I’ve always bought cheap headphones and they always start to get real “touchy” around the jack, i.e. I have to move the plug around to get them to broadcast in stereo. So I finally bought a “good” pair of headphones for work (all ear enclosing ones so I can blast the music) and now they’re strating to do the same thing! So I have several related questions:
How does the headphone jack work? I’m looking at it and I see the somewhat pointy tip, a thin black plastic band, more metal, another band, and the remainder of the plug. How is the sound sent to the headphones? Does one section control the left side and another section the right side?
Is the stereo-crapping-out problem from the headphones or the jack? At work, I have the headphones plugged into the desktop speakers.
What is exactly is going on that makes it crap out? I assume it’s some sort of contact problem.
Is there anyway to prevent it from happening or to fix it once it does happen?
Anyway, thanks for any info. I look forward to hearing from the electronics gurus.
Do you wrap the cord for your 'phones around something when you put them away? If so, you might be overstressing the part of the cord that meets the jack, causing a loss in signal strength or connection.
It is a contact problem. You are correct in assuming each portion of the plug carries the left or right / positive and negative contacts.
You can try cleaning the plug with a pencil eraser for a better contact or rub it lightly on some high grit sandpaper if you notice it corroding.
I don’t know of a way however of cleaning the contacts inside the computer.
I rescued a 2 pair of Koss headphones (supposedly a good brand) from a thrift store for $10. Add another $3 at Radio Shack for a pair of new stereo banana jacks and I have 2 very good sounding pair of headphones. In both sets the wire strands broke around the back of the jack due to stress. I added some heat shrink to support the wires at the plug. My twin 7 year old granddaughters have been using them the past few months and neither has broken yet.
You have described a tip, ring, sleeve plug.
Tip=left
Ring=right
Sleeve=ground (for both)
The jack in the computer may be getting mechanically unsound (probably not if you get better results with a different set of 'phones). The plug itself may be getting loose, mechanically speaking, or the wires where the jack connects to the cable may be getting cracked.
If this is a common occurance for you, you might want to consider wireless headphones, or, as racer suggests, put some stress relief on the plug.
You know, I bet this is the reason. I don’t twist up the cord but I’m really good at forgetting they’re on and yanking the speakers off the desk. Hmm, I was just thinking it was something with the jack.
racer72, is it difficult to replace the jacks? Could I do it with a wire stripper and some electrical tape? The headphones I have are actually kinda pricey Sennheiser’s and I’d sure like to get them working properly.
usually headphones fail because the copper wires are broken inside the plastic cord. that usually happens either near the jack or near the headphone itself ( because that is where most bending occurs ).
however, if the problem is with the contact then you have to consider your PLAYER might have corroded contacts too … its a good idea to buy headphones with gold plated jacks.
Sennheiser headphones ( and some other ones ) come with replaceable cords, the replacement cord is $12. i already replaced mine once, took care of the problem.
Cutting off the plug and putting on a new one can be a considerable pain. The wires in there tend to be really, tiny, fine wires that are impossible to solder. Sometimes. If there’s a standard replacement cord, get that.
One trick to reduce cable strain is to run a piece of nylon cord alongside the cable, but slightly shorter, by maybe half inch.
Tie or fasten it off at both ends at some rigid part, not onto the cable itself of course.
If it is a curly cord you can run the stress relief cord right down throught the middle, otherwise you will need to bind the headphone cord along its lenght to the stress relief cord.
Your untimate bet would be to use infra red headphones, no leads to damage at all.
Like you suggested, there’s a small chance that by jerking the speakers (and hence the headphone port) off the desk, you have damaged the port and not the 'phones. NoCoolBoy suggested you try different headphones in the same jack you use now, but it works both ways. Try plugging the “bad” phones into something else, such as a home stereo or a CD player or a co-worker’s computer, to make sure the 'phones are the problem and not the jack. Your computer’s CD-ROM drive may have a headphone jack in it that you can use to test this too.
If it is the port that has been damaged, it’s possible that jerking it around has caused a solder connection to come loose inside. It’s not very likely—many headphones have cable problems as mentioned above—but before you begin stripping wires and making a mess, I’d test the headphones in other appliances.
I had a USB mouse that went bad and I swore it was a faulty cable. It took wiggling to make the mouse work, and was finicky and positional. I swore it was the cable, right up until the USB port snapped off and fell inside my laptop to rattle around.
To avoid overstressing the cord where it meets the jack, wrap the cord around the jack a few times and then wrap with duct tape, so the stress is on the tape instead of the cord. Do the same at the point where the cord meets the heatphones.
I have many hours of training in soldering (I was an electronics tech in the Navy and electrician in the aerospace industry) so it was a piece of cake for me. Replacing a plug is very easy and can be done with a $10 Radio Shack soldering iron. Just cut off the old plug and a couple inches of wire. Strip the wires to the directions on the package. Slide the plug cover, solder on the wires, assemble and test. Or a local TV and stereo repair shop can do it for less than $20. Here and here are a couple of examples of replacement plugs.
For a really kludgy fix that requires no electronic skill at all, make a loop of the cord right at the jack. Wiggle it around until it works properly, then tape it there.
No worries Fish, I have actually made misteaks myself on occasion.
