What would happen if I spliced my Shures with Apple iPhone headphone cord?

zo

I hate, nay, LOATHE the way Apple headphones fit.



I had no problems with them until some friend of mine made me use his Shures a few years ago, and 20 seconds later I knew I couldn't go back to Apple headphones.



Now the iPhone, and Apple with it's infinite non-wisdom, decided to make a crap audio connector, and yet the headphones (with Mic) are so convenient to skip a song, talk, etc.



So.. seeing there is seemingly NO ONE that has come out with an alternative to the Apple iPhone headphones (compatible with the jack, has mic, and can possible stop/skip and maybe even adjust volume), I find myself with the idea of cutting off the buds of my Shure e4c, splicing them with the Apple iPhone wires, and hoping for the best.



My question is: is it sacrilege? Will it be worth it? The wires on the Shures are noticeably thicker, will the audio suck?



I guess I can always just re-re-attach them to their respective wires if it goes awry... although it'd look like a botched transplant...

dfiler

If you're good with a soldering iron, go for it. The wires are a bit small but it is definitely dooable.



Finish up with shrink wrap and it should look just fine.

tonton

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZO


I hate, nay, LOATHE the way Apple headphones fit.



I had no problems with them until some friend of mine made me use his Shures a few years ago, and 20 seconds later I knew I couldn't go back to Apple headphones.



Now the iPhone, and Apple with it's infinite non-wisdom, decided to make a crap audio connector, and yet the headphones (with Mic) are so convenient to skip a song, talk, etc.



So.. seeing there is seemingly NO ONE that has come out with an alternative to the Apple iPhone headphones (compatible with the jack, has mic, and can possible stop/skip and maybe even adjust volume), I find myself with the idea of cutting off the buds of my Shure e4c, splicing them with the Apple iPhone wires, and hoping for the best.



My question is: is it sacrilege? Will it be worth it? The wires on the Shures are noticeably thicker, will the audio suck?



I guess I can always just re-re-attach them to their respective wires if it goes awry... although it'd look like a botched transplant...

I'd keep the Shures as they are and splice a female 1/8" plug on to the end of the iPhone headphone wire instead.

vinea

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonton


I'd keep the Shures as they are and splice a female 1/8" plug on to the end of the iPhone headphone wire instead.

+10

zo

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonton


I'd keep the Shures as they are and splice a female 1/8" plug on to the end of the iPhone headphone wire instead.

Not sure I follow...

dfiler

You can buy a 1/8 inch headphone extension cord at radioshak. Then cut it down to only an inch long and attach the skinny apple male headphone jack. That way, the expensive headphones remain intact. Only the apple headphones are sacrificed and you have an adapter that'll work on any pair of headphones you buy in the future.



Excellent, and shamefully obvious of an idea now that it has been mentioned.

mr. h

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonton


I'd keep the Shures as they are and splice a female 1/8" plug on to the end of the iPhone headphone wire instead.

This is definitely what you should do.



You should note though that the last time I took cheap headphones apart, I discovered that the wire was made out of multi-stranded enameled wire. The enamel is an insulator and had to be scraped off in order for the wire to take solder - this was very tricky as each wire was very thin; "scraping" often accidentally turned into "cutting".



If you are going to go ahead with this, make sure you are prepared to write-off your Apple earphones.



It is odd that no third-parties have released replacement iPhone headphones.

splinemodel

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonton


I'd keep the Shures as they are and splice a female 1/8" plug on to the end of the iPhone headphone wire instead.

Disagree. This makes a lot of annoying cord-slack and adds a bulky connector. I have a setup like this on my non-Apple music phone, and it's rubbish. Just solder the freaking Shures onto the Apple cord. It will be fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. H


You should note though that the last time I took cheap headphones apart, I discovered that the wire was made out of multi-stranded enameled wire. The enamel is an insulator and had to be scraped off in order for the wire to take solder - this was very tricky as each wire was very thin; "scraping" often accidentally turned into "cutting".

This is true. Sometimes you can burn off the insulation. If that's your plan, keep the plastic insulated part of the cord in a bowl of ice water so you don't accidentally set it afire.

zo

ok, I get what you mean now.



I actually have the adapter already and have been using the Shures with my iPhone every now and then. But there's a few problems:



1) They are frikken LONG. They must be 5 feet long, thats just insane. One thing I have to give to Apple is I've always appreciated that they have nice and short earphone cables

2) I want to be able to use the microphone plus pause/skip button.



So, I think I will have to go with the Shure-buds-onto-iPhone-wire.



Is soldering actually necessary? Can't I just splice the wires and twist the corresponding ones by hand? Or is that a guaranteed way of getting crappy quality audio?

mr. h

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZO


2) I want to be able to use the microphone plus pause/skip button.

You can buy just a socket designed to be soldered onto wire (like this), and solder it onto the iPhone earphone cable above the microphone & pause/skip button.



Personally, I reckon ending up with a longer earphone cable than you need is a good tradeoff to guarantee that you don't write-off your (extremely expensive) E4C earphones.

zo

And then what? Have my Shures attached to the upper end of the Apple headphones?? How's that going to help?

mr. h

Your iPhone earphones look like this:



3.5 mm plug --> microphone & pause button --> earpieces



right?



So, you cut off the earpieces above the microphone & pause button to give you this:



3.5 mm plug --> microphone & pause button --> bare wire



Then solder on the socket:



3.5 mm plug --> microphone & pause button --> 3.5 mm socket



Now, you can attach any earphones you like, e.g.:



3.5 mm plug --> microphone & pause button --> 3.5 mm socket --> 3.5 mm plug --> E4C earpieces.

zo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. H


Your iPhone earphones look like this:



3.5 mm plug --> microphone & pause button --> earpieces



right?



So, you cut off the earpieces above the microphone & pause button to give you this:



3.5 mm plug --> microphone & pause button --> bare wire



Then solder on the socket:



3.5 mm plug --> microphone & pause button --> 3.5 mm socket



Now, you can attach any earphones you like, e.g.:



3.5 mm plug --> microphone & pause button --> 3.5 mm socket --> 3.5 mm plug --> E4C earpieces.

ok, thats what I thought.. but then I'd end up with 3 feet of Apple earphones, 5 feet of Shure earphones.... and a mic/pause button that would hang somewhere around my feet.



Or... I can sell my E4cs, get the new SE420 and get the Mic Adapater. Again, the Mic would be somewhere around my chest, but whatever...



Are there really no true alternatives to Apple's iPhone earphones that have the same features (maybe even adding volume control) but are sound isolating?? I woulda thought every manufacturer would've jumped on this a while ago!

dfiler

If there isn't already, there will be soon. The market for 3rd party iPod/iPhone accessories is absolutely massive.



I suspect that Apple will single-handedly redefine the standard diameter for the body of headphone plugs.



(Whether this is a good or bad thing... I'll leave that to another thread.)