ARCHIVED - Feedback & General Discussion

[purkolator]

Hi all,

I have been thoroughly enjoying my new G1 for the last week or so with one major exception.  Music!  After trying out the included headset for about 3 minutes, I swore it off.  They felt just like the i-pod headphones to me and I hate those.  Maybe I have big ears or something, but I always feel like they are about to fall out and I get zero bass response.  I generally prefer earbuds with a tight fitting rubber or foam earpieces (like the Sony EX51s and EX71s or my favorites, Etymotics!). 

Sooo, not wanting to have to hassle with adapters if at all possible, I figured I could perform a little surgery on the included headset and get what I wanted. 

Note: If you decide to try this hack, I take no responsibility for you screwing it up and breaking your headset or your phone.  You will need intermediate or better soldering skills, common sense, patience and some luck to be successful.  Don't ever solder or poke around the circuit board while the headset is plugged in.  Once again, be careful and don't blame me if you mess up.

-First I pried open the casing on the mic/button section of the headset.  I used my fingernail to get it started and then a small flathead screwdriver to get it apart.  Be gentle!

-Then it is simply a matter of de-soldering the the headphones from the little PCB inside the casing.  Note the way that the wires are dressed (especially the knot) in there so that you can do the same thing when you close it up. 

-Once you have got the old headphones off, you need to put your new headphones on.  I bought a pair of Phillips SHE-9500 headphones that were on sale at the local drug store for about 15 bucks.  They have asymmetrical cables just like the G1 headset.  Impedance may make a difference.  These were listed at 16 ohms and seem to work fine.

-I hacked the headphones off right after single cable split into separate left and right cables, ran them through the holes in the casing and grommet (don't forget the knot) , stripped back some insulation at the wire end and soldered the cables to the PCB.  The pads on the PCB are nicely labeled with L+, R+, L- and R-.  Most headphones use blue wire for left positive and red wire for right.  The other wire on each cable is the ground for that side.

-Note that the wire used in many headphones is covered with some kind of non-conductive coating (I think).  It can be a bear to solder sometimes.  Patience is required.  Be sure to tin you wires first before trying to solder to the PCB.  

-Put it all back together.  This is the part that probably took me the longest.  That said it was still only about 5 minutes.  The knot can get in the way and you might need to do a little poking with a screw driver to get it to fit.  

-Plug in and rock out with MUCH better sound!  (and, oh yeah... the mic and button functions still work just fine)

Here are some pictures of the opened up headset and the final product...

http://picasaweb.google.com/purkolator/G1HeadsetHack#

all best,

Purkolator

Message Edited by purkolator on 10-30-2008 12:25 AM

Message Edited by purkolator on 10-30-2008 12:40 AM

[jinlee]

Now if you can "Upgrade" the headset to accept a charger input and still be able to listen to music while charging, i think you'd strike it rich.

[frito]

I did something simular to mine but i soldered a jack in so i can use whatever for the time being but its just temporary untill my new headset comes in

http://www.expansys-usa.com/p.aspx?i=159613

Not sure why HTC didnt send out this headset instead of the one we got they should have  we would all be alot happier if they did

 

[Jay]

/Insert standard warning about warranties, try at your own risk, etc. here/

You make MacGyver proud!  That non-conductive coating on the wires can usually be removed by gentle application of fire.  That's how I was able to soldier a few Wii sensor-bar cables.  Be careful though, it tends to flare up when it burns off.

[JesperSP]

I just bought the G1 Android phone last Thursday, upgrading from an N73 Music edition. While I like the fact that the G1 has a better browser, better applications and a generally faster OS, I hate the fact that it does not have an FM radio (call me old-fashioned - I haven't found the same stations broadcasted over the internet yet). Moreover, I really dislike the soundquality of the bundled headset (No bass ect.), being acustomed to the high quality music that I get from the N73 with the HS-23 headset. I'm pretty good with a soldering ion, but I think I would prefer to buy one that works instead of making it myself. Maybe you shoud start a production of music headsets for the G1 - I'd be the first buy one. Do you know if HTC sells headsets for the android that are better than the bundled one?

Cheers,

Jesper 

[benji]

---

JesperSP wrote:

...Do you know if HTC sells headsets for the android that are better than the bundled one? 

Cheers,

Jesper 

---

 Take a look here: http://forums.t-mobile.com/tmbl/board/message?board.id=87&thread.id=1326