Iphone Headphone Adapter

if there are any other audiophiles out there who where disapointed to find out that their $300 headphones dont fit their iphone.. or any of a number of frustrating situations that arise from the recessed headphone jack on the iphone..

heres my attempt at making a headphone adapter more to my liking rather then the belkin monster...

Step 1: Gather Some Parts

so, to do this i needed to sacrifice two connectors.. this is pretty standard whenever splicing an audio adapter..

so i killed a spare ipod headphone for the slender jack that fits in the fscking iphone jack..

now i found a 1/8th inch female to stereo RCA adapter in my junk which seems like it would be perfect, but i wont know untill i remove some of the cast plastic to see whats under there.. it could be some cheap all-parts-held-in-place-by-plastic beast...

but in my favor, its not.. now to make an adapter...

Step 2: Making a Clay Mold

so, i dont have pictures of this phase for a very funny reason.. i decided to take all the photos with the iphone.. but i used the iphone to shape my clay..


what i did here was shaped some clay on the body of the iphone and stuck in the plastic bits till i was happy with everything.. i made sure there was room to hold all the parts and wires.. and pray that the part in the end has a pretty solid feel...


once i was happy with the mold i put the entire phone and clay and part assembly into the freezer to set the shape so that it wouldnt move while i was working on it..

Step 3: Making a Rubber Mold

so, to make my cool little adapter i need to make it out of plastic.. its the only material light enough and sturdy enough for the job.. and you know.. ive got tons of it laying around from previous projects..

so i mix up some latex mold making rubber and used a super high tech catfood cat and some vaseline as release agent (thin layer lining the inside of the can)

fill the can up about 3/4 of the way with the rubber.

before putting our clay part into the rubber, i coated the entire part with rubber using my finger to mak sure the rubber was contacting the entire surface to prevent some air bubble distortions..

below you will see the plastic after it c

Step 4: Cut the Mold and Prepare It for Plastic

heres some pictures of the mold when the rubber was cured, and the red clay that we used to create our parts shape was removed (obviously not intact)

after cleaning out all the clay from the rubber mold i cleaned it with water and dried it well..

this rubber is awesome with the plastic that im using, i dont need any release agent, just mix, and pour and 5 minutes later youve got some solid plasic.. so here goes

Step 5: Plastic!

so heres the first plastic piece cast (on top of the mold), with the female plug sitting in its position.. not bad for a rough casting..


i'll spend a little time with the dremmel and some drill bits and cut some pathways for wires and and drill a hole to mount the ipod headphone jack...

Step 6: Almost Done

here is the jack after some sanding and filing and drilling for wires.. with almost everything in place but not yet completed..

the only step after this was to solder the connections (i hate enamel coated wire, but a fine grit sand paper and a lighter does a pretty good job of exposing the copper...

once the soldered connections were finished i epoxied the metal housing into its shaft, wound up and pushed the wires into the small wire compartment i made behind the plug and covered the wire vias with epoxy...

Step 7: Done!

sand, tape and spray paint!


ok, its not perfection.. at least.. it doesnt look like a production part.. but it has a good sold feel, when i attach it it clicks solidly into place... and i can leave it attached to my iphone so that i can use it in my car, with my headphones.. or whatever audio source i want to connect it to without having to carry a seperate connecter in my pocket or back...

the tapered shape and flattened edges means it slides pretty easily into my pocket and doesnt catch anything.. meaning my iphone usage doesnt change just because i wanted an adapter..


some lessons:
next time use a 4 conduit connector to allow for a microphone and button.. this might be something that can be integrated into the body..

always cut away from fingertips with an exacto knife

this is now how professionials make plastic pieces.. well.. sorta.. welll.. no.. ... lets just say i did this at 3 in the morning.. and i just wanted to finish it :)

iphone camera sucks

dont upgrade to 1.1.1