USB Headphone Hack!

OK. Before we get started, let me say this: I KNOW about impedences in different audio devices (guitars, XLR microphones, etc.), and by electronic standards, this DIY SEEMS as if it SHOULDN'T work very well. It does, however the exact opposite, and works very very well, especially considering the ease of implementation and the quality of sound recording! Perhaps one of you EE types can illuminate on this and my theory as to why it DOES work.

That being said, I present to you the USB Headphone Hack!

Step 1 What We'll Do

The original idea was much more complicated than this, but I decided to try this out first as it would be easier for the majority of people who wanted to try it. The addendum (last step) will have my full idea (which I'm DEFINITELY doing =) for those who wish to try a slighty more compicated hack.

Basically, we will be attaching a 1/4" mono jack to the microphone input pads on the controller PCB to allow connection and recording of just about anything that uses that type of jack, including guitars, bases, microphones, etc.

Take a 1/4" female jack cord and cut the wires above the jack, leaving about 1-2". Strip about 1/2" of the covering, twist together the braided shield, then strip about 1/8" of the single wire inside. Tin these with solder if you desire to do so at this stage.

Comments

[kronner]

Great idea, I also find PC-Audio inputs dissatisfying. But you could save yourself a lot of work, if you just buy a "usb soundcard" over the Internet. Which is basically like what just built - only without the hassle of soldering & ready out of the box!

[maty314]

first of all, i m a electronic student and i think this was a great instructable. kronner, man you are a consumerist, this page is instructables the idea here is to Do It Yourself, obviously it´s easier to buy it, but then you earn no experience! neither the pleasure of say i am the one who made it :B haha

[cliffyd]

Yes I totally agree. I would rather make something like this than buy it, even if it only costs $5.00. People who just find it easier to purchase shouldn't be here. I just hacked a laptop hard drive with no case to work for my WII. Obviously it would have been easier to order an external case off ebay but where's the fun in that?

[nabsol]

is that a soldering iron

[snoop911]

My cellphone uses an enhanced mini usb plug (emu?) , which has the same form factor as the 5 pin mini-b usb connector, but contains 10 pins. I'd rather not hack up the only headphones I have for it, but I haven't been able anywhere that sells something with an EMU connectoron on end!

[dyermaker8]

DUDE! This is an awesome hack/Instructable,. we need to try to get it to featured status. I have a sneaking suspension this will give as good a quality as any of the cheaper USB audio interfaces available for easily half the price. I would like to offer some possible additions however. On the recording you posted there was obvious background noise,. which should not exist when you are plugged straight in with your instrument. I'm guessing this is because you left the headset mic wired in parallel to the input jack. The outcome of this setup is that when you turn up you mic volume in the software not only does it raise the volume of the instrument,. its raising the volume of the headset mic as well, to the point your picking up useless ambient noise. One workaround here is to use a stereo input jack as a switch. When placed inline with the mic it will effectivly disable the mic when an instrument is plugged in. Another would be to place an actual SPST switch inline with on of the headset mic wires allowing you to turn it on and off. Doing it thisway will allow you to use the headset as a vocal mic while your recording the instrument at the same time. Although you would probably also want an inline level control as well. At this point setting up a breakout box starts to become appealing. It would allow you to have multiple outputs each with there own level adjustments. You could also put in a headphone jack, which would be nice because the headphones on these USB headsets are far from "quality". Thanks again for the great idea!!!

[chinmoy1955]

This project sounds a little like killing a mosquito with a gun! Why go for a USB headphone set and then pry it open and cut wires and solder them to the 1/4 inch jacks (I forgot the filing bit to allow for the thicker wires) and then keep the headsets hanging in mid air while you plug in a guitar into the jack? It is a mindless excercise; I have an alternative suggestion, which I am sure will be cheaper and neater. Just go out and buy an external USB sound adapter (these are approximately the size of a USB pen drive). It will definitely be cheaper since it does not have any headphones attached to it. Now buy a 3.5mm to 6.35mm adapter and plug the 3.5mm plug into the USB sound card input and your guitar or whatever you have into the 6.35mm jack. Thats it. Of course do not forget to plug in the sound adapter into a USB port in your PC! You shall have all the benefits of the above hack without hacking.

[cody777]

hacking is more fun i could have bought a cheap bar code reader but i did this
http://www.instructables.com/id/decrypt-the-cue-cat/

[cyrozap]

agreed.

[MerleCorey]

this is nifty and creative aproach to getting stuff recorded. HOWEVER-i wouldnt recomend it if you are planning on getting good sound quality, mind you--my idea of good sound quality is different than yours-- and on impedence...well a quarter inch will work like a guitar, or bass but xlr with an impedence adapter will be even less quality sound, an adapter is just more junk on the signal chain. If you are a true home recording enthusiast go spend 100 dollars and get you a used firepod or other imput device, and try to stay away from usb to 1/4 inch cables as i have found them to seriously chop up the sound of my good guitars. i use an inspire gt--cheap small and four tracks on firewire..if you are just looking to get something recorded so you dont forget it and you dont worry about sound quality, then go ahead and hack away--but you could also just use a tape recorder... although with the rise in popularity of mp3's (they sound terrible) i can see tons of people using something like this with audacity and what not-- dont try and post this on gear sluts cause they will talk shite to you ... its still cool.

[Sagewah]

Actually, if you got a bit of money to splash around, you may as well lash out on something like the zoom multi effects units which have a usb interface as standard. The fancier models even let you set up and store your patches via usb...

[cornflaker]

Probably just my setup, but my onboard audio is much better than the sound from my USB headset, I do have a new motherboard though with HD sound (but that has been out for a while now)

[CyberBill]

I'm a little confused, why not just use a 3.5mm to 1/4" adapter? They have them at Radioshack for under $5 and you dont need to make any modifications to the USB device.

[llittlepage]

There is no 3.5mm jack only a USB plug. Everything else is hard wired into the control box.

[CyberBill]

Oh, sorry! I was assuming that since the "USB Sound Card" had all of the internal hookups for a microphone input that it actually had a standard 3.5mm plug for it as well. :)

[llittlepage]

No problem. You are correct in that a sound card has the capability of recording digital signals from an analog source. One just needs the proper plug or adapter for the sound card input jack. But if a computer doesn't have a sound card (not the case these days), the USB microphone is an excellent alternative. Also, the way I'm understanding the article is that the headset plugs directly into a standard USB port and not into a special USB sound card. ;-)

[DIY Dave]

Does anyone know how to make a usb mic with a peizo. I don't care if it sounds perfect but I want it to be very compact.

[jpvideo]

Great instructable, there are definitely alot of uses for this..

[torval]

Whoa, nice job man... That'll save some money. Not that i'll do this but if i ever do get into guitars or do any of those things i'll come looking for this again. Again, nice job

[babblin5]

Thank you! I was actually shocked at how well this DID work without going full-bore on it like I mentioned in the last steps =)