[keithdn]

I've never had much interest in DIY projects, having always opted to buy from those with experience. However, my brother has just "ruined" his third (3rd!!) pair of Grado headphones. Two SR60s and one SR80. I never thought much about getting them fixed, as it would probably cost more than to simply purchase a new pair, which we have done. Now, his 4th Grado came the other day (actually, Allessandro MS1 this time). Looking at all the headphones that he's spent, I realized that the cords are only shorted out at the very end (near the termination) and I think it wouldn't be a huge undertaking for me to purchase a few 1/8th plugs and a simple soldering iron.. read some info, watch some videos, practice my soldering a bit and I could probably fix them...?? Or no?

Basically, I wouldn't mind learning how to solder (there's been many times I wish I could, for various reasons) and it wouldn't be extremely expensive to get a decent soldering iron (or station?) and some parts. Or am I being completely unreasonable?

In my searching the forum, I found many sites that sell quality headphone jacks for very reasonable prices, but when it comes to the soldering iron, I'm lost! Is there a good one to recommend? I have been considering a Weller, but am open to any suggestions.

Also, is there any good tutorials, or videos, on how to solder (in general or audio-specific)?

Thank-you very much, everyone! I will continue to search this forum but am becoming frustrated with either 1) the overwhelming amount of posts I find, or 2) the lack of any!

 

[FallenAngel]

Look at the cable building sticky to see how wiring works.
Check out Tangentsoft for soldering tutorials.
Buy either a Weller SP23 or a Hakko Dash, both are around $20 irons.

 

[mewrei]

Ladyada has some of the best resources for getting started in soldering and also has some good recommendations for hardware. This Systm episode, they actually make a Chu Moy amp, but more importantly, David gives some great soldering tips.

As far as cabling goes, I've found this resource to be quite good in showing you how to do it.

 

[Juaquin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mewrei /img/forum/go_quote.gif As far as cabling goes, I've found this resource to be quite good in showing you how to do it.

I'm not so sure about this. This is not a standard technique for making cables. It sounds interesting, but given that they're pimping their own product I wouldn't take it as a definitive source. Normally, a cable (especially a headphone cable) is made from either a pre-made multi-conductor cable (Mogami, Cardas, etc) or with multiple strands of teflon-coated wire that are braided and then put into a techflex or similar wrap. I'd stick with the more "normal" techniques for your first cable.

As FallenAngel said, check out the stickied thread in this forum about making interconnects.

 

[rawrster]

well if anything u got 3 headphones to test/learn your soldering so it could be good learning experience for relatively cheap. worst that can happen is that you destroy a headphone that already has no use?

 

[keithdn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rawrster /img/forum/go_quote.gif well if anything u got 3 headphones to test/learn your soldering so it could be good learning experience for relatively cheap. worst that can happen is that you destroy a headphone that already has no use?

Yes, this was my exact thought!

THANK-YOU, everyone, for the input! I am glad I don't need one of those $150 soldering "station." I have been continuing to discover relevant threads so I have only one question to ask:

In stead of a Weller SP23 or a Hakko Dash, would I be better off, in the long term, with a temperature-adjustable Weller WP25? The extra $15-20 wouldn't bother me too much unless having a "nonadjustable" iron would make the job easier somehow. Obviously, I'd go the easier rout.

Once again, thank-you for coming down to my level! I know how it is when someone completely ignorant is asking for advice about something you know very well..

 

[freakydrew]

keithdn, thanks for this post as I was about to post a near identical post!
I came across this and wondered if it was a decent kit to get going?

Nutech Electronics - Home

 

[keithdn]

I apologize in advance for digging this one up from the cemetery!

After some time, I finally got around to completing this project. I ended up purchasing a 25W Hakko dash. I was almost certain to buy a Weller, but after more research it would appear they're quality is not what it used to be (any comments?). Either way, I do not regret buying the Hakko as it's a very nice iron. Other than that, this was more straight-forward than I had originally thought, and with some patience it was not very difficult.

I decided on Switchcraft mini plugs, black/gold. Markertek was out of stock and the order took some weeks to finally ship, but I am glad I got the black and gold plugs because they do look sharp. I almost settled for silver/gold but was concerned how that would look with a black headphone/cable. Just peanuts, but as long as I was doing this...

Anyway, I would like to extend a huge THANK-YOU to everyone who aided me in my endeavor. Especially FallenAngel for the Hakko Dash recommendation; mewrei and Juaquin for the links, and rawrster for the encouragement! Also, brschmid for this great tutorial, and many others I can not think of right now.

Cheers 'n' beers my friends,
Keith N.

 

[Gunfreak]

Now for the real question; how do they sound?

I hope they are working how you want them too =-] and congrats

 

[dorkvader]

Yes, congratulations on your great success. What will you do with all your headphones now?

I'd say the Switchcraft plugs are really good looking. I built an interconnect with the black/silver ones, and I really like the look. They were pretty easy to work on, though my crummy soldering shows if you open them up.

For me, the best cable soldering tip was this one:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f6/how...ml#post6287322

As soon as I read that, it all made sense. Pre tin everything (especially the wires in the cable) and everything gets a lot easier. I'm thinking about redoing a few of my old interconnects to make them better. (or maybe I'll keep them to contrast with).

I hope your headphones sound fixed. If you liked the work, I'm sure you can imagine lots of other fun DIY projects to try.

 

[i_djoel2000]

if you cannot see the wiring inside the driver, how do you know which cable goes to left, right, and ground just by looking on the cable end that goes to the jack?

 

[JamesL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by i_djoel2000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif if you cannot see the wiring inside the driver, how do you know which cable goes to left, right, and ground just by looking on the cable end that goes to the jack?

I'm not sure how most stock wires look like .. dual coaxial, two pairs.. two wires and a drain? Regardless, you should be able to figure it out if you have a multimeter

Measure the resistance between any two wires. If the reading is approximately the same as your phone impedance, you have a ground and signal. If the resistance is 0, then you have two ground wires. If the dcr is twice the impedance of your phones, you have the right and left channel. If you get no reading(infinite), you have either two grounds, or two signal wires.

I'm not going to go through each of the possibilities, but if you do this for several pairs of wires, through deductive reasoning, you should be able to at least figure out which one is the ground and signal wires for a driver.
If there are two ground wires and they are not connected at the headphone end, you can try see which pair of wires is connected at the TRS connector (that you are replacing/cut off I assume) If the wires are color-coded, you can match it up with the ones that are still connected to the headphone.


The only simple way I can think of to figure out the left and right channels is to play a tone and see which driver the sound is coming out of..
Connect whatever plug you're using to a device (mp3 player, pc, etc) without the barrel.
Then touch a signal/ground wire pair to the tabs on your plug while playing a tone(or music). You should hear it through one of the drivers.

 

[keithdn]

@i_djoel2000:

I had a file that played 5 sec. stereo, 5 sec. left channel and five seconds right channel. I am sure I snatched it somewhere off Head-Fi but can't seem to locate it. PM me if you want it, although you can find similar files online (this site seems to have files that'd work). Then, you can test it just as JamesL suggested. The Grado headphones I worked on were: red as right channel (center/tip), white as left (ring) and two blue grounds (sleeve).

Best of luck
Keith

 

[joe_cool]

When you touch a hot wire and a ground wire with an ohm-meter you can hear a click in one of the earcups. There may be one or two grounds but they both connect to the same place on a TRS plug. The left signal is tip, right signal ring, and ground (common) is the sleeve (barrel).