Replace 3.5mm Audio Jack for Sennheiser CX-200 II?

[RadioActive]

I got a Sennhesier CX-200 ear-phones, they were great until their audio jack got busted. So, I clipped it off, got a new generic stereo jack and tried to replace it but the generic stereo jack has only 2 wires while the CX-200 has 3 wires (Gold, Green, and Red). I tried all combinations I can think of to join the jack to the CX-200 but nothing seems to work.

I'm that both the jack and the CX-200 are not damaged or faulty but I just can't figure out how to join them together so I would really appreciate the input.

Here are some real-life photos I took in hi-res to give you a better idea.

[Psycho-gHo]

http://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/portables/14935.html

Might be helpful. The copper is a ground; I think it gets soldered to the chassis of the plug, while the green/red get soldered to the contacts respectively... i could be wrong.

[majithia23]

how many wires does the white jack have in total ?

from what i can see , there are only 2 .

for a proper stereo wire with L/R channels , there should be four ...

not the 2 white ones that are visible , but the total distinct copper wires .

2 separate strands in each white . 4 in total .

are they there ?

edit ::: if there are 4 wires in it , then its easy to make the connections and your head phones might work back again .

let me know .

[RadioActive]

http://www.ecoustics...bles/14935.html

Might be helpful. The copper is a ground; I think it gets soldered to the chassis of the plug, while the green/red get soldered to the contacts respectively... i could be wrong.

I'll check it out, thanks.

how many wires does the white jack have in total ?

from what i can see , there are only 2 .

for a proper stereo wire with L/R channels , there should be four ...

not the 2 white ones that are visible , but the total distinct copper wires .

2 separate strands in each white . 4 in total .

are they there ?

edit ::: if there are 4 wires in it , then its easy to make the connections and your head phones might work back again .

let me know .

As I already mentioned, the audio jack has only 2 wires.

[majithia23]

hmmm....

only 2 wires means its a pseudo stereo jack or one of an inferior quality .

as i said before , there needs to be 2 separate strands of wire in each white one , making a total of 4 wire strands .

this is how its works ---

each sheathed wire of a stereo jack ( in this case the white ones ) , should have 1 strand of copper wire in the center and the 2nd strand of wire encircling it in the periphery .

same way for the second one ( in this case the second white . )

the main wires in the center are the ones dedicated for Left / Right channels , and the ones encircling them in the periphery are the earth wires , or say the ones for the common signal to both .

so , you entwine the peripheral strands of wires of both the wires into one single wire and leave the center strands of wires as they are .

so now you will be having 3 strands of wires . Left , Right , Common .

and if you notice the Sennheiser Audio wire , it too has 3 wires .

now , just connect the center strands of wires from this audio jack with the Red and Green on the Sennheiser ,

and the 3rd common one with the yellow Copper strand of Sennheiser .

insulate all the connections properly and make sure not even a single speck of wire touch any other wire or connection outside of their designated ones or else you will have bad sound quality .

most likely your Head Phones should be back working again ...

lat me know , if more help needed .

[RadioActive]

@majithia23, thanks for explanation. I know it's not a high quality jack but it's all I got at the moment and I don't believe it has any common/ground wire.

But, I'll double check again when I go home (I'm at work now) just to be sure.

So, for now let's assume it only has 2 wires, can it work with the CX-200? If yes, the how?

Thanks again.

[ck_kent]

@Longherin: It wouldn't work with just two wires if you want a stereo output. The jack with two wires you got most probably is configured to mono only or two speakers with mono connection (both speakers working but with only one channel working), not separate left and right channels. You will need a ground wire for each channel (left & right). The copper wire in the Sennhesier is used as the ground for both the left & right channels (shared).

You could remove the wires and solder three wires properly to make it stereo. It's better if you have a multimeter to check which one is left & right on the connector. If you check the 3.5mm jack it is separated into three, the lower part being the ground and the two upper parts are left & right channels.

Judging from the picture of the wires of your Sennhesier, it will be a bit tricky to connect the two (red & green) because the wires are not copper. I've tried once, using a Sony earphone, which has exactly the same wires with yours and soldering it is not possible. The wire is like a thin thread which just burns in contact with the hot iron. You could probably just try twisting it.

Good luck! :)

[majithia23]

@majithia23, thanks for explanation. I know it's not a high quality jack but it's all I got at the moment and I don't believe it has any common/ground wire. But, I'll double check again when I go home (I'm at work now) just to be sure. So, for now let's assume it only has 2 wires, can it work with the CX-200? If yes, the how? Thanks again.

sadly no ..!

you can try connecting the only white ones with the red and green on Sennheiser , but m pretty sure it wont work or atleast it wouldnt sound good if it does work .. !

get yourself a proper stereo jack of high quality as i described , esp if you want to make your head phones sound back as they use to be .

they aint that expensive . try your local good one electronic shop .

and even if its not available , you can make one of your own .

get a bare metal 3.5 mm stereo jack and a set of good quality coaxial copper wires and you are good to go .

[RadioActive]

Ok, I'm home now, so I stripped the jack bare and took another photo with all parts exposed so you can get a better idea since I'm afraid I'm kinda new at this.

I numbered the parts I can see to make it easier for anyone who'd like to describe.

[ck_kent]

Since you were able to disassemble the jack, you could directly connect the wires from your Sennheiser to it. In the picture, the ground wire goes to hole of #4. The left and right channel (blue and red wires) go to #2 and #3. You might want to check first if it is outputting on the right channel, meaning the left earpiece outputs left channel and right outputs right channel. Just make sure that all three wire don't touch each other. But, like I said in my previous post, it gets very tricky in connecting/twisting the red and green wires because I believe their not copper.

[RadioActive]

Since you were able to disassemble the jack, you could directly connect the wires from your Sennheiser to it. In the picture, the ground wire goes to hole of #4. The left and right channel (blue and red wires) go to #2 and #3. You might want to check first if it is outputting on the right channel, meaning the left earpiece outputs left channel and right outputs right channel. Just make sure that all three wire don't touch each other. But, like I said in my previous post, it gets very tricky in connecting/twisting the red and green wires because I believe their not copper.

I tried as you suggested but nothing, and I also tried all combinations I think of, still nothing.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong ere. Those damn wires are getting on my nerves, they're too thin and I'm pretty sure they ain't copper, they feel more like threads than wires, I even thought they just might be the isolation but when I stripped them further there was nothing inside, they all are just threads intertwined. But how can that be? It would mean all 3 wires aren't isolation which doesn't make sense.

Am I missing something here?

[ck_kent]

Those three connections I mentioned are the only important ones. But, like I said from previous experience using a Sony earphone, it's hard/impossible to connect them. They are not using copper with their wires more like threads, like you said, and you can't solder it too. I gave up on fixing the earphone myself. :(

[RadioActive]

It's a real shame, I love the CX-200, I bought a Creative EP-430 as a replacement but it doesn't hold a candle to the CX-200.

I guess I'll have to tolerate the EP-430 until I can afford something better :(

Thanks for all your help guys.

[ecc]

It's possible that the green and red wires have some insulation material painting on the surface. All you need is a fine sand paper, to sand the insulation material gently. When you see the copper color, connect the wires to the jack like ck_kent said.