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DIY USB Headset for PC. Do you have an old XBox 1 Live puck and headset laying around? Does your local resale shop or friend have one you could aquire? Repurpose that old communicator as a USB headset for Windows!
Supplies needed:
Xbox Live Communicator 'Puck' that used to fit inside of the controller
An old USB cable that you can cut up
Soldering iron
Windows XP 32bit, Sorry, there are no drivers for XBox1 communicator under Vista.
Xbox Headset Drivers (thanks redcl0ud!)
Optional parts if you want to make it work with a 360 headset:
Dremel or side cutters to remove plastic
Xbox360 Headset (20 dollars)
You can also use a headset for an old cell phone if you like, most 3 conductor ones will work with no modification.
Background:
The XBox 1 controller was a USB device with a built in 2 port USB hub. You could put accessories in the 2 slots, one of which was the Live Communicator puck. A cool guy named RedCl0ud made Windows drivers for the controller, and sound drivers for Communicator puck too. The sound quality of the USB adapter is excellent and well suited for VOIP or Teamspeak. For a while I used to have the controller with the puck in it and used it that way with the PC, but it was kind of a mess having all of those wires and a big controller I wasn't using laying on the desk. So in this instructable, we eliminate the need for the controller's proprietary jack and install a USB cable directly to the puck. Optionally, you can remove the plastic around the jack as I did so you can use a 360 headset without modification. I find the 360 headset is immensely more comfortable compared to the original XBox1 headset, and doesn't break so easy! However, you are free to use any mic of your choosing, as long as it has the mini 2.5mm jack on it like a cell phone headset.
You can also use any communicator that originally worked with the XBox1, including aftermarket like the Logitech wireless unit. The drivers should work with all variants.
Supplies needed:
Xbox Live Communicator 'Puck' that used to fit inside of the controller
An old USB cable that you can cut up
Soldering iron
Windows XP 32bit, Sorry, there are no drivers for XBox1 communicator under Vista.
Xbox Headset Drivers (thanks redcl0ud!)
Optional parts if you want to make it work with a 360 headset:
Dremel or side cutters to remove plastic
Xbox360 Headset (20 dollars)
You can also use a headset for an old cell phone if you like, most 3 conductor ones will work with no modification.
Background:
The XBox 1 controller was a USB device with a built in 2 port USB hub. You could put accessories in the 2 slots, one of which was the Live Communicator puck. A cool guy named RedCl0ud made Windows drivers for the controller, and sound drivers for Communicator puck too. The sound quality of the USB adapter is excellent and well suited for VOIP or Teamspeak. For a while I used to have the controller with the puck in it and used it that way with the PC, but it was kind of a mess having all of those wires and a big controller I wasn't using laying on the desk. So in this instructable, we eliminate the need for the controller's proprietary jack and install a USB cable directly to the puck. Optionally, you can remove the plastic around the jack as I did so you can use a 360 headset without modification. I find the 360 headset is immensely more comfortable compared to the original XBox1 headset, and doesn't break so easy! However, you are free to use any mic of your choosing, as long as it has the mini 2.5mm jack on it like a cell phone headset.
You can also use any communicator that originally worked with the XBox1, including aftermarket like the Logitech wireless unit. The drivers should work with all variants.
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Signing UpStep 1Attaching the USB Cable
To start off, we need to solder the USB cable to the puck.
1) Remove the two screws on the back of the puck and pop it apart.
2) Carefully bend the proprietary jack up and down until it breaks off. Be careful not to rip the pads off of the PCB! (if you do this, you may be able to use the Test Points under the board as alternate solder locations)
3) Heat up the terminals with the iron and remove the broken bits from the last step.
4) Cut the end off of your spare USB cable. You should cut off the end that DOESN'T go into your computer. :)
5) Strip off 1 inch of outer insulation. If your USB cable has a braided shield you can either get fancy and put it in tape or insulated tubing like I did, or just cut it off. Strip off a cm of insulation from the colored wires and tin them with your iron and solder.
6) Solder the wires to the puck like in the picture. If you have a shield, it could go with the black cable on the first pin, or you could cut it off if you want.
7) Put tape on the USB cable where you cut the outside insulation off. This prevents the braid from shorting out on the board if you run the wire out the side.
8) If you want, you can make a small notch in the two parts of the case for the wire to come out. If you run it out of the bottom, it doesn't have a very good stress relief and it might break one day and short out on you!
All done! If everything went well, the LED should turn on and windows will detect it as an unknown device when you plug it in.
Be very careful with the wiring. If you do not have colors on your USB cable, try to use the pinout diagram below to figure out which wire is which with an Ohm Meter or Multimeter. It is ok to accidentally reverse the D+ and D- wires, you can change them back when it doesn't work. However if you reverse the power wires, you may let the magical smoke escape and fry your USB port or the puck.
1) Remove the two screws on the back of the puck and pop it apart.
2) Carefully bend the proprietary jack up and down until it breaks off. Be careful not to rip the pads off of the PCB! (if you do this, you may be able to use the Test Points under the board as alternate solder locations)
3) Heat up the terminals with the iron and remove the broken bits from the last step.
4) Cut the end off of your spare USB cable. You should cut off the end that DOESN'T go into your computer. :)
5) Strip off 1 inch of outer insulation. If your USB cable has a braided shield you can either get fancy and put it in tape or insulated tubing like I did, or just cut it off. Strip off a cm of insulation from the colored wires and tin them with your iron and solder.
6) Solder the wires to the puck like in the picture. If you have a shield, it could go with the black cable on the first pin, or you could cut it off if you want.
7) Put tape on the USB cable where you cut the outside insulation off. This prevents the braid from shorting out on the board if you run the wire out the side.
8) If you want, you can make a small notch in the two parts of the case for the wire to come out. If you run it out of the bottom, it doesn't have a very good stress relief and it might break one day and short out on you!
All done! If everything went well, the LED should turn on and windows will detect it as an unknown device when you plug it in.
Be very careful with the wiring. If you do not have colors on your USB cable, try to use the pinout diagram below to figure out which wire is which with an Ohm Meter or Multimeter. It is ok to accidentally reverse the D+ and D- wires, you can change them back when it doesn't work. However if you reverse the power wires, you may let the magical smoke escape and fry your USB port or the puck.
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http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=dseo
to use it you must disable uac inside of win 7. when you run the program you must do as administrator. right click run as admin.
i hope this works for you. I am about to try myself to to see if it works. I am also using windows 7 64 bit. I know your pain about finding things with full support. i will let you know if it works.
But this device has no chance of working in a 64 bit OS with 32 bit drivers.
You'll notice that DustSeven7 gave you instructions but said at the end that he hasn't verified they work. I would not waste your time trying to get 32 bit drivers to work if you have a 64 bit OS, it is just impossible for that to work. :(
See here if you don't believe me: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/32-bit-and-64-bit-windows-frequently-asked-questions
Sorry this Ible has become pretty useless now that XP is so old and people have stopped using it. I know I stopped using it a few years ago. If I could compile new drivers for it I would, because the sound quality on this thing is much better than the newer 360 controllers.
if not then it would be in windows\sysWOW64\Driver\xbaudio.sys
Reinstall the good ol' XP =D
But, please correct me, isn't a compatibility mode on Vista?
Ever tried this?
See this thread for what I mean: http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37582