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I am trying to replace a broken cable on my headphones(Sennheiser HD 280 PRO) but I can't figure the type of cable so that I can order it online. I think it is pretty standard as it seems other headphones have similar cables. However searching for headphones cable only helps to find replacing connector cable(i.e. the one connecting the headphones to computer) but not the one connecting the two parts(speakers).

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This is a picture of the cable. One part is varnished(maybe not the correct word in English). I don't have a caliper, but I think the tickness of the cable is about 1.5-2mm.

Could someone please tell me what kind of cable is this?

EDIT: adding two more pictures of the end of the cable:

enter image description here

enter image description here

The while bit that can be seems is more like fabric, not wire.

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Ivaylo Strandjev
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  • Could you get a better picture? Seems like a normal 2-wire cable, where the inner conductor is enameled. – anrieff Dec 08 '14 at 10:53
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    I can take another picture, but what do you mean by better? – Ivaylo Strandjev Dec 08 '14 at 11:15
  • I think he is asking for a picture that zooms in on the stripped end of the cable. Even with the reduced size that I edited into your question the interesting part of the picture is less than 3% of the image. – Michael Karas Dec 08 '14 at 12:42
  • I'd bet that it's the same kind of cable, just with separate left and right channels. – clabacchio Dec 08 '14 at 12:42
  • Two more photos uploaded. @clabacchio I think it is. However this does not make it easier for me to find this type of cable online. – Ivaylo Strandjev Dec 08 '14 at 12:53

5 Answers5

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If this is the cable that runs between the two earpieces, all you need is two conductors.

The original cable uses enamelled wire of two different colors. The enamel coating with burn off when you tin the conductors. Simply twist all of the strands of one color together, then hold the twisted wires in a ball of molten solder on your soldering iron tip.

Be careful not to get one strand of the other color in the twisted bundle - this would result in a short circuit.

Dwayne Reid
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  • thank you for the answer. I tried this approach a while ago and I got some result. Alas my clumsy hands did led to bad soldering and one of the earpieces burned down. This is my fault of course :-( – Ivaylo Strandjev Oct 31 '15 at 07:24
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    I repair and modify professional-quality headphones and headsets (broadcaster headsets, Intercom headsets) and work with this kind of cable regularly. It's usually pretty reliable, especially from a company like Sennheiser. Although I work with MANY different headset manufacturers, Sennheiser is the most common Broadcaster headset that I deal with. – Dwayne Reid Oct 31 '15 at 14:51
  • I agree. It took me three years of everyday usage to have problems. I guess nothing lasts forever – Ivaylo Strandjev Oct 31 '15 at 15:16
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I'd use speaker wire, as it's probably best combination of cheap and readily available. Places that sell speakers may sell it by the foot, from a spool.

I believe if you reclaim wire from a different dead device, you run the risk of it being lacquered, making it hard to work with (namely, hard to solder).

Mathieu K.
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  • OP will need two conductors and (shielded) return for stereo. Wires need to be fine stranded for flex and possibly some slip agent for flex. Speaker cable is not suitable. -1. – Transistor Oct 30 '15 at 22:36
  • @transistor, OP's talking about the wire that goes from one side to the other, through the headband—"the one connecting the two parts(speakers)". Shielding may indeed be important (would aluminum foil work?) I'm thinking two conductors per driver. Yes? – Mathieu K. Oct 30 '15 at 23:08
  • @MathieuK. I think the OP says "...the one connecting the headphones to computer... not the one connecting the two parts", which is the complete opposite of what you said. – Tom Carpenter Oct 31 '15 at 01:49
  • @TomCarpenter in fact I say that all searches show the cable to the computer while I am searching for the other one as proposed by Mathieu – Ivaylo Strandjev Oct 31 '15 at 07:18
  • @MathieuK thank you for the answer. I tried this approach a while ago and I got some result. Alas my clumsy hands did led to bad soldering and one of the earpieces burned down. This is my fault of course :-( – Ivaylo Strandjev Oct 31 '15 at 07:23
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I don't know the type of wire but I would seriously consider using something a little thicker in your repair. Most headphone failures are because of these cheap, thin wires.

Robert Stiffler
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My suggestion would be to look for a standard headphones extension cable, you can get them in many different lengths. If you get one that has a jack on one end, then all you need to do is cut the connector off the other end and solder it on to your headphones. This has two advantages, one that you can get extension cables from many places online for reasonable prices, and two you don't need to solder on the connector which can be fiddly and the DIY ones tend to have pretty rubbish strain reliefs.

Usually the cable is enamelled copper as it allows for much lighter weight and narrower diameter cables on headphones. But actually it is relatively easy to solder. See my answer to this question for tips on soldering the cable.

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Tom Carpenter
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A 2 core wire of the type normally used for a cell phone charger. You can use a damaged cell phone charger wire for your head phones.

Null
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Sriranga Nayakulu Motamarri
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