[Mike Rose]

I have bought a bedside radio with a small jack plug at the back suitable for a wired set of headphones to be connected. Can I buy headphones with an on/off switch so that when on, the headphones work, and when off, the radio works ?I can achieve this by partially disconnecting the jack plug but I will eventually damage it.

 

[tjkohli]

Most likely this will not work, because your radio likely has an internal switch that determines whether the jack is plugged in or not, in order to determine where the sound goes. Wired headphones are passive, meaning they are never "on" or "off" so as far as they know, when plugged in they are "on" and when unplugged they are "off".

I would honestly recommend either getting a cable that's more robust and less prone to breakage, or getting a different radio that lets you change outputs.

 

[dunring]

Aliexpress has the huge sale until the 27th. I'd get a second player or clock radio if yours doesn't have a mode to switch. You could get two short male to female 3.5mm extender cables and unplug those, then no wear on your devices at all. They're like $3 a cable, so wearing those out in 2-3 years wouldn't be bad.