Convert Any Headphones to Bluetooth Wireless

The purpose of this instructable is to eliminate the headphone wire between my iPhone and headphones. The wire would constantly snag on things while at work and be ripped out from the headphones(3.5mm jack on the headphones). The "under the shirt" method worked however it was annoying at times and could still be caught on things.

Materials Used:
1.  A pair of your favorite headphones* - I used my Studio Beats by Dr. Dre
*if your headphones do not have a 3.5mm jack on them, the headphone cord can be shortened permanently or just wrapped around the headband!

2. Stereo Bluetooth Headset
http://www.chinavasion.com/product_info.php/pName/music-stereo-bluetooth-headset-a2dp-avrcp-profiles/  (sound quality is great!! no hiss or crackle - good battery life)

3. Short 3.5mm Stereo patch cable
I had one lying around the house that i purchased from Radio Shack ages ago.

4. A few Velcro cable ties


Now comes the fun part!
       ASSEMBLY!

Step 1: Attach Bluetooth With Velcro Straps

Velcro straps were cut to fit around the band.
I put them on tight with fuzzy velcro side down - or - the side that contacts the headphone band

A shorter patch cable would be ideal but this works just fine.

I called my brother to test sound quality and he said that he could hear me fine, even with the location of the mic

Step 2: Works Perfectly!

I used it almost all day today and NOT ONE SNAG!!!!  yaaayyyy

Comments

[isaacacheampong]

Hi, Thanks for the post. Is it possible to customise for your own sounds when the headphones are connecting or disconnecting? How is this done please? Thank you.

[aditya kush]

will it also work for my clip mic

[FatBitSquid]

Hi,

Do you know any alternatives for the stereo bluetooth module that can connect to an USB headset?

[jmackinac]

Is there any way to transmit and receive. For example, taking my Bose corded headphones, attached a receiver and then get a transmitter for my tv. I have googled this quite a bit and most just connect a receiver to corded headphones to use with a tv that's aready equipped with bluetooth transmitter

[y2leon]

not stupid at all, the bluetooth receiver's battery can hold your headphones for 3 hours or more, i've been using the mth50x and this bluetooth receiver https://www.amazon.com/Mpow-Bluetooth-Receiver-Streambot-Hands-Free/dp/B00MJMV0GU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1473094613&sr=8-5&keywords=mpow+bluetooth+transmitter for more than one year now and still working fine.

[vkarthik3]

Great tutorial. I got the MPOW and tried fitting on my bose quiet comfort 3. There is a small problem. When the headset's noise cancelation and the dongle are turned on, there is a static noise even if there is no music. Sometimes this does not happen. Any idea how to rectify?

[bidomo]

I have a very basic headset, a Corsair HS30 (3.5mm connector version), my mic is very poor quality, in normal conditions, people hear me with difficult, at night, it is even worse...

What I did was, install VoiceMeeter banana and the extra Virtual audio cables provided by the author of the software, amplified the mic gain to the max (+30db), activated noise reduction filter in my mic, and the proceeded to clean the noise with Adobe audition.

You can also do this with a free VST (there are some free programs that might do it), or you can try Audacity.

Check some tutorials in youtube, my mic has improved insanely, and people can hear me even if I badmouth them in a whisper.

[JohnnyS50]

Unfortunately the only way to rectify that is to turn it off. There are several ways active noise cancellations work. One is that the headphones output some whitenoise. I'm guessing this is what you're hearing. The other way headphones do it is using another microphone to pick up ambient noise, and outputting the opposite waveform.

[Hotwired89]

IT could be the cable you're using, I'd double check your connections first.

[Ednil OgmandineB]

Do you need to cut the wire? Also how will the BT dongle's jack connect to the Headset

[alexj53]

Beautiful <A
href="http://www.import-express.com/cbtprogram/goodsTypeServerlet?keyword=bluetooth%20wireless&website=a&srt=order-desc&catid=0">bluetooth
wireless</A>.

[DrunkenDwarf]

This looks like an awesome instructable and can't wait to try it. I have a headset I'd like to bluetooth, does anyone know a good (and cost effective) reciever/transmitter that'd work with that? I've found a few but they have switchable modes so can be in one state or another, for a headset it'd need to simultaniously receive the headphone signal while transmitting microphone audio.

[mysterybee]

I have a pair of PSB M4U 2 Noise-Cancelling headphones. I've bought an MPOW Strreambot mini bluetooth receiver to connect with it. It works beautifully except whent the noise-cancelling is switched on. Then the music stops. I've tinkered with it a bit and discovered that the music works with noise-cancelling when I'm using the 3.5mm 4 pole cable that comes with the headphones. The 4 pole cable has a mike connection switch on the cable. I suspect that has something to do with it. So now, how do I make it so my bluetooth receiver works when the noise cancelling is switched on? 6" long 3.5mm 4 pole male-to-male connectors apparently do not grow on trees. Any ideas?

[Hotwired89]

Hmmm... sounds like the headphones are using the built in mic on your "stock" cable to pick up ambient noise for the noise cancelling process. I doubt there's an off the shelf product to remedy this. If your handy with a soldering iron you would make your own cable or pick up a second stock cable and modify that one. You would need to keep the microphone on the cable in-line with the Bluetooth receiver. 4-pole plug for the headphone size which carries the mic ambient audio and you can just use a 3-pole plug for the Bluetooth receiver side(stereo audio).

Try this quick test. Plug in your stock cable to the headset but then plug the other end of your headphone cable into the Bluetooth receiver. Switch on the noise cancelling and see if that works! Then report back of course!

[mysterybee]

Hey Hotwired, As you predicted the receiver works fine when connected to the original cable, but as it happens these headphones have two stock cables provided. Now I just need to know how to shorten one.

[Hotwired89]

I researched a bit on the process of shortening headphone cables. It is possible to shorten a donor cable to the length you need and keep the mic in-line. But it would be a bit of a pain with the small thin wires present inside the main headphone wire. I have an alternate solution which in theory should work and won't involve any soldering, but it won't be as pretty looking as a short custom cable.

A headset "splitter" will separate your 4 prong plug in your headphones out to stereo 3 prong and 2 prong mic plugs. This will allow you to add on a small short mic to the splitter and still connect the Bluetooth receiver with the male to male adapter supplied with it. (At least the one I saw of your model was marketed as coming with this, otherwise you will need a small adapter)

This essentially creates the short patch cable you need to connect the Bluetooth receiver to the headphones but with a mic in-line feeding the headset for noise cancelling. I can't guarantee this will work or if the headphones will "noise cancel" properly as you'd be using an alternate mic for the input.

Splitter---

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SP0WAQ?keywor...

Microphone---

http://www.amazon.com/Neewer%C2%AE-Flexible-Microp...

You can use a different brand splitter or mic as you like. Just be sure to plug the 4 prong into the headphones. The mic into the plug labeled mic and use the Bluetooth male-male adapter for the splitter plug labeled headphone.

If need be I can try to explain this differently or draw up a sweet MS Paint diagram for you :).

As always, report back if you give this a go!

[nflemming2004]

Wondering if this has been tested with video output for lag? I'm looking to make a transmitter/receiver system so I can listen to my TV on any headphones

[Hotwired89]

Shouldn't be too much lag if at all noticeable. If anything I'd be more concerned about range. But then again how far would you be from your TV? At most, just in the other room!

[nflemming2004]

The lag would stem from the conversion of the analog audio signal and then back after the Bluetooth signal reaches the receiver. Compared to a pure analog transmission (such as using an FM transmitter/receiver) there would be some lag, though audio quality would be undeniably better.

[Azim Alif]

I built one too!
Although mine dosent look that good, but, still works.

Also, I would really like to see someone build a device that can take audio signal from any 3.5 mm output, and turn it to bluetooth output.
so that any audio device can connect to bluetooth speakers, headphones.
If anyone knows about this type of device, please tell me. even if I have to buy it.