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.
Uhh … imagine what happens as soon as you grab the headphones too quickly.
Just get a wireless headset.
What’s wrong with cheapo Edifier bluetooth headphones?
Presumably lantency, compression, the fact you need to plug in an even fussier USB cable to charge. Also they don’t make any over-the-head ear-covering models.
I am not OP, but I prefer wired because it’s one less thing to remember to charge.
This is how the cords in telephone opertor exchange boards worked too
That’s what popped into my mind too. Elegant little rolling weights and pulleys for old brass era switchboard.
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.
I wonder if a vacuum cleaner style retractable cable mechanism would work well here to alleviate the pull of the weight.
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.
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)
I can understand preferring wired earbuds, but geez man if you need a long cable, just get a wireless. That’s where they excel
Neat hack though!
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.