Mod to make my heavy wireless headphones work just as well with lightwieght and much more comfortable ear buds.

Step 1: Preparation

I started this project because I was unhappy with my Sennheiser HDR 45 wireless headphones.

3 things bugged me about these headphones. 1, they were leaky, everyone could hear what I was listening to. 2, prolonged listening made my ears hurt from the headphones pushing against my ears. 3, they make my ears sweat - blergh!

After doing some searching for wireless ear buds, and being shocked with how expensive they are, I decided to modify my Sennheisers to allow me to plug in my comfy Sony earbuds. I figured I could just wear the heaphones around my neck but have the comfortable earbuds in my ears.

Okay: Lets get started.

You can open these headphones by gently prying open the cover near the battery (see pic).

The very first thing I needed to do was find a low profile stereo mini jack. Be careful though, you need one that has 2 normally closed circuits that are cut off when the mini jack plug is inserted. Fortunately Radio Shack had exactly what I needed (cat # 274-246), it was $2.99, that's why I don't like shopping there :) But hey, it was a Sunday afternoon, and this project just couldn't wait.

Now that I knew the size and shape of the jack socket, I could try to find somewhere to mount it inside the headphones. I opened the side with all the electronics figuring that it'll be easier to make connections on there, and looked for a suitable space.

Step 2: Making Room

Once I'd located a suitable space for the jack socket, I set about removing things that were in the way.

I had to remove a post that was in the way and grind down a little plastic so there were enough threads sticking through my freshly drilled hole to enable me to thread on the panel nut.

Step 3: Wiring 101

Now the tricky part!

I poked around a bit with some test wires and followed some traces to find audio ground, audio left, and audio right. I soldered a wire from the audio ground directly to the ground pin on the mini jack.

For audio left and right, I had to intercept the signal before it reaches the headphone speaker. Then I cut the trace so that the signal doesn't get through. Use several strokes of a sharp knife to cut through the track, but be careful you don't cut anything else.

Once the tracks were cut I tested the headphones to make sure nothing was getting through. Then I took some thin wire, and connected both sides of the cut tracks to the correct pins on the mini jack. The way you do this is important so be careful and take note of the diagram on the back of the mini jack box. Basically the signal side of the cut track needs to go to the side of the jack that will connect to the jack plug when it is plugged into the jack. The heaphone side of the cut track should go to the return side of the jack socket.

Step 4: 'Ears How You Succeed

Once I'd tested one channel (and make sure it cut out when I pluggedin the jack plug), I repeated the process for the other channel.

I routed the wiring around the pcb to keep it out of the way and make it look somewhat neat, and went for the full test.

Sure enough, the headphones worked fine as normal. Then once I plugged in the ear buds the headphones went silent and the sound came out of the ear buds instead.

Success!

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37 Comments

ottifandi

2 years ago

and then when you hear, you carry the headphone around your neck with the earphones in your ear? seems to be heavy and uncomfortable.
I did it a bit different: I ripped apart a sennheiser HDR6 and added a 3,5mm output connector to use my own earphones, and a battery holder for two aaa batteries and hang only the necessary part of the receiver on a string around my neck, see pics here https://photos.app.goo.gl/Lf8KEqtRZze633Y77

JoelS3

8 years ago on Introduction

The Myzone transmitter is FM. I just use a portable fm radio, tune it to the transmitter, and plug in my headphones. No hacking required. The cool thing about this is I can use it as an in ear monitor for my band. Saved hundreds of dollars.

Hacklet

6 years ago

I don't really believe I am commenting on a decade old Instructable; but, on the offchance that somebody still has a set of these lying around... I have a pair with the base station and power supply but no audio cable - I can probably just solder a jack to the board but to save me the trouble of guessing, does anyone happen to know the pinouts?

grt57

7 years ago on Introduction

My question is for my dad. Would/could this same system work as a source for PC speakers? He doesn't like the headphones, but can't hear his TV, (he has hearing loss). Could I just change the jack to match a set of PC speakers, then he'd have a set of speakers right next to him, and he could control the volume to his taste. I know they make wireless tv speakers, but they aren't real affordable. Any advice would be appreciated.

dobbler

12 years ago on Introduction

This mightn't be the right place to ask this but I have a pair of Sennheiser TR120, they look similar to the ones used in the instructable.. Anyway, if there's no signal for 3 minutes, they cut off producing white noise through the headphones.. it's very annoying if you've been listening to music and it ends then 3 minutes later SSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hits you.. Don't know how many times I've been woken up like that.. it's not nice..

Anyone know to prevent it?

I thought about using Automator on OSX to play a sound every 2:30 minutes but not sure if it's possible. You can set loops but I'm not sure you can set them to repeat after a specified length of time..

Any ideas for mods or hacks for this would be great..

Great idea with the jack, I have exactly the same problem as I wear glasses and the headphones really hurt after a while..

Thanks!

Rob.

KentaGrace

13 years ago on Introduction

Regarding the wireless-ness of the headphones, I have a pair of fairly cheap ones, but I'd like to put them on a better (e.g. higher) frequency rating, because my mom's baby monitor interferes with them. Can I do this simply by replacing some crystal oscillators inside the receiver (headphones) and the transmitter (base)?

shastalore

13 years ago on Introduction

Great instructable! I did the same with my trusty old Advent Wireless headphones. But, not wanting to clutter up the site, I did a sweep of Instructables.com, and discovered that you already have the bases thoroughly covered. Really, ALL wireless headphones should be manufactured with a "stereo out" jack! But, more importantly, I need to add, that the main reason for installing a "stereo out" jack, on my wireless headphone, was to function as part of a professional sounding 12VDC outdoor sound system -on a shoestring budget. I use a vintage late 1970's ghetto blaster (30 watt G.E. model#3-5265-A) with 5" internal heavy magnet speakers and real horns, for everyone to plug in their ipods, at outdoor picnics. For a small unit, it has great sound, and the speakers were built to last forever. Now, with my modified Advent Wireless headphones, I can now hook up my lean-and-mean 6VDC Virgin boomtube, mounted on a tripod, placed 60-70 feet away, on the opposite side of the crowd. A stereo "Y" connector is used to pipe mp3 tracks into both the G.E. ghetto blaster, as well as the 12VDC Advent Wireless transmitter. And, with this setup, everyone can clearly hear the music, and no one complains that it's too loud.

Stomp999

14 years ago on Introduction

I did it with my old Acousatic Research AW721 and it work good !Thx a lot !!!

god_gave_knex_to_you

14 years ago on Introduction

i have a sony tmr-rf960r. they are kinda like those around-ear bose headphones, but even at close-range, there is really bad white noise, and when hooked up to my computer, they squeak when the mouse moves

amygus81

14 years ago on Introduction

It doesn't sound too complicated, but what if your into sports? How do I mod my cheap headphones to be water and sweat resistant?

I gave up on this idea and I've been using the JayBird Bluetooth headphones for a while now and I'm loving them. I had an S9 before that and have also tried the Plantronics Voyager. I found the JayBird is the better of the 3 for work outs cause they stay on so well. They're also a good small size which I like.

punkatsub

14 years ago on Introduction

if the headset was wireless and has a plug like this would it or could it work?

isacco

14 years ago on Introduction

Dear Instant Arcade, I had the same idea to modify a cumbersome wireless headphone. With your instructable it will be much easier to get my idea done. Thanks and compliments for your work.

Ynothna

15 years ago on Introduction

Hey, was just looking through this tutorial for my own pair of headphones. I love the idea, and want to go through with it, lol, but I've hit a road block at the very beginning :P Does anyone have a clue how to open a pair of Nexxtech 900MHz (I know, I know, not that great, but they work). The model # is 3319666. I've been trying to get them open, but they don't have the normal type case that most do, the pads for the speakers are the only place where there is an opening, and from there I can only find 2 points where they attach, right where the headband attaches. From those two points I can't find out how to open it up, they seem solid. (I would post a picture, but it doesn't seem to want to let me :-( )

Introduction: Wireless Headphones Mod

Step 1: Preparation

Step 2: Making Room

Step 3: Wiring 101

Step 4: 'Ears How You Succeed

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