CALLING ALL MODDERS! repairing and modding headphones

[Arexxk]

Hey guys,

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I recently purchased a pair of Aiaiai Tracks and recently broke them. I love these headphones but the cable design was a disaster waiting to happen. It has this awkward anti-tangle Y-connector where the cables split, and the cable itself was wayy too long (snagging on practically everything). So basically, snags occurred, and the cable and it ripped out from the Y-connector. The company said that all they could offer was a discount on a replacement pair, which I'm not really inclined on doing since I'll be stuck with another pair of headphones with crappy cables. So, I hoping to repair/mod these.

My initial goal was to add headphone jacks on both cans to the headphones much more of a modular design. That way if someone wanted to walk around with no intention to listening to music they could do so without worrying about cables snagging. This is similar to the Grado mod that I guess is pretty popular among modder/audiophile group:

[video=youtube;0JHGJqfM0wE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JHGJqfM0wE[/video]
http://gilmore2.chem.northwestern.edu/projects/showproj.php?file=grado_add_prj.htm

However, after further investigation, I'm starting to get worried that the Tracks do not have space for a 3.5mm jack, like this: http://www.amazon.com/3-5mm-Stereo-Panel-Mount-Jack/dp/B000ML4A2Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1338515202&sr=1-3-fkmr0

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I was hoping to get some opinions on what I should do. Do you think there's room to fit a jack? Or should I ditch this idea and just try to re-solder new cables? The idea of modular cables is kindve neat actually. Think if almost all nodes on your headphone cable could be disconnected, then you could mix and match all these below:

http://www.amazon.com/3-5mm-Stereo-Male-Female-inch/dp/B000I98ZYG/ref=sr_1_17?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1338242853&sr=1-17
http://www.ebay.com/itm/25ft-braided-stereo-3-5mm-AUX-IN-cable-lead-mp3-mp4-/390330725384#ht_3338wt_922
http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Audio-Control-Studio-SoloHD/dp/B006NGHN5A/ref=pd_rhf_se_shvl1
http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-Detox-Headphone-Headphones-Monster/dp/B007CZNS0U/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1338243038&sr=1-3

[alaricljs]

Those things are tiny, you will not fit a panel mount 3.5mm jack in an appropriate position or location on those.

Best bet is to just re-wire them without connectors.

[lorem3k]

You COULD somehow fasten (hot glue, maybe) the 3.5mm jack on the button that holds the earcups to the headband. Something similar to the HD25-1 II.
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I'd get this one, since it's flat, it'll be easier to attach.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103451

[The_Beast]

You could just have a wire with 2-3" of cable hanging out and put a 3.5 female jack their. Not the best looking but it would work

[lorem3k]

You could just have a wire with 2-3" of cable hanging out and put a 3.5 female jack their. Not the best looking but it would work

That could still get ripped off and then he'd have to do it over.

[Arexxk]

I just added more pictures. I want to disassemble them further but I'm not seeing any screws and that sort of worries me. Another thing I was thinking was using a 2.5mm jack and then just use an adapter. However, I'm not sure if that ends up degrading the sound quality. Does it look like a 2.5mm would fit?

[lorem3k]

I don't think anything would fit in there. Another advantage to putting the plug on the outside like I suggested is that you wouldn't need to drill the hole in the housing out to accommodate the plug.

[modulor]

You COULD somehow fasten (hot glue, maybe) the 3.5mm jack on the button that holds the earcups to the headband. Something similar to the HD25-1 II.
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I'd get this one, since it's flat, it'll be easier to attach.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103451

These jacks are cool because they can divert the connection when nothing is plugged in - I used one in my stock car stereo to switch between FM and Auxiliary Input.  However, it's pretty loose, so I'm not sure it would hold very well on headphones.  These are a bit small for a rewire, but it's possible (but will probably be difficult because the wires are likely coated).  If you do end up looking into another pair of similar cans, I'd suggest checking out Koss Portapros