[Subatomic]

Hey guys. I have a couple of broken sets of cables for my UE SF5Pros, and with the current set starting to show symptoms and UE not playing nice with providing replacement cables, I was wondering if anyone has ever repaired a set? All three (four including the ones that are currently in use) have failed at the jack end, and I have come to the conclusion that the jack design is faulty. All of them have the issue where one of the wires must be failing inside the jack and causing one or both channels of audio to not work, and moving the jack will have an effect on this. This is kind of concerning to me for a high-end brand, where the cables are used through-out their line. I am just using the headphones normally, at home, at/going to uni etc, nothing that should cause this type of failure so often.

I'm not the greatest with a soldering iron, so, I guess what i'm asking is, has anyone ever attempted a repair of the jack, and how did the results go? I would really rather not fork out $40 or whatever for a new replacement cable, and since I have 3 spare broken sets of cables lieing around, they could probably be repaired. I figure I need to find a good, high quality, portable/small jack, and take them to an audio/electronics repair place to get them to replace the existing ones (since I don't have a steady hand with a soldering iron as would be required).

Thoughts? Recommendations? Places to get good 3.5mm jacks?

Thanks guys

 

[intoflatlines]

You can repair it pretty easily but it probably won't look the best unless you have the skill and supplies.

This is what I would do:
Find a good plug with stress relief, preferably an angled plug because I find those last longer than straight plugs. Cut off past the point where it's shorted out (if the wires are not different looking, mark them somehow so you know which wire connected to which one) and strip the wires. With a multimeter figure out which wire is right/left/ground (ring/tip/sleeve) and then connect the corresponding wires on the good side to the new plug. Put some shrink tubing around the junction for extra durability.

 

[ansextra]

The cables are $19.99 on the Ultimate Ears website. Where did you see $40?

 

[Subatomic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ansextra /img/forum/go_quote.gif The cables are $19.99 on the Ultimate Ears website. Where did you see $40?

Ultimate Ears: Black Cable | Headphonic: Australian Headphone Specialists: Buy Etymotic, Alessandro, Audio Technica, Ultimate Ears, Talisman, Meier Audio and more

Local (ish), $45.... looks like I can pickup a new set of cables off ebay for $28USD, probably going to cost a fair bit for shipping from the UE site, despite them being $20.....

I dunno, I just thought its an awful waste having (now) 4 sets of cables, dead, and the only thing thats wrong is the jack. I am going to go into my local audio electronics repair guy and see what he can do, test it out on the set of clear cables I have first...... rather then spend more money on another set of cables.....

The fourth set that is connected to my Superfis has well and truly started showing symptoms.... sigh.

 

[intoflatlines]

Some member PMed me asking for dead UE cables. I forgot who it was, maybe he/she will see this thread and they will be of some use to someone.

 

[ansextra]

On the Ultimate Ears website they're $19.99 USD. Why would you pay $28 USD? I'm confused.

 

[Subatomic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ansextra /img/forum/go_quote.gif On the Ultimate Ears website they're $19.99 USD. Why would you pay $28 USD? I'm confused.

Because I'm assuming Ultimate Ears are going to charge a fair amount for shipping to Australia, so I'm finding the next best alternative, which is ebay which actually show how much they charge for shipping.....

Edit: The UE store doesnt even give me the option for International shipping in the checkout, and if they charge $6 to post to states in the USA, its going to be a lot more than that to get it to Aus....

The logitech support guy I talked to in some very broken english told me to buy replacement cables at Headphonic | Australian Headphone Specialists: Buy Etymotic, Alessandro, Audio Technica, Ultimate Ears, Talisman, Meier Audio and more where I bought them from, but seriously, for $45aud, **** that. The last few times I had to get replacement cables, I was in contact with Tarah Draper from UE, who sent me replacement cables free of charge.

Seems like this policy has changed now

 

[ansextra]

I've dealt with Tara before with Super Fi 5 Pro issues... I wonder if she's gone now that Logitech has taken over?