue Dragon Cable V3 for AKG Headphones

AKG Connectors

This cable uses a single-entry 3-pin mini XLR connector. It is a common connector, used in a dual configuration for Audeze and Meze Audio. This cable is compatible with several headphones from AKG, Beyerdynamic, and Pioneer:

AKG

• K712 Pro
• K702
• Q701
• K271 MKii
• K240 MKii
• other AKG Studio

Beyerdynamic

• DT 1770 PRO
• DT 1990 PRO

Pioneer

• HDJ-2000MK2 Pro

Note: The K812 utilizes a special Lemo connection, not the 3-pin XLR.

Single-Ended Connections

Most single-entry headphones use a single-ended connector. While cables with balanced headphone connections may use balanced or single-ended amplifier connectors, this is not true of single-ended connections. Combining a balanced amplifier connector with a single-ended headphone connection can short the circuit and damage the amplifier. This is why the amplifier connections for this cable are limited to single-ended options.

Beware of single-ended to balanced adapters on Amazon. For balanced single-entry headphones, like the Oppo PM-3, contact us for a custom cable.

Cable Design

The Blue Dragon V3 Headphone Cable has been designed to match the Silver Dragon V3 Headphone cable, but with a high-purity copper conductor using the Ohno Continuous Casting Process. The Blue Dragon V3 Headphone Cable has the same geometry structure as the Silver Dragon V3 Headphone Cable, only it uses UP-OCC Single Crystal Copper conductors.

The Sennheiser HD600 has been one of the best phones for classical music because of the smoother, warmer sound. The HD600 is not as dark and laid back as the HD650, and so the neutrality of the Blue Dragon is the better fit for the HD600 signature. It is a great cable for a wide variety of music genres. If you are using a very warm tube amp and a forward headphone, the Blue Dragon is a good choice to keep the sound signature the same. The Blue Dragon V3 is also the most flexible of the full-size headphone cables and makes a good choice for headphones that use a single entry connection point, like the AKG K702 and many of the Ultrasone headphones.

With cables, the devil is in the details. I strongly suggest using cable makers with long years of experience and a good reputation. If you have headphones with a hard-wired stock cable and would like to have them replaced, again, it is very important to find a reputable supplier who is very familiar and competent with this type of work. I'll happily recommend Moon Audio as one such supplier."

Tyll Herstens, Innerfidelity.com, February 26, 2013.

We also use the Blue Dragon V3 Headphone Cable for the Ultrasone, Sony Qualia, AKG Pro Series, and any other headphone that uses a connector attachment system. This cable can also be hard-wired to Grado's, AKG, and Audio Technica headphones, too.

Cable Geometry

The Blue Dragon Headphone cable uses the same 4 x 24AWG Teflon-insulated stranded conductors using pure single crystallized UP-OCC pure copper with 7N purity 99.99998% as the main cable. Each conductor is made up of a special, varying-size stranding geometry. The copper stranding is mixed with Kevlar stranding to reinforce the conductor, making it stronger overall and less prone to failure due to the harsh, constant flexing a headphone cable receives. The conductors are then surrounded by cotton and then a layer of Teflon tape. The new version is now also shielded and placed in a polyethylene jacket for further protection. Version 3 is quieter than Version 2 with no microphonics. It is a balanced cable geometry that can be terminated for either a single-ended or a balanced configuration.

This cable can be configured in a variety of different ways. Please note that a single-ended signal connection can not be converted to a balanced signal connection. As the grounds are tied in the single-ended connector. Therefore, only pick this configuration if your amp has no single-ended connection outputs.