I have a set of Beyerdynamic DT231 headphones and over time they have developed a problem where i have to wiggle the connector around a LOT to get stereo sound. So in my frustration i chopped it off and well i need them to be fixed as i use them all day and everyday. That shows how the cable is made up, now i personally have no idea really as to what does what so that's where i require the help. This needs to be fixed ASAP, so your ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
One wire is going to be your common ground. The other is going to be your left channel and your right channel. Which is which is impossible to say. You'll just have to hook them up and figure it out. Worst thing that would happen if you got the wiring wrong is that you would either get NO sound, or the wrong speaker (left thinking right, etc.) Generally, if this is the end connected to the stereo jack, the left and right speaker would go to the CENTER pins (you'd have two connections on a stereo plug), and the ground would go to the outermost connection on the plug. Without a picture of the plug, it's hard to describe, but you should find something on the back of the RadioShack packaging which should explain it also.
One problem I'm going to have to point out. Those wires all seem to have been packed together in the same cable - without any sort of insulation. This means that they have a coating on them. Soldering on coated wire is never easy. The problem is that the solder simply won't stick to it like it will to non-coated wire. I've found holding the wire under a lighter for a few seconds can sometimes burn off this coating - but still soldering it will be a very difficult task. I wish you luck. Edit - also check for continuity between the three wires. One wire should have continuity with the other two wires. That would be the common ground. I'd expect that to be either the copper or green wire, and then most likely the right channel is the red wire, leaving whatever is left as the left channel. This is based on my experience with a couple other pairs of headphones - though I've never worked on your particular brand.
You can take the insulation off the coated wires easily by putting a piece of tin foil on your work surface, allocate the strand that needs to be striped on top of the tin foil, and taking your soldering iron press down on the strand and scrap. That always works for me when stripping 30AWG wire, beats trying to strip it with kitchen shears. The white strands are there for protecting the strands in case anything gets crushed.
i had the same problem with my headphones and i was about to get a new pair when i friend told me that it was more likely that the small pins in the headphone jack sometimes get bent up so when you plug your headphones in the dont get a strong signal so i replaced the jack and it worked again, it has nothing to do with the headphones
I know it's not the headphones I am off to Maplin tomorrow to get a metal jack for them, as they currently have a cheapy moulded one
Actually, the metal jacks can sometimes be a pain.... generally the casing is also ground, and if you have a situation in which the microphone is RIGHT next to the HEADPHONE, and the two touch because the idiot engineers stuck them too close together, you create a ground loop between the headphones and the mic, causing all kinds of noise on both. In that case, the plastic cheepie connector has the advantage of being an insulator...
