Broken headphones (re-broke)

[machineman9]

I have some USB headphones (I shall get onto that point later) and as of recent the sound has been cutting out and it seems to be the wires as I have found about 3 head positions where sound works and otherwise it is either very crackly or extremely hard to hear.

Is it possible to repair the connections to make sound work again? Has anyone tried it?

Is is possible to re-wire it so that is uses a 3.5mm jack over USB? I have few USBs left as it is, and it requires drivers to operate and I hear 3.5mm is just generally the better option- I would only be loosing the on-cable fob which controls volume... though it does have a microphone.


They are These headphones


Cheers

[Groundbound1]

At what point on the leads are you finding the "good spots"? The bad thing is that wired headphones have wires, and wires are made of metal. We all know that if you bend a piece of metal enough, it will break. This is likely what has happend. Your ability to fix it (if no warranty is possible) depends mostly on the location of the lost connection, and your ability to solder and splice. I've done it many times on standard (not USB) sets, usually at the driver itself, and it usually works out ok.

As far as modifying it to use a 3.5mm jack instead of USB, I really can't say. Along with loosing the fob controls, I think you would also need to wire a seperate jack for the mic as well.

[machineman9]

It is hard to say where the good spot is... if I bring the wire under my chin to the other ear it usually works.

I have some skill with soldering and have done a fair few USB-type thinness wires, with some working and some failing results.

[Fozzer]

Its going to look like a Pig's ear of a job afterwards....but...

Plug the Phones in with the sound on.
with both hands, bend/wriggle the wire slowly, inch by inch, down its length until you get to the place where the sound fails.
Thats where the break will be.
Carefully open the outer sheath of the cable with a sharp knife/side cutters, to expose the inner sheathed wires.
Pull each sheathed wire in turn, the wire which feels like pulling a piece of elastic, is the wire which is broken.
Cut the insulation on that wire and solder the ends together again.
wrap insulating tape round the join.
Tape up the the repaired section again and test...

viola...a bit of a mess...but fixed.......!

Alternative...
Get your Dad to fix it for you....they are good at such things...generally... ...!

Paul...A fixer of most things... 8-)...!

[machineman9]

Bah... the papa is downstairs making a lovely roast lamb, it just wouldn't be right to disturb  ;)

I scratched off some of the wire (after removing the case) and it is a huge jungle of wires... I expected your usual 4 (for it being USB) but it is more like 8  :-/   It seemed too risky to go messing around with them, so I came up with a different solution:

I drilled a new hole in the case so that instead of the wires bending at their current point, they remain straight for longer and then bend further down. I have temporarily selootatped it whilst some wood glue I applied in there to keep the wires straight has dried (wood glue was the first thing I could find, and because it is made out of wood it will not conduct electricity  ;D )
^^^ Joke intended ^^^
Though it is a bit worrying how there is masking tape holding and apparently insulating the wires inside the actual speaker mounts. Oh well, I am sure it is meant to be there  ;D

[Fozzer]

It's like most things which are broken, Machine...

You have the choice of either to sit down quietly, and decide to fix it...

...or throw it away and buy a new one...

My first choice (as a fixer) is to try and fix it first...much more fun and satisfaction... ... ...!

Paul....Electrical and Mechanical Engineer... 8-)...!

Your other suggestion of replacing the USB Plug with 2 X 3.5mm Jack plugs requires having a PCI Sound Card, or on-board Sound Chip, with Headphone and Mic

[machineman9]

Well it would be perfect as I have a headphone and microphone jack straight there on the front of the tower...

My only problem is that there are so many wires which look extremely weak and that I don't know what they do either... Which is the makings for much muckup.


If the worst comes to the worst then I will chuck them (after stealing the speaker component  ;) ) as I too like to try and fix and then resort to the 'out of sight, out of mind' way of life when it just does less than before  :P

[Fozzer]

I reckon with the Mic/Headphone set you have got there, you have no choice but to retain the USB connection.

A cheap Mic/Headphone set with separate 3.5mm Jack Plugs for on line Teamspeak will cost

[machineman9]

It could be worth a look if this doesn't work.

The only problem is that these headphones have really great sound quality, so if possible I would like to keep that for atleast a few more months.

[machineman9]

Haha... first tests show that my headphones are working properly. Wiggling the wire, tilting my head and all that is no longer affecting the sound quality.

Solution: Drill new hole, move wires along to it (removing about 2-3cm off of the USB length... but it is like 1 or 2 metres anyway), glue and sellotape wires into place and then put back together.

Much better than spending my precious Gorillaz album money  ;D

Hope you enjoyed your dinner aswell, Paul.

[Fozzer]

[quote]Haha... first tests show that my headphones are working properly. Wiggling the wire, tilting my head and all that is no longer affecting the sound quality.

Solution: Drill new hole, move wires along to it (removing about 2-3cm off of the USB length... but it is like 1 or 2 metres anyway), glue and sellotape wires into place and then put back together.

Much better than spending my precious Gorillaz album money

[machineman9]

Bloody terrible things... broken already. Skip them... I will hunt for a better pair. I might try and earn myself