Changing usb headphones to 3.5mm

[thederrick0000]

Hello,
I want to change my usb headphones into 3.5mm headphones. I have razer kraken v2 that are mercury edition and I am aware it is possible to do what I want but due to power requirements I will lose the lighting of the headphones. I can solve that later but I just want to know how to connect the 4 cables to a female 3.5mm jack. I know the red wire is a USB Vcc (+5v) and the white and green are + and - data cables with the black being ground. All I need to know is how to connect the wires as I have never soldered headphones before. Thanks

 

[Ralston18]

Consider an adapter instead.

E.g.:

https://www.ebay.com/p/DC-3-5-X-1-35mm-Female-to-USB-2-0-a-Male-Connector-Power-Cable-C6t4-B3/1287041606?iid=112077292577&chn=ps

I found a number of similar product links.

Overall an adapter (or combination of adapters) is more likely to be successful.

Soldering those fine wires can be difficult and you might easily damage things.

Just do some reading on TS, TRS, TRRS (Tip, Sleeve, Ring) to ensure that any purchased adapter matches your audio requirements.

Most audio components adhere to common standards. There are exceptions - Apple products use proprietary pinouts.

 

[thederrick0000]

I have tried different adapters and none of them work due to power constraints which can only be solved with soldering on the correct connections.

 

[Ralston18]

Please explain more about the power constraints.

However, the information you need pertains to "pinouts". Voltages, + & -, grounds, etc..

I.e., you need to match the USB plug's wires to the corresponding pins in the 3.5 mm plug which must also match the receiving 3.5 mm audio port.

May take some additional research to find the exact pin to pin connections to be made.

The following link should be helpful:

https://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f227/usb-to-3-5mm-audio-plug-adapter-i-want-usb-headset-to-plug-into-headphone-jack-278258.html

You can easily google and find additional pinout diagrams that show exactly the pinout connections that you need.

And what you can do is find or purchase an expendable USB cable with a female adapter on one end.

Saving as much cable as possible cut off what ever is on the other end and use the wires there for testing (breadboarding) and eventual soldering.

Plug the headphones into the female USB adapter that will then be connected to whatever 3.5 mm plug you soldered on to the cut off end.

Avoids needing to cut the USB plug off of the headphones and provides some leeway with respect to any soldering "do-overs" that become necessary.

 

[thederrick0000]

I now understand that i can use a TRRS connector to make it a male connection but can i then use a female to female connecter as well so i can have a detachable cable? I already bought a female 3.5mm end so if there is a way to make that work I would much prefer it but I can always return the parts and buy new ones if that is necessary.

 

[thederrick0000]

I must correct what I am asking. I understand that the ground is the same and the + and - data cables go together but what am I supposed to do with the red +5v power cable. Do i just not connect it or what?

 

[Ralston18]

The following link should help:

https://www.quora.com/Audio-Equipment-What-would-a-USB-male-to-3-5mm-male-adapter-cable-be-used-for

Key is to match your situation and requirements to the applicable pin connections.

The cable/adapter that you build is likely to use one of the four color coded diagrams.

Headphones --- USB cable ---->USB Male plug

You build:

USB female port --- USB cable -----> TRRS 3.5mm male plug

Then the headphones' male USB plug is plugged into the female USB adapter on the cable you build.

And the TRRS 3.5 male plug is plugged into the desired audio source.

All you are doing is just changing the physical wire paths from USB (four) to TRRS (four).

Note: there are gender changers that can convert the female 3.5 mm plug to male. Just adds another opportunity for problems (and maybe signal loss) so just go directly to a male 3.5 mm plug.

 

[thederrick0000]

I found this online that should work and I will return the other end i ordered. Hopefully it works and if it doesn’t i will come back to ask. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07BHBQ5YV

 

[thederrick0000]

Okay so i tried the plug you suggested and it doesn’t work. I plugged the red to V the black to ground and i tried plugging the white and green in both left and right slots. It doesn’t seem it will work. Not sure if i did something wrong but now im down over 100 bucks because I chopped my headphones so if you could help me resolve this I would appreciate it.

 

[Ralston18]

Focus on getting another USB plug soldered back onto the end of your headphones cable.

Ensure that the headphones are fully and reliably working again. Otherwise when you do try making new connections/adapters etc.. you will not know if any resulting problems are from them or your headphones.

Remember (from my July 18th, 9:29 post):


"And what you can do is find or purchase an expendable USB cable with a female adapter on one end.

Saving as much cable as possible cut off what ever is on the other end and use the wires there for testing (breadboarding) and eventual soldering.

Plug the headphones into the female USB adapter that will then be connected to whatever 3.5 mm plug you soldered on to the cut off end.

Avoids needing to cut the USB plug off of the headphones and provides some leeway with respect to any soldering "do-overs" that become necessary."

With some additional time and careful work you may well salvage the situation.

 

[thederrick0000]

Yes but i have tried to use a usb to aux but it doesn’t work. This is why i cut it off in the first place.