I hacked my headphones

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It wasn't until recently(when I broke my old headphones) that I discovered my Whites Eagle Spectrum headphone jack is mono, and that's why my headphones only work in one ear. The headphones are stereo. I read another post somewhere, telling another person with my problem, to get a mono to stereo jack adapter. I did that. It worked...sort of. The added connection was loose; causing all sorts of audio issues: cutting in and out, signals going from one ear to the other, crackling, etc. So, I just went ahead and hacked my headphones cord. Through trial and error, it was found that the red and green wires could be connected to give me equal sound in both ears(mono). I didn't have to cut the black one, but oh well...
Now my connection is nice and solid again! BTW, I can adjust each ear volume separately on the headphones if I need to. Now, I just need to tape it up, and I'm happy with my homemade hackjob. Hoping this may inspire someone else to solve the same issue.
 

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Well done!

I'd suggest using heat shrink tubing vs. tape, but then you'd have to redo your connections. ;)
 
Thank you. Good suggestion. Thought of it right after posting this. I did not want to redo those tiny wire connections, so I just taped it(heavily)with cloth electrical tape. Field tested for a couple hrs, and it is working beautifully. The 1960 silver dime and all the clad I found was like music to my ears.
Always open to other improvements on this hack.
First, I tried one of these clip on splice connectors, but mine was too big to work with the small wires.
 

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Is there any way (besides trial and error) to know which detectors support mono or stereo through the jack?
 
Is there any way (besides trial and error) to know which detectors support mono or stereo through the jack?
This, I don't know, but guess you can web-search specifications for specific machines. If you can't find it, you can call the manufacturers. I think all the older White's are mono.
 
You could also install an inline switch that would allow you to have either. I have a set of noise reduction headphones that have this switch. I have to have the switch in Stereo to get headphone audio from my CTX.

The simple three pole switch would bridge the left and right channel wires together in the closed position, and isolate the two channels when in the open position.

The black wire is ground and does not need modification.
 
Well done!

I'd suggest using heat shrink tubing vs. tape, but then you'd have to redo your connections. ;)
Thank you. Good suggestion. Read below...

Nice work, only thing I would have done differently would be to solder the wires v crimping.
Another good suggestion. Thanks. My shoddy job started failing, so I did redo it. Soldered connections, and heat-shrink tubing! Much better now

Hoping that any potential future headphone hackers can learn from this post.
 
You could also install an inline switch that would allow you to have either. I have a set of noise reduction headphones that have this switch. I have to have the switch in Stereo to get headphone audio from my CTX.

The simple three pole switch would bridge the left and right channel wires together in the closed position, and isolate the two channels when in the open position.

The black wire is ground and does not need modification.

Even better! That's what my old headphones had. An inline mono/stereo switch.
These phones are dedicated to the Eagle Spectrum, so they are fine as just mono.
Thanks for the details. Just wish I knew not to cut the black wire.
 
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