Pulley System Makes Headphone Cables More Managable

It’s 2024. You’ve probably got one or more pairs of wireless headphones around the house. [Barnso] prefers wired headphones with a long cable, but he also decries the fact that it often gets tangled in his chair. The solution? A pulley system to make everything easier.

The concept is simple. [Barnso]’s system uses three pulleys. The headphone cable goes to the PC, and then runs over the first pulley. It then runs under a second pulley which is free to move, but weighted so that it naturally wants to fall down under gravity. The cable then comes back up over a third pulley, and then runs to the headphones on [Barnso]’s head. Basically, it’s a super simple cable retraction mechanism that keeps the long headphone cable organized and in one place.

It’s nice to see a simple mechanism that makes life easier, particularly one that solves a problem so many of us have faced in real life. The construction shown in the video is almost (intentionally?) maddeningly hacky but it does the job. If you prefer to go wireless, though, we can show you how to do that too.

13 thoughts on “Pulley System Makes Headphone Cables More Managable

  1. I’ve got 90% of this setup myself. But I haven’t added a weight yet because I’m not sure I’d like to have that little pull of a weight on my head so it’d be tough to balance.

  2. It shouldn’t need the first pulley, that should be a strain relief or such to stop any problems on the computer or plug end. The rest is a good idea, castors crush expensive wire that’s usually hard wired. This helps to keep cords from underfoot too, like standing up foot-on-the-cord whilst wearing phones! Ouch.

    Coily cords just trap themselves and other cords they touch.

  3. This is real hacking, making it work without having the proper tools but just make-do with whatever you have!

    I have made a not unsimilar setup with 6 pulleys, a block of wood to pull it one down, to be able to open my curtains from my bed. Took half a day to make, is far from perfect but it works well enough that I can live with the imperfections and made my life genuinely better (being able to sleep in darkness then enjoy the sunshine from bed when waking up)

  4. I think this is a great idea overall as I too dislike wireless headphones. I would suggest adding a simple stopper to the wire that would stop it from going past the guide wire point at a certian length. This was you could set it up so that you can use the headphones at the desk comfortably with any tension on the cable.

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