# Wired earbuds issue **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994 "2023-01-29T17:54:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/1 "2023-01-29T17:54:04Z")
It seemed I made a dumb mistake by acting in haste. I got a good deal on a set of Razer wired earbuds so as to have better sound quality when playing audio from my phone, but I didn’t read closely enough before pulling the trigger. When I received them I found that they were ios phones and meant for an I-Phone and have a “lightning” connector, and not the regular 3.5mm make jack I need for my android phone. An hour or more in vain has netted me exactly zilch in my search for an adapter that allows me to use these earbuds with my phone. Plenty of Lightning to female 3.5mm adapters, but no lightning to 3.5mm male adapters. Anybody know any other way around this? I don’t think I can just return these since I bought them on one of those “Woot!” deals. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/2 "2023-01-29T18:22:51Z")
Have you checked Amazon? I’ve had pretty good luck getting various connectors. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/3 "2023-01-29T18:28:59Z")
Monoprice and newegg have worked great for me. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/4 "2023-01-29T18:44:13Z")
The specific search would presumably be “male 3.5mm to female lightning adapter” or “male 3.5mm aux to female Apple lightning adapter”. I get no successful hits anywhere. There’s going to be little demand, because iPhones switched _from_ 3.5mm to lightning-only. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/5 "2023-01-29T18:49:06Z")
Maybe there’s a two adapter solution ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/6 "2023-01-29T18:58:39Z")
How’s your soldering ? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/7 "2023-01-29T18:59:49Z")
Here’s lightning female to USB-C. I think this might work - your Android phone probably supports USB-C headphones too, right? [https://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Certified-Headphone-Converter-Earphones/dp/B09SFXVFDT](https://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Certified-Headphone-Converter-Earphones/dp/B09SFXVFDT) It says it’s compatible with > Galaxy S22 Ultra/S22 Plus S22+/ S22, Galaxy S21/ S21+/ S21 Ultra/ S20 FE/ S20/ S20 Ultra/ S20 Plus/ Note 20 Ultra/ 20/ 10/ Note 10+, Galaxy Z Fold, Galaxy Z Flip3,for Google Pixel 6A/ 6 Pro/ 6/ 5/ 4/ 4 XL/ 3/ 3 XL, for OnePlus 11 2023/ 10T 5G 2022/ 10 Pro/ 9 Pro/ 9/ 8T/ 8 Pro/ 7T Pro/ 7T/ 7 Pro/ 7/ 5/ 5T, for Motorola Moto Z, for Moto E 2020, HTC U11 and other Type c devices. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/8 "2023-01-29T20:00:49Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > The specific search would presumably be “male 3.5mm to female lightning adapter” or “male 3.5mm aux to female Apple lightning adapter”. I believe the headphones with a lightning plug are digital and have a D/A converter in the plug which requires power to operate. Since analog over a 3.5mm plug doesn’t supply separate power, there is no way an unpowered adapter would work. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/9 "2023-01-29T20:09:17Z")
That probably also accounts for why the USB-C male to Lightning female that I found is not cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/10 "2023-01-29T20:19:44Z")
Just get a male to male Mini jack extension and combine it with the female adapter. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/11 "2023-01-29T20:20:44Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > combine it with the female adapter What female adapter? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/12 "2023-01-29T20:22:11Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > What female adapter? The OP mentioned… > [@BrickBat](#): > > Plenty of Lightning to female 3.5mm adapters, but no lightning to 3.5mm male adapters. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/13 "2023-01-29T20:22:50Z")
OP has earbuds that are Lightning (male). ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/14 "2023-01-29T20:32:28Z")
Many thanks for the replies so far. The one from the amazon link doesn’t show it as compatible with my ancient-ish Samsung Galaxy 8+, but then… > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Just get a male to male Mini jack extension and combine it with the female adapter. I was ready to jump on that solution, but then… > [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > I believe the headphones with a lightning plug are digital and have a D/A converter in the plug which requires power to operate. Since analog over a 3.5mm plug doesn’t supply separate power, there is no way an unpowered adapter would work. There’s the rub. They do have an amplifier DAC, and as such require power. Just realized this. 😒 ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/15 "2023-01-30T08:13:34Z")
Lightning audio devices are a bit special. Lightning is a pin driver - depending on what it connects to the host can drive the pins in different ways. So it can emulate USB if needed, but other interfaces as well. So this means that Lightning can do interesting things. Which may include directly interfacing to a device with a lower level protocol. Apple doesn’t release information on what happens here. It isn’t impossible that the audio device interface isn’t just I2S. It would avoid a lot of extra junk in the way that just hinders performance. Apple’s own Lightning to 3.5mm adapter has extraordinarily good performance, and all the more so because of its tiny price But that isn’t much help here. Overall it is very unlikely there is a suitable adapter available. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/16 "2023-01-30T11:06:54Z")
Amazon offers returns. Send them back, get compatible headphones. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/17 "2023-01-30T19:29:32Z")
It wasn’t ordered on Amazon and can’t be returned. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/18 "2023-01-30T19:39:08Z")
While I would not recommend the OP doing this themselves, I do wonder if actual digital-audio converter (DAC) is in the plug. If so, then the audio would be analog up to the plug, and I wonder if you could cut off the DAC and replace the end plug with an analog one. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/19 "2023-01-30T21:55:27Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It wasn’t ordered on Amazon and can’t be returned. From what I can tell, Woot is owned by Amazon and takes returns. They may also have a 3.5mm version of the item for an exchange. Much easier than trying to make the square peg fit the round hole. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994/20 "2023-01-30T22:04:34Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > trying to make the square peg fit the round hole Well spotted, very nice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wired-earbuds-issue/978994.md?page=2)