Introduction: Modify XRocker Game Chair for USB Audio!

By Alex
About: I'm a admin at custom-siri.tk and have a huge interest in electronics and hacking things.

this is my first instructable!

so, i was fed up of the jacks in my xrocker chair breaking and only giving me mono audio. i had tried replacing them with brand new ones only to have them break on me a month or so later. so i said to myself what plug is simple, reliable, can be extended easily and i have lots of.... USB! so i set out to fix my chair with the wonders that is the USB port!

this can be done relatively easily with a little soldering knowledge, some patience!

(has been tested with cables over 2m in length!

Disclaimer!
i am not responsable for your actions. if YOU mess up following these instructions. it is entirely your fault and i take 0% responsibility.

now we got that over, lets continue!

Step 1: Open That Baby Up!

ok, i didn't really take any pics at this point but i can explain it!

you must remove the amplifiyer in the chair. there is 5 screws holding it in place. simply undo these and it will slide out.

now there will be two small wires doing to the speakers at the back. give em a tug and they will just come out.

put it face down and there will be two holes at either side. there are two screws down these holes and they are quite deep. use a long + screwdrive to take them out.

after this there will be two small tabs on the lower side stick a small screw driver in one and give it a yank and the other one will pop out. then just slide it off...

to take the faceplate off, you will need to undo some screws on the power button and the light bit. and take the volume handles and small bolts underneath off.

Step 2: Finding Where to Solder...

the image says it all. i used a multimeter and a headphone jack to find the points on the board.

simply solder 3 wires CAREFULLY! to these points.

(please note my board was already messed up a little during manufacture or summin thats why i had to patch up the track. that explains why my green jack never worked....)

Step 3: What Pins Will You Choose?!?!?

now you have to decide that pins on the USB port will be GND, Right or Left audio.

i chose pin 1 as Left / Tip
              pin 2 as Right / Ring
              pin 3 as GND / Sleeve

now solder to the USB port. 

Step 4:

now you will need to make a hole for the USB port. this was fun.

i used a dremmal with a few attachments. and an exacto knife.

this is self explanatory. mark out where you want it and cut/drill/mash your hole into life! it dosent have to be perfect but as long as a USB male fits through it then your good.

Step 5: How Will We Plug It In?!?

now. for this step i used super glue and hot glue. super glue cuz its REALLY strong and hot glue because i wanted insurance (and because i couldn't be bothered to wait for eproxy to set...).

i would advise you plug it into something to make sure its alined and then glue.

Step 6: Make Some Cables. or Adaptors If Your Fussy!

i didn't take any pics in the making of the first cable. wich was the best one....

you will want to solder direct to jack for the best join and sound quality. just make sure you remember whats what.
i recommend a multimeter on continuity and a silver sharpie for marking cables with different patterns.

most of this is explained in the pictures.

Step 7: Done!

i am VERY happy with this, it works brilliantly and i can use USB extenders to extend instead of paying through the neck for 3.5mm female to male cables! i have tested it with a cable length of over 2 meters with no quality loss or quietning? thats a new word.

Thanks for looking!