Comment by atoav

Soldering small stuff can sometimes be easier, because at that level surface tension will do the job for you. So hand soldering 14 pins on a small size TSSOP package can be faster than soldering a SOIC (through hole) package (google drag soldering — just be careful with that in certain parts of the US \s)

The hardest part with cables is to prepare the strands and keep them in place. For this you can build fixtures.