Xbox One 2.5mm Headset Adapter

As everyone knows the Xbox one does not currently have an adapter for using older headsets.  So what can we do.  We can make one out of the existing headset supplied with the system.

I tested it with Astro A40's and it works great

A bit of extra info

How hard is this to do?
If you can solder this is pretty simple.  If you can't, well it's still simple.

**********For those who originally tied the black and bare wire, please desolder the black wire and tape it up.  It should not be used in this configuration.  It's providing 1V and I was essentially shorting it to ground, which caused my battery to drain rather fast.

thanks to turbotboz for this info.

Step 1: Items Needed

Here's what you need

- Official Xbox One Headset
- 2.5mm Stereo Inline Jack (Mode Electronics 24-271-1 or similar) It cost about $2 from my local electronics parts store
- Soldering Iron
- Solder
- Torx T5 or T6 screwdriver depending on headset. Some were installed with T5 and others T6
- Hot Glue Gun (optional)

Step 2: Headset Teardown

Technically you can just cut the wire and solder it to the connector but I wanted to keep the strain relief that was part of the wire
You can follow the pictures, they should be in order
1) Remove the foam from the earpiece (it's like a sock that slips over the earpiece)
2) Remove the 3 T6 screws from the earpiece and pull off the black plastic piece that the screws were holding
3) Remove the heat shrink that is on the exposed bare wire, and the heat shrink in the white wire
4) Carefully desolder the blue, black, white and bare wire.
5) Remove the 4 T6 screws holding the green plastic piece, and remove the green plastic piece.
6) Gently Pull/Pry the strain relief/wire out of the headset (this may take a bit of pressure, also if you are prying it be careful not to cut through the strain relief).
7) Done go take a break 

Step 3: Soldering the Connector

So the headset has 4 wires, Blue, Black, White, and bare

Blue - speaker Left 
Black - speaker Right
White - Microphone positive
Bare -  Ground

The connector should have 3 solder points, ground, left and right channel.


Imagine the diagram below is the connector split in half,
                       ___________________________
                      |                   |                     |                    |_______________________
                      |________|_________|_________|                                                     /
 Jack Opening__________________________   Wire To headset Controller/
                      | Ground     | Speaker L |  Mic +          |_____________________/
                      |________|_________|_________|

1) Remove the sheath from the connector
2) Run the wires through the sheath 
3) Carefully solder the wires to the proper part of the connector (see attached image)
4) Carefully twist the sheath on
5) Push the wires strain relief so that it's about half way into the sheath

You're done

Comments

[sbland3]

I am having a problem where the Mic only works when half way plugged into the 2.5m jack. Any ideas?

[cliffyd]

theres different rings on the jack. you must have the mic wire soldered to the wrong ring

[MarkH191]

Hi, I am having an issue that hopefully someone can answer please?

I have an older Turtle Beach XP500 Wireless headset.

To get this working with my Xbox One, I had to buy the adapter kit (puck and cable and m-f adaptor).

The original adapter set up has the puck with a 3.5mm male - 2.5mm female adapter included which I also wish to do away with as it is an unnecessary extra link in the chain.

As the cable is now broken (and no way of getting proper pin out from it), I wish to just make a 3.5mm (puck side) to 2.5mm (plugs into headset).

Unfortunately the guide shows 'modding' the originally supplied headset, which I don't want to do as I want to make it easier to re make new leads up if and when they break.

As it doesn't show the puck side of things, apart from which wires go to which solder point, I'm kind of stuck.

The issue I have is Turtle beach's wiring may their proprietory way and also MS also tend to do the same.

Any help grateully received.

[NunoC7]

Hi

Anyone knows why this headsets mods stop working on the new xbox ones 3.5 controller? I get one new controller and the adapter dont work, but in old one works perfecty.

[OrlandoArtist]

I was going to undertake the soldering job, but decided instead to buy a 3.5mm to 2.5mm and it works 8/10. (Not sold at the following stores, so don't waste your time: Microsoft, Astro, Target, Walmart, Radio Shack (try online), GameStop, New Egg, Tiger, etc) They're all really missing out on a great sales opportunity. Who are they kidding, the puck is just a twerk to us consumers as another needless revenue accessory. I contacted Astro. They now make a Xbox One set, with the new M80 MixAmp, which plugs directly into the XB1 controller. BUT they tell me that they have "no plans to offer that item separately" from the 249-300$ bundle. They also make another (simple) adapter (bypasses puck), which they will also not sell separately, which I guess comes with a lower end model. If you decide to go the adapter route, it must be "4 Pole" I believe. 2.5mm male to mixamp and 3.5mm to Xb1 controller. I paid $8, but that's highway robbery for what it is. If you find it far cheaper let me know, I'll buy a case load and hook the weary headset world up.

[OrlandoArtist]

I have yet other problems with my Astro A40's, primarily with the mic. I guess they wear out after a year of bending the boom and rotating on the ear? I'll be more conscientious of that next time. As usual, the usb input is also wearing down (easy repair, but I'll let them do it). One little bump, and the mixamp resets. Take advantage of Astro's guarantee, and register your headset in case you need repairs. Put piece of painters tape on your box or amp with the warrantee deadline. As long as you file for repair before that date, you're golden and you just pay shipping I think.

[Kemaleon]

Figured out the echo issue! I connected the Black cable and cast off the Blue cable, a switch to what all the guides are saying, and it works perfectly! My friends don't hear their own voices anymore and sound is clear both ways. Thanks for the guides!

[Anonmis]

Hey Skegatron, follow up and let us know if you managed to get them to work on the Siberian V2's. I have the Siberian V2's that are Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 compatible. I did a quick first run and didn't get them to work. I plan to spend some time on them to figure it out.

One thing to note, I have been able to get game audio through my headset just working on the mic. I connected some RCA cables (red and white) to the audio output of my t.v. and thats how I got game audio. If anyone has any other methods please share.

[Kemaleon]

I've just about given up on this. I've tried with three different cables, splice and solder, black to ground and not. Chat works both ways but my friends STILL have their own voices echo back at them and can hear the volume control beeps. This suggests to me that the sound-in signal is some how making its way to the mic-out signal. How is this possible?

[youmadbro]

For those of you who are too squeamish to do this, Microsoft is releasing an adapter in March:

Link

[Skegatron]

I assume that this process will work with the Siberian V2's. Considering they use a 2.5mm jack. Theoretically it is the same, will let you know how it goes.

[itusan]

Anyone know how to do this with Astro A50 Chat Cord? I was gonna follow this tutorial but the Astro A50 cord only has a Thick Copper Wire, and a Thin Blue Wire

[gonads81]

i did this mod and found you for my turtle beach headsets x41s the mic (white) goes on the left and speaker (blue) goes on the right side. After doing it your way and not working I tested with a multimeter and found it goes the the opposite way.

[hulksmash865]

There are two bare wires (ground) at the beginning when the headset is disassembled. Are those connected together or what happened to one of the grounding wires when soldering took place?

[Theclem]

Hey guys, I did this, soldered the wires into a 2.5mm male that I can plug into my turtle beach headset. Now the xbox one registers that I am talking (mic icon shows up while I talk) on screen, but I can't hear the other people talking. If I unplug the mic from the controller I can hear them again. Anybody have an idea what's wrong with my setup?

Thanks for the great guide, BTW.

[warlord]

Your chat speaker ground is open. You'll need to ground it in order to hear chat.

[Theclem]

OK well I know how to ground it, but I don't get which wire that is. Is it the black one?

Thanks

[cdarnell1]

You either didn't solder the bare wire (ground) correctly or the blue wire isn't soldered correctly to the plug.

[Theclem]

I am now using a male 3.5mm plug, which goes into a stereo adapter, which goes into the plug from my turtle beach headset. I am 100% certain the ground is soldered properly, and the blue and white wires seem totally fine, but now the problem is reversed. I can hear the other people, but the xbox doesn't hear me talking at all now. I assume this should mean there's a problem with the white wire, so I touched it up a few times, but each time I still got no response from the xbox. I am usually good with this kind of thing but right now, I am simply stumped...

[cdarnell1]

Something has to be wrong with the connection or maybe even a bad connector. Do you have a multimeter to test out the continuity of the plug?