Headphone + Mic Socket Replacement Ideas?

[Gongalong]

Hi folks,

 

We're finding that the front headphone and microphone socket are wearing out on our PCs.

 

Rather than go to the time and expense of replacing the header boards, and before the motherboard equivalents at the back wear out, I was thinking we could attach something disposable at the back of the PC. We need both mic and headphone because the mic socket is used for recording in some Computing lessons.

 

Ideas so far:

 

1. Red and green extension cables, only problem being the Amazon seller only seems to have one in stock. Green https://www.amazon.co.uk/kokiya-Stereo-Headphone-Headset-Extension-Green/dp/B07MRKX9LK Red https://www.amazon.co.uk/kokiya-Stereo-Headphone-Headset-Extension-Green/dp/B07MPBW4RM

2. USB extension cable, although the cable itself is a bit short. https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Headphone-Microphone-Raspberry-Ultrabook/dp/B01N905VOY

 

Any better ideas than this? I guess the ideal would be a 1m extension in both green and red that's glued together.

 

Thanks

[synaesthesia]

If you need to replace any headphones you could use a single jack to do both (same as what mobile phones & games consoles use) but obviously that could cause issues for the headsets that use twin jacks) so it's only one point of failure. I'd go for your idea though of a small extension which could be glued, cable tied etc; similar in fact to what RM used to do with laptops, they provided 12" extensions for power supplies so they could be yanked out without damage to the sockets.

[Gongalong]

I did spot TRRS type sockets. It means we'd need to buy new headphones and mics, but based on the cost of replacing header boards it might still be worth it. At least there's more variety to choose from.

[DavR]

Have you got any blanking plates free on the front of the machine?

 

You could always mount a couple of these or similar on the plate, and run short cables through the machine to the rear ports.

[DavR]

Either that, or I would tend towards getting some USB headphones. A USB to 3.5mm adaptor sounds tempting, but you just know those will go missing in no time.

[Mimir]

test..

[Gongalong]

@DaveAshworth Sadly no blanking plates. These are custom machines from Very PC, so pretty minimal, but they do have front header sockets. I wonder if it's possible to buy almost like a passthrough adapter, that just goes from a 3.5mm plug to socket, although they'd probably all end up going walkies...

 

@Mimir Success!

[Andrew_C]

 

And from the left field... These - fit in standard desk cable holes.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Andrew_C

[DavR]

Ah, shame!

 

If they were customs from Very PC, I'd be inclined to go back to them and discuss replacing the header boards. If they're out of warranty, they might still offer you a good discount to buy a batch in bulk. Unless they really are that prohibitively expensive?

[Gongalong]

We have bought some in bulk, but it's the faff of changing them, and then seeing the students destroy them all again

 

There are these on Farnell, but I can see them all disappearing https://uk.farnell.com/pro-signal/ps000127/adapter-r-a-stereo-3-5mm-plug/dp/2910972

[DavR]

Ah, I see.... sounds like those boards are kinda flawed by design then.

 

So we can't mount a replacement socket inside the case, extension wires from the back sockets are just going to get yanked.... I'd say you're looking either at some kind of desk mounted plates as pictured above, or just buying USB headphones instead.

[Gongalong]

We do have some stainless steel cable ties, so with the USB option we could cable tie them in, and then use a sticky pad or something to mount them on the side of the case. We could do similar with extension leads, but as we can't colour co-ordinate them it could be tricky... although we could use coloured electrical type to identify the mic socket.

[chazzy2501]

As stated above, you can purchase usb headsets for £9.99 now. I'm moving to this going forward, we are using some Logitech headsets (£24) for our digital scribe pupils.

 

 

Flex Mic, metal bands. https://www.amazon.co.uk/EasySMX-Surround-Headphone-Over-Ear-Isolation/dp/B07JGJDXFQ/ref=sr_1_47?ie=UTF8&qid=1552320725&sr=8-47&keywords=usb+headset EXAMPLE, not a recommendation

[edmokeski]

 

And from the left field... These - fit in standard desk cable holes.

 

We've got a load of these, or very similar (including one in my desk) to make ports more accessible in suites full of hidden-away NUCs and HP mini PCs. They've been pretty good, and hugely popular with students in our 6th form study suite, as they use them to charge their devices (we only deliver power on the USB in there). Our "wear and tear" may be less than some others, so YMMV, but they'd certainly do the job.

 

Otherwise, I'd go w/ your short audio extensions fixed to the case (and/or desk?) - cheap, hard to go wrong, and easy to replace again if they get knackered. Trickiest thing would be securing them to the case in a mostly-but-not-entirely permanent way, so you can get them off to replace, but others can't to walk off w/ them. U-ring on desk, tight-fitting little padlock around cable ends is probably how we'd have done it in my last place, where things going walkies was a bigger issue.

[Gongalong]

Stainless steel cable ties are what we use to stop mice going missing - we secure all cables at the back of the PC, aside from power, with a single tie. A little more difficult with a headphone cable, but we could probably manage it if tied tight enough. An extension cable's not particularly attractive, so I do like this sacrificial desk mounted block, although all our PCs are desktop sized and above the desk.

[DavR]

Adhesive pads to the side of the case, then cable tie your speaker leads to those?

 

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/products/3592063/

[Gongalong]

These would get ripped off eventually, but we could always replace. In our school at least we'd need to have the stainless steel tie as well otherwise the cables would go walkies (even though they'd be of little use to the student!).

[DavR]

Ah, that much of a hostile environment huh.... don't suppose you've got any handy vent holes or similar to cable tie onto, another possibility.

[Gongalong]

Actually our school is pretty good, I hate to think what it's like in some of the rougher schools! These cases are super minimal, but we can always tie the back of the cable to the group of cables at the back of the machine, which would make them impossible to steal.

[DavR]

... which would make them impossible to steal.

 

 

Don't talk that way around the kids, sounds like a challenge to me!

[Gongalong]

Haha! Yes, I'm waiting for the student who brings in wire snips...