DIY iPhone earbud replacement

One of our gripes with the iPhone are those ill fitting earbuds shipped in the box. Unfortunately, you don't have many options at the moment unless you're willing to live without the convenience of the mic / music toggle built into Apple's headphone cable. Even then, there's a good chance that your third party audio-only headphones won't fit the non-standard, standard jack. No worries, assuming you're not afraid of a wee bit (promise!) of soldering, you can fit the Apple cable with another set of buds of your choosing. Really, it doesn't look too difficult and James Papadopoulos even worked up a video tutorial which you can peep after the break.

[humpty @ Jul 5th 2007 7:25AM]

Lets see, you spend $600 on a phone, $800+ yearly on a locked in plan, $80-$110 to replace your battery yearly, more $$ on accessories..... and, YOU CANT FIND MONEY TO BUY A BETTER SET OF HEADPHONES?

[Vinay @ Jul 5th 2007 7:32AM]

No, stupid Apple made the form-factor in such a way that proprietary headphones don't work with them. Either they don't plug in, or the mic won't work.


Indeed, another Apple rip-off.

[blueeyesm @ Jul 5th 2007 10:30AM]

I fully agree with you - dropping about 20 bucks to get a decent set of earbuds is not that much trouble.

What gets me, is that there a reason why the earbud used by Apple is NOT meant to be inserted so into the ear canal ..


it's so YOU WON'T GO DEAF!

Ihope this guy doesn't play back the audio cranked up regardless of how snug that piece fits in.


strider_mt2k has it right - cut the end off the adapter with some cable to spare and make an adapter. It's that hard to use a multi-meter to trace out what wires are what.

[Mark @ Jul 5th 2007 12:25PM]

"What gets me, is that there a reason why the earbud used by Apple is NOT meant to be inserted so into the ear canal .. it's so YOU WON'T GO DEAF!"

You can always pick out an Apple fanboy by their use of lies. Listen bucko, Apple itself sells the in-ear type (canalphones, IEMs) for forty bucks to people who want good sound. I suggest buying a pair and shoving them because you obviously can't appreciate good sound.

The earphones Apple includes are cheap and will cause hearing loss, whereas good canalphones allow you to turn the music down because they're not fighting to be heard at the same time as the rest of the world.

I would also go with a 3.5mm adapter and retain the ability to fit different earphones on it, but that would be ugly. This is a very neat and clean mod.

[AJ @ Jul 5th 2007 12:26PM]

Prepare for a bit of rant. I post this here because most others probably wont get read any, longer.
First off to keep relevant to this post. I think the non standard ... standard jack is good and bad. Good as it protects the jack end a bit better for less a chance to rip the end off during an accidental bump/drop/ect.
Bad only because very few fit the jack. (unless you get the adapter that can double as an antenna look alike.

*Off Earbud Topic, but continuing about the iPhone and other whiners*

I find it quite funny how people complain about different points of the iPhone.
First off let me say I am no fanboy. I am a religious PC user and if try to use a mac, can hardly find anything that is Not on a desktop of a mac.
I bought my wife a creative mp3 player, Not an iPod not to long ago.

Continuing...

People complain about how the battery needs to be replaced every two years or so (depending on variable use). Most phones act in this manner. The only gotcha is the rental phone price which I don't agree with personally. At the same time though most will want to upgrade by then.

Second, how can anyone complain about "They get you for $500 or $600 and then you have to pay $80+ per month for x service.
Let me say I pay $87 per month with a sprint "Mobile" phone NOT a Smartphone. The features I have are - free incoming minutes, picture messaging, mobile web access, and early nights and weekends, 300 anytime minutes.
Seeing as I could spend that much or a little less for the iPhone plan that would blow that away (accept for picture messaging which I rarely use) is saying a lot. So what is the point of complaining about the iPhone and its data plan when most equivalent Smartphone plans are about the same along with Just as expensive blackberry/treo/xxxsmartphone's of your choice? (the only price difference is when you throw in mail in rebates for the other phones, but the blackberry 8800 = $600 dollars before rebates for example. So there are many other just as expensive phones out there that are in their 3rd or later generations JUST getting newer and better features than their predecessors)

Which leads me into my next topic. Phone options/features. Tell me....when was the last time there was a older treo that could not do something your newer model does (oh the one you upgraded from?) exactly. People whine about how they are locked in for a 2 year ripoff plan or Apple will get you for more money when they release a new iPhone model with better features.....
Being its been said 3g can be implimented with a software upgrade... that arguement stands until that happens (hence no phone upgrade...no extra money). Alot of software issues, things that arent included can be fixed by software upgrades. And even when they DO put out another replacement model for $xxx it wont be any different from Palm when they released the Treo 700w/p to replace the 650, or the 750 to replace the 700...see a pattern of technology here? I do.

I agree the iPhone is far from perfect. But what phone IS perfect? Different users favor different options more than others. For it being the first phone Apple has made I don't think they did to bad a job at all. And like I said before I am far from an Apple fanboy but.. 1. I will be getting one when my sprint contract is up next month. 2. If your going to whine and cry about the phone, at least have a valid argument and think about how other phones have evolved overtime to include features they did not have in their first gen/previous models.

Your point is better taken from a non crying perspective.

[M@ @ Jul 5th 2007 8:10PM]

AJ said: "I agree the iPhone is far from perfect. But what phone IS perfect?"

As a fellow non-fanboy - true, but I expected more of Apple. Apple have built their reputation on having a stable, secure, user-friendly platform and to release something that doesn't seem quite ready for prime-time (buggy browser, half-arsed email) would appear to me to undermine that more than anything. Sure, they can fix the bugs and even add features with patches and iPhone 2.0, but wasn't the same said in defense of the Zune when the iPod fans trashed it?

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 5th 2007 7:40AM]

If you are soldering anyway, why not just shorten that cable a bit and put a standard inline stereo 1/8 jack on the thing and have your choice of oh, ALL the available headphones on the planet?

'sow I roll.

[sshah87 @ Jul 5th 2007 10:19AM]

or you could just get a walkman phone. comes with that kind of connector in the box, and costs you a lot less, too.

[Riz @ Aug 8th 2007 3:56AM]

Will that still let you use the mic+button that the iPhone headphone have? Didn't think so ...

[guilt+1 @ Jul 5th 2007 7:58AM]

Gizmodo reported on the V-moda headsets which work with the iPhone.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/screw-the-iphone-speakers/v+moda-vibe-duo-headphonesheadset-come-iphone-ready-274937.php

seems an easier option if you ask me.

[mustharshid @ Jul 5th 2007 8:43AM]

iPhone should really be a revolutionary product - it ask you initially for $600, then another $100 for battery and you get to modify your own earphones! People still drool over it - isn't that revolutionary already?

[mustharshid @ Jul 5th 2007 8:46AM]

And yes, it doesn't have half the regular features in a similar phone of that price range. Truly revolutionary. I'm serious, really.

[Jamie @ Jul 5th 2007 8:51AM]

I did the same with my HTC PDA, its the best way to keep the functionality of the mic etc. Great tutorial, probably the best home one I've seen. Good work.

[freyes @ Jul 5th 2007 8:59AM]

Well, when Palm uses a proprietary plug for their Treo audio line jack, fanboys scream and holler. When Iphone does the same thing, no peeps are heard. Must be the applemania!!!

[uShak @ Jul 5th 2007 10:08AM]

Umm an easier method:

Take the 3.5 mm plug of your third party headphones\stereo headset... and cut\strip the plastic molding around the plug area. now you can fit it into the iphone jack.

[deslock @ Jul 5th 2007 10:32AM]

Yeah, I already did that and it's been working fine except for the lack of iPhone controls/microphone in the headphone wire.

I'm going to follow these instructions for my old set of Sony MDR-EX51LPs. FYI for anyone else with the MDR-EXs, to take off the earbud cover, pry up the round plate from the bottom below the three holes. You can also pull off the access panel below the earbud (where it says Sony) by pulling up on he end above the L/R.

[Rick Burgett @ Jul 5th 2007 2:03PM]

Hey deslock,

Any idea how the ex71s come apart?
If anyone else knows, I would appreciate any tips.
This is an easy mod.
One point that many seem to be missing is that this retains the functionality of the controls. There is nothing, including the V-Moda's, that will give the controls that are incorporated into the mic.

[Ken @ Jul 5th 2007 10:14AM]

Papadopoulos? Wasn't that the name of Webster's step parents?

[SimonF @ Jul 5th 2007 10:19AM]

This story appeared in my No Apple feed. Please stop with the apple marketing!

[jps @ Jul 5th 2007 1:34PM]

I have two simple rules:
1. never post anything even remotely personal about a commenter
2. keep all comments directed at the substance (not the form or execution) of the post

Anything else is useless, juvenile dreck.

All this is to say that you, and everyone complaining on here about the iphone coverage, really make me want to break it and degenerate into profanity.

[Dru Richman @ Jul 5th 2007 11:18AM]

While the iPhone headphone jack isn't exactly proprietary, it is constructed in such a way as to minimize the strain on the headphone cable. (A major cause of headphone failure in MP3 devices).

[KenC @ Jul 5th 2007 9:15PM]

Damned if you do, and damned if you don't. Remember when Apple was criticised for having iPod headphone jacks that crackled when you wiggled them? Well, how do you fix it, you have headphone jacks that don't wiggle, by inserting them deeper. You don't need to buy new headphones, just take a short knife and whittle the plastic sheath a little on your headphone jack, so that it fits.

Of course, the other reason why a person would do as the DIYer above, is because they want the built-in mic with their custom earbuds.

[john Fischetti @ Jul 5th 2007 9:49PM]

Great video tutorial -- i have Sony MDR-EX71SL-WK earbuds and can't get them apart -- Does anyone know if the Vmoda earbuds come apart as easily as the JVC ones in this video -- i really need tight fitting earbuds attached to the integrated mic.

[Dave Lindsay @ Jul 5th 2007 10:56PM]

Just tried taking apart my Sony Fontopia buds -- couldn't do it without breaking them (old pair) so I'm gonna pick up the JVC's and try that instead.

[john Fischetti @ Jul 5th 2007 11:04PM]

yea -- i botched my pair of 71s, but found a black pair that i got apart much easily -- i'd prefer to have white buds than black -- so not sure what to do. I'm not a fan of the JVC Colorful ones.....

[Kyle Burghart @ Jul 5th 2007 11:24PM]

You would think if he was smart enough to take those headphones apart he would know that Futureshop is owned by Best Buy... It is basically the Canadian version.

[James Papadopoulos @ Jul 6th 2007 12:47PM]

Yes, it's the same thing, but:
1. How is that relevant?
2. Most people wouldn't know "Future Shop" if I had only said "Best Buy"

[Alan @ Jul 5th 2007 11:42PM]

BEWARE... the JVC's don't come apart as easily as they did in that video! I suspect he had already gotten them apart before he did it in that video... mine had adhesive tape all over the inside creating a nice bond that I had to crack them to get it. In the end they were fairly beat up from the process of prying with a small screwdriver! You can't tell too badly after painting them back up with a black sharpie...

[idiotcorrector @ Jul 8th 2007 3:33PM]

Do you think he would buy a whole new iPhone just to get the headphone wire for a video on the Internet?

He's not going to pay that kind of money for our sake, he figured out how to do it, then undid it and filmed it.

[James Papadopoulos @ Jul 8th 2007 4:50PM]

Actually, I have a few friends who have iPhones and we all hate the headphones. At the end of the video I held up two sets of iPhone earbuds... I did get a few emails from people who had problems though, I recommend using pliers to squeeze the earbuds until the plastic separates -- real easy.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Jul 6th 2007 3:06AM]

I believe it was Shure whom recently announced a cell phone adapter with microphone for their E-line of ear buds. I suspect it would work with the iPHONE.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Jul 6th 2007 3:08AM]

I believe it was Shure whom recently announced a cell phone adapter with microphone for their E-line of ear buds. I suspect it would work with the iPHONE.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/27/shures-mpa-3c-converts-headphones-to-headsets/

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Jul 6th 2007 3:11AM]

Shure Completes Apple iPhone Experience with Music Phone Adapter

"Music Phone Adapter, is a sleek modular accessory that converts the new Shure Sound Isolating™ Earphones into a stereo headset and allows Apple iPhone users to switch seamlessly between listening and communicating."

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&ndmConfigId=1000001&newsId=20070626005352&newsLang=en

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Jul 6th 2007 3:13AM]

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/05/v-moda-vibe-duo-earbuds-class-up-your-iphone/

[ben @ Jul 6th 2007 10:09PM]

I just did this with some sennheiser canalphones i had laying around... cracking open the buds was a pain, but it was easy after that.

Thanks James!

[rob f @ Jul 9th 2007 11:34PM]

if anyone successfully opens up a pair of Sony MDR-EX71 please let us know asap.. i want to know the trick. i dont think i can do it without crushing them

[LL @ Aug 2nd 2007 12:25PM]

I managed to do it with my old (~4 yrs) pair of 71's. If you pull the rubber part which partially covers the wires, that and a metal ring that surrounds the earphones pops off. Then you can pull off the plastic piece which is used to attach the rubber ear canal buds to reveal the actual speaker. I used a small screwdriver pry that piece off to reveal the wires. Quite easy if you ask me!

[Alex @ Jul 10th 2007 5:33PM]

I actually did this myself as well, it was very easy to do, but my headphones are black... it does look that great, but functionality, it's perfect.

[jlacy @ Jul 12th 2007 1:16PM]

Great video, thanks for the info. I was driving to work this morning wondering if I could modify my old apple in-ear headphones to work with the iphone's chord/mic control - did a search found your mod and got my answer. I'll try this when I get home tonight.

Thanks!

[jlacy @ Jul 13th 2007 8:42AM]

The mod using all apple components (3 yr old in-ear earphones and the stock iphone wiring) worked great. Now I have comfortable earphones and the convenience of using the wired mic/ipod controls. Thanks for the write up showing how easy it is. It only took me about 30 minutes to fumble through it!

[rob f @ Jul 13th 2007 4:02PM]

thanks deslock for pointing out the solution fo the MDR-EX51's... taking the little thin access panel off from below the bud, then cutting/joining the wires in there, then resealing seems to be the cleanest solution by far for these sony's... any other method and im afraid id break them

thanks again

[Codehead @ Jul 19th 2007 12:47AM]

Hello Everyone:

Could this technique be used with some Sony "over-the-head" headphones? I have difficulty using in-ear-type canalphones (they constantly keep popping out on me).

Thanks,

Bob

[Jake @ Jul 20th 2007 11:08PM]

I too tried the JVC just like he did in the video and they DO NOT come apart that well at all. I'm on my second set... this time I tried applying some thinner, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick. How the hell did he get them to come apart??

[fabbuki @ Aug 2nd 2007 4:38AM]

I have discovered a ridiculously cheap but good solution to the earbuds problem. First, we must look at the science of the quality earbuds out on the market. Most of them like Sony's and Shure's have these rubber muffs on them. This does two things: it keeps unwanted noise out and keeps a space between the sound emitter and the ear hole (sound's destination). The space the muffs keep in your ear seems to allow the bass to resonate and the sound to mix before entering your ear.

The ipod/iphone earbuds sound like they have crappy bass, but the bass is still there. Here is what I did. It's an easy, painless fix and it seems to improve audio quality significantly.

I put foam muffs on the earbuds. My headset for my nokia phone came with these foam muffs that wrap around the headset earbuds. The earbuds were about the same size as the ipod/iphone earbuds, so I gave it a shot!

What I noticed: 1. The earbuds are now more comfortable (not great comfortable, but still better). 2. The muffs help keep unwanted sound out. 3. The muffs seem to make bass more audible, perhaps because muffs add a small space between the sound emitter and the ear hole -the bass resonates. Audio quality sounds better, too.

Go, engineers!

[Mark MacLeod @ Aug 10th 2007 4:09PM]

This video is a sham. The covers do not come off either set of earbuds NEARLY as easy as it's portrayed. The author obviously previously removed the covers from both sets prior to creating the segment in order for it to work well on video.

Having us watch for 20 minutes as he pried the covers off the JVCs, cutting his fingers in the process would not make for a good watch.

Engadget should really do some sort of quality control on this sort of thing. This was completely rigged to look easy.

[filllx @ Aug 16th 2007 4:21PM]

I did this with Sony Ericsson HPM-70's(came with my bros walkman phone) & they work great. I did have to use pliers to get the Apple headphones apart, but it was still a fast mod, thank you.

[emily @ Aug 18th 2007 11:02AM]

I destroyed one of my Sony MDX-E51's trying to get it apart, so after they were trash I experimented on the other ear. turns out (as with the iphone tip above) the way to do it is to gently squeeze the back of the phones with pliers (I used vise-grips, and would recommend padding them with a handkerchief or something if you don't want to make marks on the plastic) until a gap opens around the small back access panel (the one with the 3 holes). Then I inserted an eyeglass screwdriver to pop the panel out. This exposed the knotted wire and the soldered connections. I alos tried taking off the long small panel on the back of the neck of the phones-- this exposed the wire, but there wasn't a good way to put the two sets of wires together and then insulate them from each other -- I think reconnecting at the solder will work better.

[bob torres @ Aug 23rd 2007 10:30PM]

Did this with a pair of etymotic e6 headphones -- it worked well, though it required some creative routing of the wire in the etymotics. Overall, it was easy and fairly fast (though I too had to use pliers to get apart the Apple headphones).

[Luke @ Sep 9th 2007 1:47PM]

Does anyone know where I can pick up a soldering iron small enough to do this (like the one in the video) I successfully opened my phillips headphones and know I can do this if I can only find the iron.

Thanks....

[mexretroshore @ Sep 10th 2007 10:15AM]

Has anyone grafted vmoda vibe earbuds onto the apple iPhone cable? If so, can you explain how to open up the vmodas? Thanks!