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Mini-Project: USB->3.5mm 5.1 Headphone Conversion

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by mattthegamer463, 4 Jun 2007.

  1. mattthegamer463

    mattthegamer463 What's a Dremel?

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    I love doing these mini-mods, they're short enough to maintain my attention span long enough for me to complete them, and also don't cost much.

    I bought a pair of $30 USB surround-sound headphones about a month ago, and so far they've been great. They sound nice, great 3D sound, and are comfortable for long periods of time. Only problem is, some games (like my beloved COD2) don't support positional audio for USB devices that don't have EAX support. Time for a mod...

    The plan is to cut the cable from the in-line USB soundcard and the headphones and put in 3 3.5mm jacks. Then, place opposite jacks in the USB soundcard, so I can still use them on USB for my laptop, etc.

    First things first, I opened it up and identified the wires.

    [​IMG]

    Sound tubes
    [​IMG]

    Large center speakers, small positional ones. Interesting design.
    [​IMG]

    Both sides open to see the wires
    [​IMG]

    The sound card
    [​IMG]

    Inside
    [​IMG]

    eight wires for six speakers
    [​IMG]

    So from what I see all three speakers in one side are on the same ground. I can then just split that ground and connect it to each of the 3.5mm jacks. All the other lines are well colour coated and dead simple.


    [​IMG]
    Question: Will I need this coil thing in my cable? Its very close to the end and I would like to remove it if its not needed, but I think its there to clean up noise on the wires, so I may need it. Thoughts?

    Next step: buy jacks, snip, solder.

    Expect an update soon!
     
  2. Cabe

    Cabe What's a Dremel?

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    The choke is used to reduce AC hum in the audio cables. If you are in a fairly electrical noise free zone you might be able to get away without it, however seeing as its moulded it might just be easier to leave it be, as if you need to put it back you might have to break out the gaffer and zip ties :)
     
  3. mattthegamer463

    mattthegamer463 What's a Dremel?

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    This project has been silent for quite a while now, and now that its summer time I was able to make some headway on it. I snipped the wire between the headphones and sound card, and put 3.5mm jacks on the wires for it.

    Wrangling the wire-mess:
    [​IMG]


    After much flux, re-soldering, dirty perfboards and fumes, I completed the headphone side of the mod.
    [​IMG]

    It works!
    [​IMG]

    Tomorrow: The sound card.
     
  4. ReFredzRate

    ReFredzRate Relix Headshot!!

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    Dude... I think it would look even better if you sleeved the wires on that. Love the idea!!
     
  5. Guest-23315

    Guest-23315 Guest

    Very nice idea Matt. Nicely pulled off too!
     
  6. mattthegamer463

    mattthegamer463 What's a Dremel?

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    That is my intention, unfortunately I ran out of sleeving from sleeving my PSU, so I need to order some more off the internet, or maybe just drop by Home Depot and pick up some big black heatshrink that I can slide over the connectors and put in place. Or maybe both. Right now its looking pretty alright, and its sturdy enough for the time being.

    @ Mankz: Thanks! When I was doing it I was freaking out because it was looking like crap, and I didn't want the stupid big box, but it worked out nicely in the end. The new sound card is going inside a project box, and I can use it for any speakers now (including headphones on my laptop) so I'm quite glad.
     
  7. mattthegamer463

    mattthegamer463 What's a Dremel?

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    This morning I told myself I would get this done today by completing the USB sound card portion of the mod, and at 11 o'clock PM I started work. Sure, its 2:43 in the morning now, but I haven't slept yet! The USB sound card is now finished, sports three 3.5mm jacks on the side of a snazzy project box, and works with any headphones/speakers, which is a nice feature. Pics:

    [​IMG]

    The sound card is the large green board, the connectors are the silver cylinders, and the little poorly soldered board is the connection between the two. I had several problems with wires being backwards and resulting in left-right audio mixup. Took about a hour to straighten it all out.

    [​IMG]
    The connectors.

    [​IMG]
    USB cable to PC.

    [​IMG]
    Closer look.

    [​IMG]
    The headphones connected to the sound card. It works! Its a bit bulkier than the original setup, but I'm happy, and the sound card looks quite professional if I do say so myself. I still need to incorporate the power LED for it, but I'm not where to put it where it will be unobtrusive. I also want to swap the amber LED for a blue one. Perhaps tomorrow, for now, sleep.

    Comments welcome. :)
     
  8. ReFredzRate

    ReFredzRate Relix Headshot!!

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    I'd say both! If you heatshrink it first, and sleeve it afterwards with some black sleeving you'd have some sweetass cabling :eek:

    Wouldn't it even be sweeter if you combined the soundcard and the headphone gear into one little box?
     
  9. lost_modder

    lost_modder What's a Dremel?

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    It would be, but that is exactly what it was before he modded it. Nice project here mattthegamer!
     
  10. doryakov

    doryakov What's a Dremel?

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    what is the box's size?
     
  11. mattthegamer463

    mattthegamer463 What's a Dremel?

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    @ doryakov:

    11x6x3 cm

    @ everyone else:
    Thanks for the comments! Anyone have any ideas on how I should label which connector is which? I was thinking about engraving it, but it won't look very good as I have nearly 0 experience engraving. I'm not really sure what I should do.
     
  12. ReFredzRate

    ReFredzRate Relix Headshot!!

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    You could do color coding by sleeving it? There's several colors of sleeving materials around.
     
  13. Frido

    Frido Minimodder

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    Or you could get some white sticky-letters (like those used on windows etc.) and label accordingly?

    Nice small mod though :)

    /Frido
     
  14. the fodder

    the fodder What's a Dremel?

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    Or if you have the spacing right, just connect the three plugs into one large one.
     
  15. bimbim18

    bimbim18 What's a Dremel?

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    USB-3.5mm AudioFX Pro 5+1 possible?

    I am looking at buying a nice set of headphones: Ben Heck's AudioFX Pro 5+1

    http://edimensional.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=122

    BUT I dont want to use the usb/inline soundcard, I actually want to get a set of these and a PCI-e X-fi Titanium card (I'm not fond of USB headsets, especially since you usually have to stop a game/app to unplug or plug in your headset and swap to speakers)

    Do you guys think it's possible to do a similar mod to this to the AudioFX Pro headset and it be fully functional and sound good???
    Keep in mind that it has Force Feedback. The older version had 3.5mm and no audiocard, but isnt as good quality as the pro version.

    any ideas? comments? anything?
     
  16. mattthegamer463

    mattthegamer463 What's a Dremel?

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    You could do it, but if the sound card is integrated into the headset and not in-line like mine was it could be difficult. You'd probably just have to rip out the circuits and keep just the speakers, and wire them to a new cable with your three 3.5mm jacks on the end. I would say its a safe bet to buy them and give it a shot. It may not be as easy or straightforward as mine was but it won't be impossible.
     

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