Broken DJ headphones + shooting range ear muffs = LOVE.

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
, , , ,
1

Broken DJ headphones + shooting range ear muffs = LOVE.

Hey guys,

So it all started when my old Sony MDR-V700 broke. A guest at our house party put them on her fat head and they snapped :rage:

No sweat. $20 with shipping got me these from the interweb:

http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/bilsom-leightning-l0f-1.html

Initially I thought I could fix them, and upon taking them apart, I realized they had to WAY too many little moving parts and screws/springs/etc., so I knew I would have to replace the body and just use the drivers:

I drilled a hole in the bottom of one can, and one on either side of the top of each can. I recommend using a dremel, to cut/drill the plastic, as it’s way quicker and more precise than carving the plastic with a knife:

Next, it was time to wire them up… Oh geez:

Progress. I ran the wire from a 1/8th inch wire from one headphone can, through the neoprene headliner. I couldn’t believe they are open on either side… it’s almost like they were meant for wiring!
Something to note: The Sony wire is very thin, and coated with a very thin coating, that is not conductive. You have to hit it with a lighter for a few seconds to burn it off, clean off the wire with a razor, and solder to your wire/solder points.

A slit needs to be made in one side of the foam to let the wires through. Remember, these are DELICATE wires! Last one:

Here they are all wired and re-assembled:

The best thing about these things is, they’re rated a 27 for noise reduction because they are meant for shooting ranges, meaning that what ever is going on outside of your cans can hardly be heard… at all. I’m talking, you can hear your heartbeat. When you throw some quality drivers in there, all you get is music. It’s fantastic!
Also, the earpads snap on and off very easily and are very comfortable. They squeeze your head so snug you could headbang and not loose em :wink:

and finally, my ghetto headphone bag :smiley:

And the remains: RIP, but not really… they were completely high maintenance in comparison to these new ones. If something breaks, I can buy another pair for $20 and have spare parts for backup.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics, it’s just so much easier :wink:

2

Lol awesome. Mine broke too, I just chucked them in the garbage -.-

Anybody own a pair of mdr700s that has lasted over 1-2 years? Pretty sure they are designed to blow up and crack once 2 years hit.

3

When I was starting out as a recording engineer, there was a guy around who hand made THE BEST cans for drummers. Everyone raved about the separation and how there was no leakage, how clear they were.

Airport ground crew headgear with quality drivers inside them. That was his trick.

Just be careful not to drive them too hard and blow your ears up.

4

mmmm crown royal :slight_smile:

5

Looks ace bro’! :smiley:

6

Awesome guide!

7

That is an awesome idea and a great post.

8

woah wicked man! this should be on the DJTT blog

9

Awesome!

10

Nice write up with pictures, excellent job.

Give that man a gold star.

11

I think you’re talking about the Ed Firth headphones. Got a pair at Guitar Center for fifty bucks; I play with a drummer and needed something really sound-isolating. The problem is they don’t have big drivers – the sound is clean but far too low and I wind up turning the volume up more than usual. This hack seems like the perfect solution. I’ve lost two pair of the Sonys but the drivers are still good – it’s true, these are pretty much meant to fail. I might try this hack myself some day to get the perfect set of sound-isolating cans for really loud environments. Good work!

12

Thanks for the great responses! Maybe I’ll try to format it a bit better and see if Ean and the guys are down with the idea :slight_smile:

[quote]Lol awesome. Mine broke too, I just chucked them in the garbage -.-

Anybody own a pair of mdr700s that has lasted over 1-2 years? Pretty sure they are designed to blow up and crack once 2 years hit.[/quote]

And you’re right rt24, I had two pair, the first lasted 2 years, and the second pair maybe 3 :roll_eyes: I have non-DJ sony headphones that are over 15 years old and still going strong…

Once I took the Sony cans apart, I was baffled at how ridiculously intricate they are… only to fall apart. While the Lightening Earmuffs don’t do the “swivel cup”, they do flip all the way over so you can hold it to your ear if needed. Not that I can remember ever using the swivel feature, lol :smiley:

13

Awesome guide!
I have an old pair of broken cans lying around that I might try and do this with, provided the drivers are still good, would have to buy some wiring for them too…
Thanks for posting this!
As to the Sony’s being really intricate… sometimes simplicity is perfection :wink:

14

Great diy thread. Way to get creative!

15

Good stuff, needed something like this last monday, played a deafening loud club,
turned the monitors off just to dip the level a bit, these days some clubs are just too loud.
either that or i’m getting old… get off my lawn and turn that racket down, yung uns! sneer!

16

already scanning ebay for broken high quality headphoes… great idea, big thanks for the input!!!

17

bravo! nice, i love it!

18

next step…MASS PRODUCTION!

-Gianmarco

19

So in your opinion Villinus after performing this mod, how does the sound isolation compare to the actual V700?, or to the Sennheiser HD-25’s?

Very cool stuff man, props :slight_smile:

20

^^^Well I haven’t heard the Sennheiser HD-25’s enough to comment on them, however the isolation in the modded cans is far greater than the V700’s. My roommate (who’s room is across the hall from my room. We browse the web and yell at each other about various things randomly) has complained since the creation of these, that I’m dead to the world when he yells at me :stuck_out_tongue:

Additionally, with the added sound reduction, I’ve noticed that it keeps more of the sound in, and they really get louder than I would ever need to crank them. :smiley: