Maker Pro
Maker Pro

Modifying headset

icehowler

May 31, 2012
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I see 2 green and 6 red, is this correct?

My assumption and educated guess is that the greens are a common ground, the banks of three reds are front, center and rear channels one bank is left one bank is right...

Something like the attached, but this is only a GUESS you would need to verify the connections at the speakers...

Ye.. I think you are right :) Just.. the left cable has some green dots (I don't know why).
 
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CocaCola

Apr 7, 2012
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What you see is 4 insulators, no telling what's inside ;)

I HATE suggesting this, but if you are serious, MARK all the wires at the PCB so you don't lose track of them and unsolder them all... Did you MARK them so you can reattach in the proper order? Again I'm going to verify that you marked the wires BEFORE you unsoldered them?

OK once they are disconnected from the circuit board we are going to do a poormans hillbilly test... Get an AA or AAA battery... Take one red wire and one green wire and for a brief moment attach them to the battery, green wire to negative and red to positive... Brief moment just a tap, OK? This should make a single speaker 'pop' do this for all the wires so that you can map them all out to the appropriate speaks... If no pop use the other green as I suspect one is left side the other is right...

Once you have them all mapped out using the diagrams CDRIVE and I posted you can implement the mod...
 
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icehowler

May 31, 2012
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So I need to buy 6 jacks first (3 for plugs and 3 to plug them in). Do they have some special name?
 

CocaCola

Apr 7, 2012
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Phono jacks... Make sure you get the stereo versions! NOT MONO!

If you are in the US they are traditionally called 1/8" jacks...

Just be aware that it's not a hard mod but it might be a little daunting for a newbie, you need to take it slow and pay attention...
 

CocaCola

Apr 7, 2012
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No those are all RCA style jacks...

You want these...

MALE http://www.germanelectronics.ro/conrad.php?name=Products&pid=731480

FEMALE http://www.germanelectronics.ro/conrad.php?name=Products&pid=738360

If there is enough room inside the headphones you might be able to use these...

FEMALE http://www.germanelectronics.ro/conrad.php?name=Products&pid=738593

And you are going to want a cable like this...

http://www.germanelectronics.ro/conrad.php?name=Products&pid=325061

To interface with an iPod or other stereo 3.5mm jack output...
 

icehowler

May 31, 2012
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Oh I got it :) do I need any special device to connect the cables on those connectors? Or I can connect them by hand?
 

icehowler

May 31, 2012
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And if I understand it right.. The father connectors will be on the sound card side and the mother connectors will be on the speakers side. So when I want digital (USB) I will connect them and when I want to plug them on 3.5 I will use the cable with one of those mother connectors and phone. Does this mean only 2 from 6 speakers will be active and I will need to split (if possible) to all 3 mother connectors?
 

CDRIVE

Hauling 10' pipe on a Trek Shift3
May 8, 2012
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Oops, I see that I really didn't grasp what you wanted to do. I missed the IPod thing. Thanks to CocaCola for reversing my schematic.

BTW, I don't see any need to disassemble the headset. CocaCola gave a good description of Red Neck ringing out of the cable, and that's all you need to do.

Chris
 

CocaCola

Apr 7, 2012
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Oh I got it :) do I need any special device to connect the cables on those connectors? Or I can connect them by hand?

You will need a soldering iron...

And if I understand it right.. The father connectors will be on the sound card side and the mother connectors will be on the speakers side.

Yes

So when I want digital (USB) I will connect them and when I want to plug them on 3.5 I will use the cable with one of those mother connectors and phone.

That is the basics of it...

Does this mean only 2 from 6 speakers will be active and I will need to split (if possible) to all 3 mother connectors?

Yes it would only use the center channel speakers, splitting to the other speakers could have adverse effects, that is why I suggest you only keep it to the two speakers... When you start wiring speakers in series or parallel you start to mess with the impedance and that can put an undo stress on the device driving them, even causing damage, using one speaker minimizes the chance of damage... That is unless you can identify the ratings of all the speakers then you could develop a wiring scheme that wouldn't knock the impedance out of ordinary range...
 

CocaCola

Apr 7, 2012
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CocaCola gave a good description of Red Neck ringing out of the cable, and that's all you need to do.

Even though it's hillbilly, it's actually how most techs will test speakers in the field, every home and even car audio installers I have ever met carries a 9 volt in the toolbox to 'pop' speakers and verify the install locations...
 

CocaCola

Apr 7, 2012
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Something like this? I am sorry or romanian links :-s but I think you know what devices are from the pictures.


No, something like this...

http://www.shopmania.ro/bricolaj/p-statie-de-lipit-analog-basetech-zd-99-48-w-11674804

http://www.shopmania.ro/bricolaj/p-aparat-lipire-20-130w-230vac-8315327

There are probably other options but like you hinted, it's all foreign to me :)

BTW, you don't need a heavy duty wand, the low wattage ones will work fine for this application... The adjustable station is a good investment though if you want to continue doing stuff...
 

CocaCola

Apr 7, 2012
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And of course you are going to need solder as well, and you should pick up some flux...

And if all possible since you are newbie, find someone local that has some soldering experience and can guide you or watch a bunch of online videos at the least...
 

CocaCola

Apr 7, 2012
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I thought I knew why you reversed my con/plug arrangement but after looking at this again it eludes me. If the plug is on the headset, as i had them, there would be no need for the extra male to male adapter to plug into the IPod, or am I still missing something?

Chris

Correct in theory if you made the leads long enough so that it could connect to the iPod say on your waste or in your hand... Also doing it like I did allow you to use three male to male cables and get full 5.1 from devices that support it like some computer sound cards... Again you could have kept it like you did but that would require long cords to be installed on the headset itself... Reversing them allow for short leads to be installed on the headset, and a cleaner finish when using it in USB mode, more so an esthetics thing...
 

CDRIVE

Hauling 10' pipe on a Trek Shift3
May 8, 2012
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Yes, I thought his arrangement was Headset------------------ long audio cable -------------------------USB Module -----------long USB cable----------------USB plug. More like a Laptop power pack arrangement where the cord is fairly long from the PC before it reaches the power pack. If it was he'd be able plug into just about any 1/8th jack. I guess it's not though..

Thanks for the enlightenment.

Chris
 

icehowler

May 31, 2012
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Thank you both for your help :) I think my dad has a device like that and I will ask him to aid me. And I need to buy those connectors. I will verify the headset cables with a battery today / tomorrow and inform you the results :)
 
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