Home› Life

Headset sound loss/deviation

DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
edited October 2010 in Life
I've been an owner of several headsets including Plantronics and Razer. What I've noticed is that many headsets, in fact all of them, after several months of wear, get extremely sensible when you use the volume control knob on the cord.

When I use my razer headset and try to control the volume by lowering the knob, the sound goes from left to right then vice versa. One side gets louder than the other and I have to apply pressure on the knob to equalize the audio.

Is there anyway this compartment could be removed and just twist the corresponding cables together?

ap777m.jpg

What I mean is to remove the red portion, cut at the green and twist them together.

Should work right?
Share on Twitter

Comments

  • DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
    edited October 2010
    Never mind, I fixed it.

    I got ahold of black electric tape and taped the "volume control scroll wheel" rigidly. I noticed that whenever the volume control wheel was pushed
    or
    , static would be heard and sound from one ear would be muffled.

    I pressed the wheel and try to cause the audio interefernce and nothing happened. The tape is however starting to peel off, nothing rubberband can't fixed.

    :thumbsup:
    Share on Twitter
  • GumboGumbo Regular
    edited October 2010
    Don't buy headsets that have those volume thingers in them. They always do it. Try to find one with a volume control on the earpiece, or just avoid it altogether. :[
    Share on Twitter
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited October 2010
    Yes it is possible, and it is a very easy thing to do. If you still want to I can explain how to do it.

    (soldering required)
    Share on Twitter
  • JackJack Regular
    edited October 2010
    Soldering? You can't just splice it? I've had the same problem (I always buy headsets with inline mute and volume control because they're easiest to handle for the home-based call center work).
    Share on Twitter
  • DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
    edited October 2010
    Katzenklavier wrote: »
    Yes it is possible, and it is a very easy thing to do. If you still want to I can explain how to do it.

    (soldering required)
    I don't think soldering would be required. I have another headset whose cord got cut off and I just twisted the pair and taped them up, it worked. It didn't have the volume control so that's why I was uneasy about doing it on this one.
    Share on Twitter
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited October 2010
    The "volume" is just an inline rheostat. It can go without a problem. I would still use solder and heat shrink tubing. It will be much stronger and look a lot better than tape.

    sfnvd.png
    Share on Twitter
  • DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
    edited October 2010
    Katzenklavier wrote: »
    The "volume" is just an inline rheostat. It can go without a problem. I would still use solder and heat shrink tubing. It will be much stronger and look a lot better than tape.

    sfnvd.png
    Well I'm still getting a bit of a higher pitch on one side but it'd be a drag to solder.

    As for the heatshrinking tubes, they sell then by packs of 20s where I live.



    Hold on, there's 2 cables. One is the mic and the other one's the headphones. It's shielded by some knitted cloth thread and they're identical. If I screw them up when soldering, I could always just strip a bit more right?
    Share on Twitter
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited October 2010
    If you use thin heatshrink tube, you may get away with no soldering, but don't pull on the cable.
    The pitch is a problem with your voice coils though and is unfixable. I thought you had a volume problem.
    Share on Twitter
  • DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
    edited October 2010
    Katzenklavier wrote: »
    If you use thin heatshrink tube, you may get away with no soldering, but don't pull on the cable.
    The pitch is a problem with your voice coils though and is unfixable. I thought you had a volume problem.
    My bad. I meant volume, not pitch.

    I'm gonna pull the cable at some point by accident however.
    Share on Twitter
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited October 2010
    Then I'd recommend soldering it. You can buy $7 irons at radioshack. They're crappy but they work.
    Share on Twitter
  • DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
    edited October 2010
    Katzenklavier wrote: »
    Then I'd recommend soldering it. You can buy $7 irons at radioshack. They're crappy but they work.
    I already have one.

    I just don't trust my shaking hands.
    Share on Twitter
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited October 2010
    Oh right, dysgraphia...

    Hmm, have a friend do it?
    Share on Twitter
  • DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
    edited October 2010
    Katzenklavier wrote: »
    Oh right, dysgraphia...

    Hmm, have a friend do it?
    I'll take it to work tomorrow.
    Share on Twitter
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited October 2010
    The wires are color coded, just match up the colors. If they are not the standard colors...

    Red = Right
    White = Left
    Uncoated = Ground

    ...just test with an ohmmeter to find out what connects where. Ground will always be uncoated or black though. The wires are very thin, in normal headphones it's just twisted wire, in high quality headphones it's litz wire. Either way they could have two types of insulation.

    Rubber = Just pull this stuff off normally.
    Enamel = This is plastic clearcoat that cannot be soldered through. To remove it burn it off with a bic lighter then use fine sandpaper to clean off the ash. You should be able to solder to it now.
    Share on Twitter
  • DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
    edited October 2010
    Ended up doing it myself.

    Took me an hour to solder, just finished. Sound is FUCKING amazing.

    Just gotta finish the mic + and mic -.

    Any tips on soldering? I had a hard time getting the solder on the tip of the stripped cables, it kept falling off.
    Share on Twitter
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited October 2010
    What kind of solder did you use? You need rosin cored solder for electronics, not plumbing solder.
    Share on Twitter
  • DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
    edited October 2010
    Wdf man. I thought solder was solder.

    I bought it at a dollar shop for $1.40.

    It came in a spiral, looks pretty generic.
    Share on Twitter
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited October 2010
    You can use plumbing solder, but as you experienced it's quite hard to wet wires with it.
    Share on Twitter
  • DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
    edited October 2010
    I think the problem was my soldering iron. The tip was blacked out and I had to keep scraping it off with pliers to let it make contact with the solder and burn it.

    I ended up buying a soldering iron from radioshack for 9 bucks. Gonna try soldering again in the evening.
    Share on Twitter
Sign In or Register to comment.