little gem - how to connect headphones?

[slajeune]

Hi All,

I just finished a little gem.  It is very amazing, small amount of parts, good usefull sound.  Very impressive.  I do recommend this for any first time projects.

Now the question, I can connect a speaker to the circuit (that's the hole purpose behind it), but, how can I connect headphones to it?  Can I simply connect them to the output or do I need to add some components (resistors, capacitors, others)?

Thanks,
Stephane.

[smoguzbenjamin]

I assume you have a volume control and you should allready have a DC blocking cap.

Just connect the tip & sleeve of a small female jack to the output and the ring of the small female jack to ground. You need to connect the sleeve and tip otherwise you'll only hear yourself on one channel. Unless you've got mono headphones, in which case you connect the tip to the output and the ring to ground as usual.

[zener]

Try putting a female jack, 1/8" preferably to the output wires. With that, you can easily switch from headphones and any other speakers. Well, you also need to put a 1/8" male jack to the speaker.

[javacody]

I wired up a 1/4" jack, and have a 1/4" to 1/8" converter for headphones.

I then chopped  off an end from a cheap radio shack 1/4" 1 foot long cable and soldered  the bare ends to my speaker. Works well.

[slajeune]

Hi All,

ok, based on the replies here, I simply connect the tip and the sleeve together.  I then simply used a 1/4 to 1/8 converter.  Bingo!!!  Not only a amp that can drive a 2x12 but also a headphone amp.  This little gem never ceases to amaze me!

Thanks,
Stephane.

[ExpAnonColin]

Hi All,

ok, based on the replies here, I simply connect the tip and the sleeve together.  I then simply used a 1/4 to 1/8 converter.  Bingo!!!  Not only a amp that can drive a 2x12 but also a headphone amp.  This little gem never ceases to amaze me!

Thanks,
Stephane.

No!  Don't connect the tip and sleeve together!

Connect the sleeve of the output to the sleeve of the input, and connect the tip to the positive wire of the speaker, or the red wire, or the non-grounded wire... the one that comes from the output of the circuit.

-Colin

[smoguzbenjamin]

Colin,

If my interpretation of what you're saying is correct, when listening through headphones, you'd get a signal through one ear only. Hang on a sec and I'll show you how I'd handle the situation. Lemme draw something up.

[slajeune]

Actually,

here is my take on it.  There are three connectors on a stereo audio jack.  One is ground.  The other two are left and right.  I connected the output to one of the audio 'sides'.  I simply connected a wire between both 'sides'.  I hear the sound on both left and right channels in my headphones, just like I expected two.  Am I making sense?

Cheers,
Stephane.

[smoguzbenjamin]

Exactly. That's how you do it. At least that's how I do it.  :lol:  I think Colin was referring to using a jack for speaker usage AND headphones or something like that...

Time for me to make a little gem for school breaktime usage

[ExpAnonColin]

No no no, I was referring to a mono jack, not a stereo jack.  There are 2 connectors on a mono jack.  Now it makes sense.  "sleeve" usually means the actual sleeve of the jack, which is ground on stereo or mono, and the tip is the very front conductor on stereo AND mono.

-Colin

[smoguzbenjamin]

Ya now I understand what you meant. Sorry, when I hear "headphones" I think "2 ears - 2 channels". Ah... It all makes sense now