[ksio89]

I bought

Well, what I would do would be to first figure out what length you want. Do you like short cables (0.5 meter), longer cables (1 meter), or even longer cables 1.5 or 2 meters).

Then figure out what kind of ends you want to plug into your phone/DAP - Straight 3.5mm or 90 degree 3.5mm.

Then go from there.

I bought a 1-metre braided Ugreen aux cable on eBay, which was listed for a good price and was allegedly sold directly by Ugreen Group Limited. Though I guess this lenght is adequate, I really wanted a longer cable, like 1,2m or 1,5m, but the only longer cable from Ugreen was 2 metres, which is too long for my needs. According to Amazon reviews, it seems to be a very sturdy yet flexible cable, being resistant to yanks.

 

[Slater]

I bought


I bought a 1-metre braided Ugreen aux cable on eBay, which was listed for a good price and was allegedly sold directly by Ugreen Group Limited. Though I guess this lenght is adequate, I really wanted a longer cable, like 1,2m or 1,5m, but the only longer cable from Ugreen was 2 metres, which is too long for my needs. According to Amazon reviews, it seems to be a very sturdy yet flexible cable, being resistant to yanks.

Glad you got it all sorted! Ugreen is good stuff.

 

[bryanswy]

I bought


I bought a 1-metre braided Ugreen aux cable on eBay, which was listed for a good price and was allegedly sold directly by Ugreen Group Limited. Though I guess this lenght is adequate, I really wanted a longer cable, like 1,2m or 1,5m, but the only longer cable from Ugreen was 2 metres, which is too long for my needs. According to Amazon reviews, it seems to be a very sturdy yet flexible cable, being resistant to yanks.

Hello friend
Ugreen is an excellent manufacturer. It was a great choice.

 

[ksio89]

Great news fellas, I've received the fake HM5 earpads and 3.5mm jacks from ebay, now I can finally proceed with the cableless mod. Unfortunately can't say the same about the auxiliary Ugreen cable, as the shipping couldn't be any slower.

I've already removed the cup from the left driver, and now all I need to buy is a decent soldering iron, some soldering wire and an adhesive to hold the jack in the "well" and the cups together. Though, I still have two questions @Slater:

1) are you sure epoxy resin can glue the cups together? From what I know, epoxy-based adhesives can't glue plastics like polypropylen and polyethylen. In the guide you said you can also employ hot glue, but I don't feel like purchasing a glue gun just for this minor task.

2) I put the jack in the well just to see whether it's easier or not to solder the wires with it in place, and I realised that the round nut entirely fills the hole where the stock cable passed through. The jack felt quite firm, do you think I can skip applying adhesive with the threaded nut in place?

Anyway, I can can't great be grateful enough for the tutorial you posted here, once I finish the mod I'll post a couple of photos here to show the results.

 

[Slater]

Great news fellas, I've received the fake HM5 earpads and 3.5mm jacks from ebay, now I can finally proceed with the cableless mod. Unfortunately can't say the same about the auxiliary Ugreen cable, as the shipping couldn't be any slower.

I've already removed the cup from the left driver, and now all I need to buy is a decent soldering iron, some soldering wire and an adhesive to hold the jack in the "well" and the cups together. Though, I still have two questions @Slater:

1) are you sure epoxy resin can glue the cups together? From what I know, epoxy-based adhesives can't glue plastics like polypropylen and polyethylen. In the guide you said you can also employ hot glue, but I don't feel like purchasing a glue gun just for this minor task.

2) I put the jack in the well just to see whether it's easier or not to solder the wires with it in place, and I realised that the round nut entirely fills the hole where the stock cable passed through. The jack felt quite firm, do you think I can skip applying adhesive with the threaded nut in place?

Anyway, I can can't great be grateful enough for the tutorial you posted here, once I finish the mod I'll post a couple of photos here to show the results.

On the epoxy, I’ve done 4 pairs with plain old generic 2-part epoxy, and they’re all holding strong 3+ years later. You don’t want something crazy permanent, in case you ever have to open the cups up down the road to replace the jack or repair a bad driver. Epoxy also gives you plenty of working time (called pot life).

I tried hot glue for the cups one time, and it dries so fast that the cups weren’t together perfectly and it had already set up. So I had to take the cups apart and redo the whole thing, but I had a big hot glue mess to clean up before redoing the cups with epoxy.

Glues that are specific for plastic have aggressive solvents in them, which chemically bond to and basically fuse the plastic. This is overkill, and what’s worse it even risks damaging the driver by fumes that offgas as the glue dries. This is the same reason why I am insistent on avoiding super glue (cyanoacrylate) at all costs.

Just stick the the epoxy as detailed in the How2 and you’ll be perfectly fine.

As far as the jack, the purpose of the adhesive is not really to hold the jack in place (as the plastic frame inside holds it securely in place) but rather to seal it. If you do not seal the jack with some sort of adhesive (hot glue, epoxy) as I detailed in the How2, there will be an enormous air vent around the jack. The end result will be a noticeable sound change on that side but not on the other side. So on the jack adhesive question, again stick to the How2 and you’ll be perfectly fine.

Good luck and let us know you how it goes or if you have any other questions

 

[ksio89]

On the epoxy, I’ve done 4 pairs with plain old generic 2-part epoxy, and they’re all holding strong 3+ years later. You don’t want something crazy permanent, in case you ever have to open the cups up down the road to replace the jack or repair a bad driver. Epoxy also gives you plenty of working time (called pot life).

I tried hot glue for the cups one time, and it dries so fast that the cups weren’t together perfectly and it had already set up. So I had to take the cups apart and redo the whole thing, but I had a big hot glue mess to clean up before redoing the cups with epoxy.

Glues that are specific for plastic have aggressive solvents in them, which chemicallynond to and basically fuse the plastic. This is overkill, and what’s worse it even risks damaging the driver by fumes that offgas as the glue dries. This is the same reason why I am insistent on avoiding super glue (cyanoacrylate) at all costs.

Just stuck the the epoxy as detailed in the How2 and you’ll be perfectly fine.

As far as the jack, the purpose of the adhesive is not really to hold the jack in place (as the plastic frame inside holds it securely in place) but rather to seal it. If you do not seal the jack with some sort of adhesive (hot glue, epoxy) as I detailed in the How2, there will be an enormous air vent around the jack. The end result will be a noticeable sound change on that side but not on the other side. So on the jack adhesive, again stick to the How2 and you’ll be perfectly fine.

Good luck and let us know you how it goes or if you have any other questions

As a nerd, I really appreciate the expansive and technical explanation given by you! I'll follow the tutorial verbatim then, man, you really know your stuff about modding headphones!

edit: pardon me for pesting you once more, but I would like to be sure: is there any specific recommendation about soldering iron and wire, or any will work? I phoned an electronic components store today and they have 30, 40 and 50 watts models. The price difference between each model is negligible, so shall I just get the 50-watt iron then? Will the 50W heat faster than 30W and 40W irons, or the only difference is that it reach a higher temp?

About the soldering wire, I have an old tube sitting here for a few years (that has been properly stored), I guess it's standard 60% Pb/40% Sn. Will it be sufficient or should I get another soldering alloy with different composition? I think I only soldered once in my life, that's why I'm asking you these noob questions. Once again, thanks a lot for the help with this mod!

 

[bryanswy]

As a nerd, I really appreciate the expansive and technical explanation given by you! I'll follow the tutorial verbatim then, man, you really know your stuff about modding headphones!

edit: pardon me for pesting you once more, but I would like to be sure: is there any specific recommendation about soldering iron and wire, or any will work? I phoned an electronic components store today and they have 30, 40 and 50 watts models. The price difference between each model is negligible, so shall I just get the 50-watt iron then? Will the 50W heat faster than 30W and 40W irons, or the only difference is that it reach a higher temp?

About the soldering wire, I have an old tube sitting here for a few years (that has been properly stored), I guess it's standard 60% Pb/40% Sn. Will it be sufficient or should I get another soldering alloy with different composition? I think I only soldered once in my life, that's why I'm asking you these noob questions. Once again, thanks a lot for the help with this mod!

Hello,

a 30W soldering iron is sufficient for small dimensions. 60% Pb / 40% Sn is the standard composition.

 

[Slater]

Hello,

a 30W soldering iron is sufficient for small dimensions. 60% Pb / 40% Sn is the standard composition.

Agreed. I also recommend 60/40 lead solder. It makes soldering sooo much easier, has a wider temperature range, low melting point, and results in more reliable connections. It is especially forgiving for beginners.

Also don’t forget to use a small amount of no-clean flux!

 

[ksio89]

Agreed. I also recommend 60/40 lead solder. It makes soldering sooo much easier, has a wider temperature range, low melting point, and results in more reliable connections. It is especially forgiving for beginners.

Also don’t forget to use a small amount of no-clean flux!

Thanks again for the reply. What is the purpose of the no-clean flux? Isn't flux only needed to clean oxidation and impurities on the surface to receive the solder?

 

[Slater]

Thanks again for the reply. What is the purpose of the no-clean flux? Isn't flux only needed to clean oxidation and impurities on the surface to receive the solder?

Most flux is corrosive, as it is a mild acid (that’s how it works). You may even see flux referred to as ‘acid flux’. This is why.

Because of this, when you’re finished soldering, you must clean off the flux using solvents (water won’t do). If you don’t clean off the flux residue, the acid will slowly eat the connections as time goes by. This is very had as you can imagine.

But cleaning it with solvents isn’t the best idea either, because you don’t want liquid solvents around sensitive equipment like headphone drivers.

So they make ‘no-clean’ flux, which is safe to leave in place (because it doesn’t contain acid). It does not require cleaning it off.

If you can get the no-clean flux in gel form that’s even better. It is easier to apply to your solder joint, and stays in place. Because it’s a thick gel, there’s little to no danger of the liquid type flux dripping/flowing where it doesn’t belong.

 

[ksio89]

Guys, I have finally finished the modding! Spent most of the weekend working on it, but was really worth it, as I now have two cableless Philips headphones. I had a really hard time soldering the driver wires to the pins of the 1st SHL3300, but the 2nd one was a bit easier, as I had more practice. I bought a cheap auxiliary cable to test while I wait for the Ugreen one, both headphones are working fine so far. Here are a couple of photos I took:

the one on the left has the fake HM5 earpads, but they are very well stitched, are comfortable and give a nice soundstage and balanced sound. The ones on the right have a cheaper earpad pair whose fake leather coating was peeling away, so I removed the remaining pleather with a soft toothbrush and then washed the earpads

SHL3300 with fake HM5 earpads

SHL3300 with smaller earpads

size comparision between both earpads

Slater, even though you highly recommended sealing the hole around the 3.5mm jack with epoxy adhesive, after putting the threaded nut, I noticed it filled the space almost entirely, and I haven't noticed any sound differences between left and right sides, so I'll leave it this way for now

this thick TRS plug housing/strain relief almost doesn't fit the jack, but it's just a placeholder while my Ugreen aux cable doesn't arrive

bonus: both SHL3300s headphones and a Pioneer SE-MS5T that has been serving me well since my Philips phone cable lastly broke. Excellent headphones, they are affordable and sound great, with a sound signature quite similar to the SHL3300. They are also extremely comfortable, unlike the Philips headphones

My two 2¢: I was stubborn and bought a 40-watt soldering iron, and it did the job just fine, not overheating and damaging the pins or the plastic frame of the jack. And now I have a more powerful and versatile iron, being adequate for soldering components on PCBs as well. One suggestion I give is applying translucent or clear-looking epoxy adhesive, as it won't be apparent in case it drips out from the 3.5mm jack or earcups crevices.

And yes Slater, you were absolutely right as usual: a couple of epoxy glue drops was enough to hold the jack into the molded well and the earcups onto each other. After glueing the earcups, I pressed them onto each other while the adhesive initially cures (about 10 minutes), and they don't look like they will separate any soon.

I still have to do something with the headband pleather which is peeling on both headphones, though I don't know exactly what I can do with them. Maybe I'll try removing them and gently grushing off the fake leather as I did with the non-HM5 earpads. Or even asking my mom to stitch a new piece of leather fabric c on them lol.

I can't grateful enough for you @Slater and you @bryanswy for the huge assistance you guys gave me. I'm now rediscovering how amazing these Philips headphones sound for their price. While the durability of the cable is clearly its weakest point, we can easily overcome this issue by easily modding them, but only because of the excellent tutorial created by the ever helpful Slater. Thanks guys!!!

 

[Slater]

Great job! I had confidence that you could do it.

As far as the headband, you can buy zippered covers from Aliexpress, but leather is so much nicer. There’s a few photos of the one I made somewhere in this thread.

Also, you should check the wiring phase, which is a good idea to do anytime you resolder drivers.

There’s a link in my signature

 

[ksio89]

Great job! I had confidence that you could do it.

As far as the headband, you can buy zippered covers from Aliexpress, but leather is so much nicer. There’s a few photos of the one I made somewhere in this thread.

Also, you should check the wiring phase, which is a good idea to do anytime you resolder drivers.

There’s a link in my signature

Thanks again for the tips, I forgot you had also changed the fabric of the headband.

About the wire phasing check, I only noticed the in-phase test tones sounded more frontal to me, where the out of phase samples sounded more lateral, like the sound was inside my head. I couldn't perceive more rumble or higher volume on in-phase tones compared with the respective out-of-phase ones. I tested the Pioneer headphones and the spacial sound perception was exactly the same.

 

[SHAMuuu]

Great job! I had confidence that you could do it.

As far as the headband, you can buy zippered covers from Aliexpress, but leather is so much nicer. There’s a few photos of the one I made somewhere in this thread.

Also, you should check the wiring phase, which is a good idea to do anytime you resolder drivers.

There’s a link in my signature

I knew i wasn't seeing double! Did you change your avatar haha

 

[Slater]

I knew i wasn't seeing double! Did you change your avatar haha

Yup, I was tired of the other one. Plus that photo does a good job of summarizing me in 1 picture lol