How-to: Change your headphone's minijack! (now w/videos)

[Baines93]

hi all, i have a fantastic set of sennheiser CX300's. I really like them, but i have a ZVM, with the earphone jack on the top, and my cans have a right angled plug, which i find causes problems when in my pocket. Anyway, i dont wanna upgrade them because im only young (14) and dont really know what type of "sound" i want, and mine arent fake. But im wondering, before i render the temporerily useless, whats the wire like inside them, fibres,paint,insulation,or transparent coating? As i only want to do it if they are not fibres or painted. Thanks in advance, Matt

[KjetilH]

The wires in the CX300 are so thin that I would be surprised if they were not painted.

Captain Ødegård, where did you buy your Neutrik plug? I'm not able to find a shop that ships to Norway, except for Elfa, but I am not paying 120NOK in order to get a plug that costs under 30.

[Andreas]

Yeah i know it sucks.... Had the same problem. Enter nyproaudio, an ebay seller who sells neutric plugs. Excellent service too. They charge about 20 dollars for 5 plugs and 12 dolalrs fos shipping, so if you order only that its about 200 NOK for 5 plugs, making it 40 a piece which is the elfa price without shipping. If you only need one, thats a bigger problem

[Walkguy]

headphones are so cheap now though!!
so why not just buy some new ones!!!
if they are old enough to start faulting then they are old enough to replace!!!

[Andreas]

If you headphones so cheap that replacing the minijack isnt worth it, you should consider upgrading

[Baines93]

Captain Ødegård:

i have seen your fake vs original, so you have ripped a pair open. what are the wires like in the cx300?? Thanks, Matt

[KjetilH]

Originally Posted by Walkguy

headphones are so cheap now though!!
so why not just buy some new ones!!!
if they are old enough to start faulting then they are old enough to replace!!!

It's more like I am buying a pair of headphones and trying to find a way of shortening the cable (or replacing it). Dragging 3 m. of cable around is not very cool, is it?

I looked at the eBay seller, but I do really only have use for one, maybe two, even with a lot of 5, that is a little too expensive. With a shipment cost of $12, I don't think it is worth ordering a single one either, though I gotta try if he could ship it cheaper.

[Andreas]

Originally Posted by Baines93

Captain Ødegård:

i have seen your fake vs original, so you have ripped a pair open. what are the wires like in the cx300?? Thanks, Matt

I havent made any such comparison, there is one somewhere around here by aardvark i believe, but i think he used photos from an ebay seller. If thats what you referred to, you should be able to see wheter or not its painted wires from those pics.

Originally Posted by KjetilH

It's more like I am buying a pair of headphones and trying to find a way of shortening the cable (or replacing it). Dragging 3 m. of cable around is not very cool, is it?

I looked at the eBay seller, but I do really only have use for one, maybe two, even with a lot of 5, that is a little too expensive. With a shipment cost of $12, I don't think it is worth ordering a single one either, though I gotta try if he could ship it cheaper.

torenym....?
If not, what headphones are you shortening?
Unfortunately there really is no other way to fix this.... Unless you live in Oslo where elfa is located :P Youll have to settle for those crappy jacks they have over here, and believe me, there's difference

[Baines93]

My bad, C-O, it was dftk or whatever hes called .

[KjetilH]

Baines93: Look at this eBay-auction, the seller has the pictures that Capt.etc. mentioned.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=200126069947

The headphone is a K518DJ, which I have not really bought yet, but the market of small closed headphones in the 500 NOK-class ($80) is very narrow. But maybe I should take that dilemma another place, if you don't have a suggestion another than the DT231.

[Andreas]

Originally Posted by KjetilH

Baines93: Look at this eBay-auction, the seller has the pictures that Capt.etc. mentioned.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=200126069947

The headphone is a K518DJ, which I have not really bought yet, but the market of small closed headphones in the 500 NOK-class ($80) is very narrow. But maybe I should take that dilemma another place, if you don't have a suggestion another than the DT231.

Some guy on diskusjon.no asked me about changing plugs for the dt231, thought it was you :P

[Baines93]

Thanks, i think they are not painted, i might attempt it....i jus dont wanna have a pair whic arent fake, with the jack cut off, and soldering i will find very hard to do.

[dedalus]

A little hot glue inside the housing will seal the job protecting against short circuits and oxidation, and strain somewhat. Using hot glue instead of epoxy allows you to reuse the terminal if need be.

[Raccoon]

Just wanted to share my experiences with the Sennheiser CX300.

I needed to change the plug since I accidentally bought the 2,5 mm type. Purchased a Neutrik plug at Conrad (can't remember the price but less than 2€ anyway) and a cheap soldering kit.

When cutting the cable, I left about 2cm on the "plug side". Using a multimeter I was able to determine the function of each cable by checking the resistance between the cable and the plug.

Don't forget to put on the plug cover before you continue (which I did, lol).

The cable consists of two smaller cables, and each of them contains two more cables (actually lots of small painted wires but I will refer to each of them as "a cable"). Recommend to peel the rubber off with your teeth.

The cables (in my case) were as follows (Sennheiser CX 300):

Cable 1: Red (right channel) and orange (ground).
Cable 2: Green (left channel) and red-green (ground).

To get the paint off, heat the cables up and "wipe" the color off using the soldering iron and whatever surface you are working on (in my case wood). You can see the paint coming off and leaving colored traces on the surface. This takes a few minutes so be patient. Also, leave some color at the "base" - helps you identify the cable by color and prevents short-curcuits.

Now, just put the two ground cables together and then make sure you put each cable correctly on the plug as on the first page in this thread. It is also recommended to check the phones now - before you solder.

My soldering skills are nothing to write home about so anyone should be able to do this.

Also, I repaired my good 'ol Koss The Plug - same procedure (similar cables) but different colors:

Cable 1: Red (right) and orange (ground).
Cable 2: Green (left) and red (ground).

Confusing with two red cables, I know.

Btw, a common problem is that the cover pushes the cables together and may cause short-curcuits. Make sure not to use to much solder and that that the left/right cables don't touch the ground. Btw, a metal casing is better than plastic for this reason (more stable).

Anyway, hope this information can be of any help.

[Noname33]

Fantastic! worked like a dream on my pos JVC Mallows, now I have a pair of backups. I had some problems with the left earphone for a bit but after re-soldering it worked like a dream Thanks for this btw!

[4saken]

Hey everyone. Planning to reterminate my 3metre cable, where could I buy neutrik plugs online (preferably shipping internationally, but I can use an import service if the plugs are cheap)?

Also, normally cables have this kind of plastic cone with slots in it to prevent/restrict excessive lateral movements in the cable (can't explain it, but you should know what I mean). Is this obsolete in neutrik plugs, or could I somehow add it?

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by 4saken

Hey everyone. Planning to reterminate my 3metre cable, where could I buy neutrik plugs online (preferably shipping internationally, but I can use an import service if the plugs are cheap)?

Also, normally cables have this kind of plastic cone with slots in it to prevent/restrict excessive lateral movements in the cable (can't explain it, but you should know what I mean). Is this obsolete in neutrik plugs, or could I somehow add it?

I use parts express for neutrik plugs, not sure if the ship abroad orders under $100.00. Also, I'm not sure what you are talking about, could it be heat shrink or expandable techflex sleeving?

[4saken]

It's something like heatshrink, but it restricts sideways movement in the cable so it doesn't snap off like iPod ones (eg. found on the low end Alessandro/Grado plugs)

I'm going to use markertek.com for the plugs and priceusa.com.au to import them. Costs me an additional 10 dollars for fees, but where else would I get them

[gregzx]

Thanks captain! Thats actually what I needed!

[coghlan]

I removed the mini-plug from my Sony NC headphones. Inside the main insulation there's a bare common wire and two tiny (sheathed) wires abour 0.5mm wide, with insulation that can be pulled off with a finger nail. Inside, there is a small fabric cord and about 10 tiny conductor strands that are tinted.

Should I just solder through the tinting or try to melt it off first? I don't want to screw up my $6 gold plug I just bought. I presume I should cut off the small cord above the solder point.