Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Shipping & Warranty
Where do you ship from?
All orders are shipped from Perth, Western Australia.
How long will my item take to deliver? (Australia)
Estimated delivery times within Australia is 1-4 business days.
How long will my item take to deliver? (International)
For International, the delivery times for NZ/USA/UK are 5-8 business days with complimentary shipping and 2-6 business days with Express International delivery. These dates are estimates only and may vary depending on your location.
When will my order ship?
We aim to despatch orders within 3 business days but it may take 5-10 business days or longer depending on the complexity of the product and order priority. To ensure we uphold our build quality & standards, some cables will require more attention and time than others to complete.
*Wholesale or custom/special orders may take 10-20 business days.
My tracking number isn't updating.
Tracking numbers can take up to 48 hours to update. Sometimes we will send you a shipping confirmation before it is handed to the courier. If you are concerned about your shipment please do not hesitate to contact us.
What does your warranty cover?
Our warranty covers any faults or defects to the functionality of the product for the entire duration of the warranty. Warranty does not cover cosmetic defects from wear and tears or damage from accidents or mishandling. Please see our warranty page for more details.
Do you charge VAT/sales tax?
No. Sales tax, VAT, GST, customs duties, and any additional fees/taxes are excluded and adjusted from the price for international orders.
I've Got A Problem!
My package is missing!
Please reach out to us as soon as possible by sending an email to sales@koalaaudiocables.com. We may be able to locate or replace your item.
Something is not right with my cable. What should I do?
- If you can, use a different cable of the same configuration to make sure it isn't your equipment that is causing the problem.
- If you are having problems with one of the channels, swap the left and right cables/connectors. If the problem persists on the same audio channel regardless of swapping the cables/connectors, then it is likely due to other faulty equipment and not the cable.
- If you are hearing static or buzzing noises, make sure you are not grounding balanced with single ended connections in your setup.
- Please contact us if none of the solutions listed here have worked.
I made a mistake when ordering. Can I cancel or make changes to my order?
Please contact us immediately if you wish to cancel or make changes to your order. If an order cancellation or change is requested after an item has been made we will charge a restocking/re-termination fee.
Do you offer cable re-termination or repair services?
Yes we do! Feel free to contact us anytime should you need to re-terminate or repair any incompatible or faulty cables.
Choosing The Right Cable
Balanced cable for headphones.
For headphones, we offer 4 options for a balanced headphone connection, 2.5mm, 4.4mm, 4-Pin XLR, and dual 3-Pin XLR.
If you have a digital audio player (DAP), we generally recommend a 4.4mm connection. 2.5mm if your device does not support 4.4mm.
For a balanced headphone amplifier, you can either go with 4.4mm, 4-Pin XLR, or dual 3-Pin XLR depending on your preference or whichever is compatible. 4-Pin XLR and dual 3-Pin XLRs are preferable if you are looking for a more robust and reliable connection and 4.4mm if you seek convenience or portability.
If you have a dual mono setup and you require completely separate channels from headphones to amplifiers the dual 3-Pin XLR would be our recommendation. Choosing this connection and any of our cables with two completely separated channels will provide you with full complete left and right channel isolation down to the shield and grounding.
What is the best cable length for my setup?
As a general guide, we often recommend a 3 metre cable for most living room setups. 1.5 to 2 metres for desktop setups. 1.25 metres for portable applications.
We offer custom lengths should you require a cable longer than 3 metres or of a specific length.
Sound, build, ergonomics.
We offer cables that offer both excellent build and sound. If you are looking for a cable with good ergonomics and build, our Elemental or Air cables will satisfy your requirements. We recommend the Air cables as it is the sweet spot between build quality and ergonomics. If you are unable to afford our cables, we have free headphone cables that are well built available on our Gratis page.
However, if you are seeking to enhance or fine tune your audio experience beyond ergonomics and build, our entire range of cables are perfectly designed for that. We have cables from warm to bright tonalities with different characteristics. The right sounding cable will depend on your preference and equipment.
You can get a deeper insight into each collection by viewing our ratings under the product descriptions to better understand the qualities each cable has to offer.
Balanced or single ended?
Whether you prefer balanced or single ended, it is the quality of the equipment that matters the most. A good sounding single ended setup can easily surpass a balanced one. Although a balanced setup provides lower noise floor (except for headphone amplifiers) in your setup, the differences are negligible with most situations. We believe there are bigger differences between different cables than between single ended and balanced setups.
We recommend sticking with the equipment which you are familiar with or enjoy the most. We would however always encourage a balanced setup if possible as most higher end equipment are designed for balanced connections.
Misconceptions & Expectations
Do I need to burn in my cables for better sound?
No.
How much of a sound difference do cables make?
It depends on a few factors from the quality of your equipment, source quality, length of cable, and even down to what you pay attention to when listening. The differences can be as subtle as adjusting the tracking force on your turntable to as obvious as upgrading an amplifier.
Do cables that cost more sound better?
Our cables are designed to impress, not just in sound but in aesthetics, build quality, and after-sales customer service. We do not use sound as a price determinant but they do oftentimes correlate.
The inside of my connectors are exposed and are not insulated. Is that normal?
Yes! The best dielectric we can achieve for a cable is air. We do not seal the terminations on purpose in order to avoid unwanted capacitance buildup around the solder joints. We will only seal them when we have to with more fragile connections to prevent shorting or to improve durability. The connections are adequately reinforced in other ways that do not negatively impact the build or signal quality.
Why is my headphone cable microphonic?
The biggest factor to microphonics on a straight cable are the headphones themselves. Some headphones are more prone to microphonics due to the way sockets are secured on to the frame of the headphone. When a cable is properly fastened to a connector, the cable becomes anchored to the connector. This results in mechanical vibrations a.k.a. microphonics being transferred from the cable to the connector and on to the driver. Headphones that require connectors with less components tends to pickup more mechanical noise from the cable, and when plugged in directly to a headphone made with minimal components, you get a highly unpleasant microphonic experience. The more individual components, twists, or coils there are between a cable and a driver, the less likely noise will be picked up by your headphones.
There are many ways to reduce noise from vibrations transferring from cable to headphone without compromising on aesthetics. One of which is by creating what we call an "unrestrained filler gap" between the connector and the rest of the cable. This method partially isolates the rest of the cable from the connectors by loosely suspending the filler material and outer sleeve of the cable whilst only securing the internal wires to the connector.
Another effective method of reducing microphonics is by lowering or removing entirely the filler material in the cable. This will result in a lighter cable with less vibrational mass but will be more prone to accidental damage due to its fragile nature. Braided cables are a good example of this, the twisting of the wires and the lack of filler material allows it to be less microphonic but they are fully exposed to your dog or cat with a hobby of chewing cables.
Both of these methods ultimately result in cables being weaker and more prone to damage from heavy use. Because of this, we have decided to compromise on microphonics and focus on build quality instead. Focusing on build quality allows us to properly and securely bind the ends of the cable by glueing, crimping, and waterproof wrapping the wires, filler, solder joint, and outer cable sleeve on to the connector.
However, we know microphonics can be extremely annoying and unpleasant to deal with especially in portable applications, hence the introduction of our Authentic and Elemental collection. The Authentic and Elemental cables are designed with minimal filler material, a 3D printed vibration absorbant polyolefin splitter(Authentic only) to reduce excess noise below the split, and properly secured connections allowing for the perfect compromise between microphonics and build quality. Our Authentic and Elemental cables are some of the least microphonic cables available.
How can I make my cable less microphonic?
The simplest way to reduce microphonics on your cable is by anchoring the cable on to something else. Anchoring the cable transfers the mechanical vibrations away from the headphones. This can be clipping the cable tightly onto your desk or resting the cable on a surface with a weighted object directly placed on top of it. Coiling part of the cable and tying them tightly together is another effective method if you do not wish to anchor the cable onto a surface. The more coils the better.