Hands-on with Belkin's iPhone Headphone Adapter
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Jul 1st 2007 9:29AM
posted Jul 1st 2007 9:29AM
posted Jul 1st 2007 9:29AM
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I have NO IDEA why you would pay for an adapter when you can simply plug in your regular headphones and listen to music.. Maybe I got a special iPhone or something here in Canada... but I just plugged my regular headphones (I tried all 3 pairs I own - Sony, Bose, and Stanton) into my iPhone and they all worked.. no special adapter, no extra rubber cut off the jacks...NOTHING!!
I'd suggest you all try plugging your headphones/earbuds into your phone before you spend $10 on an adapter you don't need.
Is this essentially a 2.5 -> 3.5 mm adapter?
No, it is 3.5mm (thin enclosure) -> 3.5mm (normal enclosure) adapter.
What makes me wonder, can't someone just take a razorblade, and cut the corners of a normal jack a bit?
I would first try this, instead ot sticking something so long up the iphone's... ah, it is actually on the top.
That's what I did with my Bose headphones. just trim a small amount of rubber and it plugs right in...
It seems the min collectivity issue here has more to do with the recessed port than anything else (so the jack size may be slightly different, that's not unusual and when you start to shrink a device it makes sense).
I honestly feel that the recessed port is brilliant and plugging in devices that do not utilize that port is potentially risky. By recessing the port you provide further area to prevent tweaking the sensitive mechanics in the port or in your headset. I have owned far too many cellphone headsets that have been tweaked while in my pocket and resulted in a handset that no longer supports audio or a dead headset. Perhaps I am alone in that experience?
Disclaimer: No, I am not an iPhone owner. Although, I did lust after one until they were finally released and msised a few features that make a difference to me, like data storage.
yahh, this totally could've gone on the main page. weaksauce.
that is so huge, ugly and impractical.
smaller adaptor please? seriously, that looks so bad. omg.
I know it's not out yet, but i'm holding out for the much more sleek Griffin adaptor (and the itrip while i'm at it).
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/headphoneadapter/
You could just plug in the wired remote that plugs in to the dock connector instead of using this thing
The iphone has a normal headphone jack, just recessed so that many phones, especially those with a 90 deg. angle plug, won't fit
I have a sony pair that I love.
I just shaved down the plastic around the plug, and now it fits without an adapter. joy!
Exactly. Apart from the talk capability, if you're just after using your existing set of h/phones, shave down the adaptor so it will fit, or find a spare part connector and whip out the soldering iron.
That Belkin thing is disgusting!
(Not an iPhone user until it gets to the UK!)
The recessed plug port makes perfect sense.
I have owned numerous, if not all, designs of the iPod and the first and sometimes only thing to break on them is the audio jack. Through frequent "tweaking", tugging and bending, the miniplug actually mars and bends the pins that send the L/R audio signal within the device. I would always have static-y or intermittent sound that would only get worse as the damage continued. But, I'll admit, I use my iPods a lot, and I do not treat them well.
Though both of my brother's have had similar problems, luckily Apple always repairs them if you send them in. They've given my completely new iPods, as a remedy. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple knew this was a flaw.
Now, with the iPhone - a device you're stuck with for 2 years - it seems logical to protect this rather sensitive and important part. It is rather sad that I can not use my favorite headphones, but I think a lot of tiny and slick headphone adapters are going to start cropping up. And for now, I like the iPhone earbuds as they have a microphone built in.
I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of headphone makers will start adopting a smaller miniplug jacket in order to be iPhone-friendly. Another plus to this is that they could offer this as a feature. (Taking this a little further, does anyone know if microphones cost a lot to integrate? This could be something headphone makers start adopting as well.)
If future iPods have the same design aspect (which I believe is a defense measure) then minor re-designes of headphones will surely start occurring.
That never happened to me on any non-ipod with a regular non-recessed 3.5mm jack. Why do these stupid things only happen to iPods and now they supposedly need to change the design of a standard jack that we have been using for decades because they couldn't correctly implement a regular 3.5mm jack that devices have been using since the early 70s (without issue I may add).
It's pure bullshit. I need to put this phallus on my iphone to use mt good headphones? May as well have put a 4" external antenna on it.
why oh why doesn't it support A2DP??
Anybody know anything about Apple's own adapter? Will this work? My local Apple Store only had the Belkin adapter, and I agree, it's too big.
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=MA854LL/A
That connector is for deaf people trying to use their iphone with as a TTD (telephone device for the deaf).
Hah, you're right. A2DP, or at least ANY bluetooth service besides handsfree would be useful. It's not that I really use OBEX (it syncs well) but it would be pretty nice if I had the option.
But, for some reason I don't think this is a permanent situation. I can't wait for some really great updates!
Buy the vmoda duo, sanctioned iphone headphone with excellent sound quality.
Done.
Perhaps the iPhone will force all manufacturers to modify non-complying products.
Belkin and other adapter makers could do a 90 degree model. They could make whatever needs to fit in there fit, and then bend the rest over sideways. That would reduce the overall length in a pocket, say. It could spin as needed to allow access that button on the top right.
That adapter is fugly please give us a2dp.
All I had to do was to slice a layer of the enclosure and VOILA, now it fits and works great.
If you are frustrated that your sweet High End headphones don't work in the iPhone's jack, go out to Radio Shack and get a 12 inch long 3.5mm (1/8th inch) stereo jack cable that has the in line volume control - I bought mine a while ago but they can't be more than 5-10 bucks. Shave off just enough of the black plastic at the male end (that goes into your headphone jack) to make it fit, and voila - you have an adapter that sounds great, has a built in volume adjustment so you can leave your iPhone in your pocket, it's cheap, and you don't have to cut up your actual headphones, possibly voiding their warranty.
Nearly proprietary sunken headphone jack? No A2DP? I smell something brewing. Maybe an A2DP module attachment, or A2DP enabled via firmware.
Well.... my suggestion is to just make your own. It's cheaper and you can make it as cute or streamline as you'd want.
I made this one:
It's pretty basic and anyone can do it. I mean. If I can do it, so can you. Just know that the soldering metal gets really hot.=!
:-P
for some reason my link didn't show up on my posting, but here's the adapter I made.
http://www.bobbynishimura.com/iPhone_adapter
rather than using tape you should get some shrink wrapping. it will look alot more professional and you can get it in heaps of different colours.
also- to join wires together, it is much easier (as well as making a better and longer lasting connection) if instead of soldering, you just fuse the wires together. to do this all you need to do is expose about 7 or 8 mm of the bare wire, squeeze the individual strands in between your fingers so that they go flat, and then spread them out in to a fan shape so that there are gaps in between each strand.
do this with the other wire you need to join, then carefully, fuse all of the strands from each wire together and squeeze them together and twist until they're joined tightly together. after that just fold them down and wrap with tape or shrink wrap. this method works great and the joints stay together firmly.
kewl... I'll try the shrink wrap, but I don't know if you noticed that the wire in new headphones are hair thin and are heavily coated with urethane, or something like it, that makes it hard to expose anything without breaking the wire.
at any rate... thanks for the reply...
oh ok. i've mainly only done it for speaker cables and power leads... not headphones...
I just had purchased the iPhone to find out I needed to purchase a special adapter for the headphone jacks. I went to the apple store and they were going to charge me a lot for the item. I then found this company that has a extremely low mark up on all accessories and items. They have many more items than are displayed and ship instantly.
http://www.techsourcepro.com/sections/item_details/?item=iP-N07083
Turns out the adapter is more flexible once it is used. Plus I like the quality of belkin.