[furjim]

When I plug my headphones into my computer, NuForce portable DAC, or MP3 player, I have to jiggle the plug in order to get the sound to come through both earphones properly. Even when it is in the jack with a good seal, there are bursts of very light static and loss of sound in the right ear... has anyone had this problem? Is there a fix? The headphones are only about a year old and I have taken pretty good care of them, and there is no visible damage to the plug.

 

[NA Blur]

I have had my Denon 2k's for several years with no issues.  It sounds like one of the wires is loose or damaged inside the jack.  You can find a good stereo jack around town at a Radio Shack or electronics store and solder fix it yourself.  You will need solder, flux, and possibly heat shrink to do an adequate job.  Be sure to purchase and install a TRS Stereo jack.  TRS stands for Tip Ring Sleeve and is necessary to properly ground the headphone signal path.

 

[furjim]

Thanks for the input. Can you reference me to where I can learn how to do that? Also, there are surely companies that can do this for me... I have no experience with this and would rather not risk ruining them. Any recommendations?

 

[NA Blur]

This may help.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhnXUQRQ4u4
 
or this
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBn27rc_Bd8

 

[furjim]

Would the soldering process be any different with this type of cable? It is much thicker than the one in the tutorial...
 
 
 
 

 

[LimeANite]

Quote:

Would the soldering process be any different with this type of cable? It is much thicker than the one in the tutorial...

It really shouldn't be much different.  You'll probably have thicker wires, and you might have to use a multimeter to check which wire is ground since they might not be colored like the ones in the video.  A multimeter is a good idea anyways because it can save you lots of time in making sure you have the channels connected correctly.  You'll need to take the covers off the cups to do this - check for current between the wires in the cup and the end of the cable.
 
You'll also want to check the way the plug is set up by checking the current between the tabs and the different sections of the plug.  The tip of the plug is always left, and the center section is right.  The section closest to the cable is ground.  If you don't have a multimeter and don't want to get one (you can get a basic one for ~$10), you can use a track that has audio on only one channel at some point.  I personally like Pinball Wizard by The Who - the track starts with only the right channel playing.

 

[NA Blur]

I think that is just extra shielding to prevent wear so you should not have any major surprises.

 

[furjim]

On the RadioShack website, none of the stereo jacks they sell say "TRS" - should I look elsewhere? Or will this standard one do the trick? Thanks for the advice so far.

 

[LimeANite]

Quote:

On the RadioShack website, none of the stereo jacks they sell say "TRS" - should I look elsewhere? Or will this standard one do the trick? Thanks for the advice so far.

Yep, that's fine.  TRS/stereo/3-conductor jacks are all the same thing.

 

[NA Blur]

TRS and Stereo should all have three solder pads.  One for the ground wire, one for the left channel, and one for the right channel.  Just make sure the jack you pick is for three wires and you are good to go.