Comments on: Replacing the ipod shuffle’s headphones

By: Chris Aouate

Chris Aouate — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 08:42:20 +0000

Kids, showing kids how to do it, well sorry to break this to ya but, im 15, i have been repairing electronics for years, whether it be a simple capictor replacement, a diy gpu reball, i can do it all, i have been for years, so kids are a lot smarter then you think, its up to you as parents to get us interested in electronics at a early age, and make sure they dont try cooking food with a heat gun, yes it works, but if you do it on a plate, dont pick up the plate, its hot xD

By: m16uel

m16uel — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:17:41 +0000

It would be better to solder it to a female jack so you have the freedom to choose any headphones earbuds or speakers

By: http://rich-niche.info/cookie/img/smilies/happy.gif

http://rich-niche.info/cookie/img/smilies/happy.gif — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:01:56 +0000

nice! [IMG]http://rich-niche.info/cookie/img/smilies/happy.gif[/IMG]

By: live4freedom

live4freedom — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 01:45:29 +0000

I bought one and found that the earbud didn’t fit my ear. I thought about hacking into the current pair but decided to buy the in-ear version that Apple sells for about the same amount of money as the Shuffle. Now my $79 Shuffle costs $158. Oh well.

By: tired of "not a Hack Shit"

tired of "not a Hack Shit" — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:39:12 +0000

dude what the hell? if you don’t like the content on hackady don’t read it!! you guys who are commenting and complaining about things “Not being hacks” need to get a frickin life (or here’s a novel idea make your own website and put whatever the hell you want on it !! ) The creators of Hackaday can put whatever they want on this site They pay for the hosting you don’t !

By: James - TechSpank

James - TechSpank — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:24:49 +0000

Well as Phil says above, this isn’t really a guide to hacking the inside of the headphones. It’s my simple solution to a problem that MOST people won’t think of on their own. A lot of people are afraid to crack open their electronics to hack them, this might give them the courage to see that apple’s headphones don’t have magic inside and you can swap out the drivers without much difficulty.

I’m actually surprised at the response. Sure there’s a “duh” aspect to the modding of headphones, but I get A LOT of emails thanking me for clearly explaining how it’s done. Plus, I’m sure RadioShack sees a huge increase in the number of soldering irons sold… maybe they can sponsor the show… hmm…. gotta go!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:51:27 +0000

I’m sorry but this is the most “duh” thing I’ve ever read here.

Now if it was about integrating the control pod into the Shuffle case, that would be completely different. But really, Hack a Day? “You can solder new drivers to the end of your iPod headphone cable!” is pretty basic stuff. The hardest part to get is soldering to the copper thread inside the cables.

By: spiny norman

spiny norman — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:51:10 +0000

… or just get a Nano or a real MP3 player. The headphones that came with my Creative Zen sound as good as my AKG monitor headphones.

@barry: And you’re a fawning fanboy. You think Apple should be immune from criticism when they put out overdesigned proprietary junk with bad quality control?

By: strider_mt2k

strider_mt2k — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:26:39 +0000

I think I’d rather shorten the cable and hack an inline jack onto the thing as opposed to replacing the drivers.

That way it becomes that killer generic dealie you really want it to be.
Don’t like your earbuds? -buy another pair!

To be honest, i think i’d just rather stay with a more open player that gives me what i want for my money instead of giving me what someone else wants for my money.

think about it.

By: barry99705

barry99705 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:53:22 +0000

@ ho0d0o

Half the people here commenting probably don’t know which end of a soldering iron gets hot. They’re just apple bashing.

By: appleuser

appleuser — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:11:57 +0000

it should be illegal to publish this kind of info. apple designed the shuffle. large corporations know whats the best. the reason they only want you to use their headphones since they are the best. they want to prevemt other entities selling crap and ruining the omnipotemt apple

By: Phil

Phil — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:53:04 +0000

This is a great little guide. Not only is it applicable to iPod headphones but its also a great way to introduce people to fixing their headphones. My headphones are failing at the moment but thanks to this little video of inspiration I’ve just realised I could try to prize them open and fix them, maybe attach them to the end of the iPhone headphones that broke ages ago. If I can do that then it’ll save me a good £60 or so because I won’t have to replace my faulty headphones.
Not all hacks have to be complicated, sometimes a little simple thing can inspire the masses.

By: ho0d0o

ho0d0o — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:23:17 +0000

OK – WOW. All these negative comments coming from fellow hackers? First off I agree with Kevin above not to buy anything Crapple makes in the first place. They are over priced and over rated. I will say though IF YOU MUST have a shuffle and you don’t want to spend EVEN MORE MONEY on an obviously planned “adapter” … Why not hack the current ones and save yourself some money?

No, No…Why would anyone want to hack Apple gear when they could just BUY MORE CRAP TO MAKE IT WORK!

Some of you should be ashamed.

By: kevin

kevin — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:21:53 +0000

there’s a much simpler solution: Don’t buy the new ipod shuffle. Don’t buy anything apple makes.

problem solved!

By: Kaye

Kaye — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:41:28 +0000

People have been doing this for cell phones for a long time, although I admit, this is a great one to show the kids. :p

I think the hope is to have other companies eventually copy apple. They do tend to be WAY ahead of the curve… (floppyless imac anyone?)