New to DIY, need headset clarification

[Folex]

I am looking to recable a headphone and also hardwire a microphone. From the diagram this is how I see recabling of a pair of headphones. Ideally I want to get a 5,6 or 7 conductor/channel (not sure the right terminology) all-in-one cable to recable the headphones and microphone. I'm not sure if the microphone is just left and right wire or I need a 3rd cable for common/ground? Can the microphone share the same common/ground? Thank you in advance with any help.

 

[peterroumian]

if i'm getting this right you want to make from a mic and some pair of headphones a gaming headset
 
you need a four conductor cable (i have such but i don't remember where i got it from) better get a five and use two of them for ground
 
1 ground for left right and mic
left channel
right channel
mic channel
 
then you need to connect the headphones to a 3.5mm jack where:
tip - left
ring - right
sleeve - ground
 
then you need to connect the mic from that same cable to a 3.5mm jack:
tip - mic
ring - mic again
sleeve - no need to connect again
 
 
reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio)#Tip-ring-sleeve_terminology
 
 
 
EDIT:
ground is one for the left right and mic (you may need to make a jump from the right earpiece to the left in order to connect everything into one cable)
 
make the cable as short as comfort allows

 

[Folex]

That confuses me, because don't you need 4 alone just for the headphone? 2 grounds, left and a right?

These are the possible configurations I'm thinking might work.

a) headphone( 2 grounds, left right) microphone (ground, left right) = 7 wires

A2) headphones, (2 grounds, left, right) Microphone (shared ground, left right) = 6 wires

C) headphones, (2 grounds, left right) Microphone *mono* (ground and audio) = 5 Wires

D) headphones, (2 grounds, left right) Microphone (left right) = 6 wires [ Does microphone need a ground?]

 

[peterroumian]

reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio)#Tip-ring-sleeve_terminology
 
 
 
EDIT:
ground is one for the left right and mic (you may need to make a jump from the right earpiece to the left in order to connect everything into one cable)
 
make the cable as short as comfort allows

 

[Folex]

Right now I have a pair of Sennheiser 31's, while the sound is iffy they are 10 feet and come with a microphone. I use them over Denon 2000, Sennheiser 555 and other headphones solely due to the microphone capabilities. I am constantly getting up with the headset on and moving around the room. I assume you mention a short cable due to sound quality, assuming that's the case I can always hook it into a sound card/amp. Are you saying you only need 1 ground for everything? I would think you'd need atleast 2, 1 for each 3.5mm plug.

 

[peterroumian]

 
yes ONE ground (here we use 2 conductors for it to improve SQ)
 
i'm not sure what do you want to do - put a mic on the D2000?
 
and no - amp wont fix the "long cable problem"
 
and if you want to use the headphones with an amp - you WILL need a separate ground for the mic
 
 

 

[peterroumian]

 

 
 
there was an error with the transfer of the signal from the one earcup to the other
 
you might find this useful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JHGJqfM0wE

 

[Folex]

That was my bad, I thought I mentioned it, but looking back I don't think I did. I absolutely HATE single sided cables. I am incredibly OCD about having things balanced. With that said I'd need dual entry

Would this work ?

 

[peterroumian]

this will work but it's kinda idiotic
 
could you please redefine what are you trying to do because i can't understand clearly from the first post
 
then i will be able to help you more effectively
 
and mic is always mono - even in studios.. stereo effect is achieved via mixing

 

[Folex]

Dual sided headphones with an attached microphone.

Every dual sided headphone I've owned has = 4 wires, left + ground and right + ground.

Every pair of single sided headphones has shorted out on 1 side, its another reason why i hate single sided cables

The microphone i wasn't sure if it was mono or stereo, so being mono @ most i'm gonna need 1 wire for left/right and 1 wire for ground?

I'm looking @ buying a Single cable with 4-7 wires within it, depending on what I need.

Something like this





I wish the image online had better colors



But still not sure if the microphone plug needs a ground wire, and if there is any downside to sharing a ground.

 

[peterroumian]

which headphones are you going to use, because if it's going to be the denons it's not a good idea to ruin their cable since it's very good - please be more detailed because there are differences that you are not noticing
 
if the denons - separate, two conductor cable, for the mic, strapped to the cable of the denons - simple and not ruining anything
 
the reason single sided cables break is because single sided headphones are cheaper models - hence use cheaper cables
 
you need separate ground for the mic if you are going to use the headphones with an amp - otherwise there is no need to make the cable heavier
 
there is no downside sharing a ground because it IS shared - main principle of every circuit
 
more ground wires is to improve SQ but if you use that that same wire for the mic ground it's not going to affect the SQ because mic has hardly any consumption

 

[Folex]

Well Senn 555's and audio technica ad700's aren't exactly cheap models (Single sided cables). For the headphones I plan to Frankenstein the whole process. I am going to order an OEM pair of headphones from china and remove the drivers and cable and then order drivers and raw cable and terminate it myself. The only part I'm not entirely sure about is what is the lowest conductor cable I need to wire up a headset reliably. I use my current headset easily 8-10 hours a day so I doubt I'm going to go with a full size pair like ad700, 555's or 2000's. Thinking maybe a pair comparable to a "open" Sony MDR-V150, because when I wear around the ear for over 3 hours it begins to feel hot and uncomfortable.

So from what I gathered, a shared ground on the headphone part would not matter, even if amped

Microphone you want it's own ground if you plan to amp the headphones

The microphone is mono, so it only needs 1 wire for the audio and 1 wire for ground ( to future proof it, if i use an amp)

So in all I'd need 5 Conductors ?

 

[peterroumian]

Quote:

So from what I gathered, a shared ground on the headphone part would not matter, even if amped

 
that is correct
 
 
 
get two cables: two conductor and four conductor
 
two conductor: for the right channel and separate ground (to improve sq)
four conductor: left channel ground, mic ground, mic channel and left channel
 
thus you are going to get two sided cable, amp compatibility, and best sq (with 5 or 6 conductor cable you are going to have thin ugly wires after the "Y")
 
 
one note: swapping drivers is not that easy

 

[Folex]

This is how I'm understanding it, and wouldn't it look really ugly @ the plug level having 2 cables and having a Y split at that level ? Unless you can mix microphone output with audio?

 

[peterroumian]

the picture above is correct