vB Easy Archive - HDS-3 headset headphone mod

Pages: 1

HDS-3 headset headphone mod
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: BitterBatter

I just bought an HDS-3 stereo headset for my nokia 6620 today. It's a great idea and all, but the not being able to remove the earphones and swap em out with something better is dumb! So I decided, about half hour after buying it, to modify it! Results are great, just had to wire it up to the stock locations, modify the case a bit to fit the three wires (two r/l and ground), and that's it! Picture

With sony earphones

mic and wiring

The parts were about $5 US from radio shack, I just bought a stereo Y adapter so if I messed it up and crapped the wires on one of the female connectors I had another to use use.

Posted by: baboosh

i dont have the guts to do that

Posted by: BitterBatter

Steady hand and a fine tip soldering iron and its pretty easy, the pads aren't THAT small lol......still working great btw

Posted by: ZSX

If you are concerned about modding the original HDS-3 headset which came with your phone, just buy a cheap headset off eBay to mod. I used the Nokia HS-3 headset which looks nicer anyway. And believe me, not having had any experience at all with soldering, this is an easy job.

Posted by: tranquilizator

Here is a similar mod, but everything's internal
The round black thing on the left side in the pick is a 3.5 mm stereo connector (got it from my old casette player). Works great though. Now all thats left is to try it out with high performance headphones. I hope nokia's mp3 playback can support better sound quality than its original headset...

Posted by: bxz

Hi ZSX,

Are u sure the HS-3 is giving u true stereo mp3 sound instead of 2 mono sound?
I just confirmed with nokia support that HS-3 will only give u stereo FM radio while not mp3. He mentioned the HS-8 is mp3 stereo. But i still doubt.

Then i got myself a pop-port connector and begins to mod myself according to the pin (11-14, L-,L+,R-,R+), the result is still Mono!, i'm sure there's no short circuit in my soldering since i do this kinda thing a lot in my job. So either the pin layout is wrong, or there's something needed to be set in the phone to turn on the mp3 stereo function. By looking at the HS-3, HDS-3 and HD-8 connector, there are all the same, i'm beginning to wonder if it's true that 6620 gives u stereo mp3 sound now.

In order to make sure what u got is true stereo, i made up a left channel only 5 sec mp3 and hope all of u who think u r listening stereo mp3 can try it out, if u hear both channel playing, then it's mono!(true stereo will only show u left ear sound)

http://www.employees.org/~xzcisco/Oceans.mp3

Please let us know the results so that we know which one is truely stereo. I heard people with HDS-3 claimed true stereo, hope they can confirm.

thx
BXZ

Posted by: ZSX

bxz,

I tried out your file and can tell you that the output through the HS-3 headset is definitely stereo and not dual mono. I have to add, however, that your file is not truly left channel only as there is some right channel as well. I listen to a lot of jazz on my phone and can definitely detect where particular instruments are coming from.

I don't really understand why the Nokia Support would tell you that HS-3 can give you stereo radio but not stereo mp3. It doesn't make sense to me. Then again I use a 6230 which may have different output than a 6620.

You can tell when soldering the wires inside that there are two channels: red and green for left and right channels and two yellow wires for the neutral. I didn't mod the pop port itself as I didn't want to lose the ability to answer phone calls or skip tracks using the microphone button.

Followed these instructions:
http://www.bamford.me.uk/nokia-mod/

Edit:
I just visited the Nokia websites for U.S.A. and Europe. On the European website HS-3 is compatible with the 6230, but not on the American website. Can't tell you much about HS-3 and the 6620 as it is an Americas-only model. My feeling is that Nokia Support is rarely accurate and usually vague. They still stick with the upper limit of 128MB for the 6230 for instance, when we know that 1GB works fine.

Posted by: bxz

Hi ZSX,

the file i put here is definitely left channel only, u can play it on ur pc using any stereo headphone to make sure, but if that sounds "stereo" on ur 6230, only makes me think u r listening to mono.

But for the mod, ur 6230 can be different from my 6620, so the mod headphone might produce stereo on ur cell. Just that file i linked is surely left channel only.

So actually all users can try to see if their cell is producing stereo mp3 on their stereo headphone by playing my demo.

thx
BXZ

I tried out your file and can tell you that the output through the HS-3 headset is definitely stereo and not dual mono. Then again I use a 6230 which may have different output than a 6620.

Posted by: ZSX

Hi, I played your file on my PC and there is definitely a right channel output, although the left is far stronger. The graphic equalisers also show a signal coming from the right channel.

I also played "For Good" from the musical Wicked which has two women singing to each other and they definitely appear stage left and right, not centrally, and I also played "Gotta Get It" in which the opening sequence is a pair of scissors moving from left and right and back, then dogs barking at left and right - no problems there.

I'm pretty convinced I am getting stereo sound.

Edit:
Try playing your file on your computer then access your Volume Control toolbar. Switch the balance entirely to the right channel (the first column) and you will find that the sound is still audible through the right speaker. If the recording were single left channel, there would be no sound if switched entirely to the right. I wouldn't rely on your file to tell you about whether the signal is stereo or not!

Posted by: bxz

Ok, Let's forget about it's truely left channel or not, as long as u heard it unbalanced, that means the pin set is correct for ur cell while not the 6620. that proves u r getting stereo from ur cellphone.

Well, so are there any stereo 6620 headset users who can verify this?

thx
BXZ

Posted by: beatniks3

i have that oceans.mp3 open in sound forge and it is mono. when i play it on my computer in my headset i only hear it on one side.

don't have a nokia but i was thinking about getting the 6620, so i'd like to confirm that it does have stereo mp3 output. i think it is dumb enough that you have to mod the cable yourself to use your own headphones but that is a different discusion.

Posted by: baboosh

Quote:

Originally Posted by beatniks3

don't have a nokia but i was thinking about getting the 6620, so i'd like to confirm that it does have stereo mp3 output. i think it is dumb enough that you have to mod the cable yourself to use your own headphones but that is a different discusion.

The nokia 6620 DOES have stereo mp3 output .. as for the headphones mod you can get one off ebay if you dont wanna mod your own headset

PS Why is it dumb that you have to mod the headset yourself? :rolleyes2

Posted by: beatniks3

i think it is dumb because a person has to buy the HDS-3 headset and then mod it. why can't nokia be enterprising enough to give us the cable config we need right from the factory?

hardware hacking or modding for to save a buck makes sense to me, but to have do it to have access to the features they advertise is dumb IMHO.

better yet just give us a 2.5 instead of the pottyport

Posted by: baboosh

Quote:

Originally Posted by beatniks3

why can't nokia be enterprising enough to give us the cable config we need right from the factory?

So people would buy their headsets from nokia
more sales = more profits, this way people HAVE to buy the nokia headset to listen to mp3s .. wether they actualy use it or mod it nokia still makes profit

Quote:

Originally Posted by beatniks3

hardware hacking or modding for to save a buck makes sense to me, but to have do it to have access to the features they advertise is dumb IMHO.

You dont HAVE to mod the headset to listen to mp3s, you can listen to them with the provided headset. Modding the headset just gives you better sound quality and louder volume.

Posted by: ZSX

This is really odd... I've now played that 5 sec sound clip on my phone, both my computers, my PDA and a dedicated mp3 player and I still get a weak right channel output. It is certainly left channel dominant, but not left channel exclusive. Looks like I will have to be the vocal minority on this! In the end, I guess it doesn't really matter because, as bxz has said, if you can hear an asymmetry in the sound it means that the track is coming through in stereo (or you have bad earwax!)

I also totally agree with beatniks3 that it is ridiculous that Nokia does not provide some form of pop-port to 3.5mm jack convertor. Actually, they finally do now, the AD-15, but in typical Nokia fashion it is a crippled version with no microphone and no ability to use the button to skip tracks. If they'd been really kind they would have come up with an adapter with which you can answer calls, control the music player and also see the ID3 tag of the track you are playing. Now that would be worth paying for.

Instead, it looks like this cottage industry of headset mods is going to continue for the forseeable future...

Posted by: bxz

souri4life,

So u have the 6620 and HDS-3 and it gives u stereo sound? i just wanna confirm this so that i can buy a pair off the store. I don't want it still mono when i plug it in the 6620.

thx
BXZ

Quote:

Originally Posted by souri4life

The nokia 6620 DOES have stereo mp3 output .. as for the headphones mod you can get one off ebay if you dont wanna mod your own headset

PS Why is it dumb that you have to mod the headset yourself? :rolleyes2

Posted by: baboosh

Quote:

Originally Posted by bxz

souri4life,

So u have the 6620 and HDS-3 and it gives u stereo sound? i just wanna confirm this so that i can buy a pair off the store. I don't want it still mono when i plug it in the 6620.

thx
BXZ

As far as I know it does .. but I cant tell you Im 100% sure. I have heard people saying it does and people saying it doesnt .. So its up to you .. :rolleyes2

PS no i dont have the 6620 but my friend used to and he told me that it does give stereo sound but hes not 100% reliable

Posted by: chinman

HDS-3 stereo headset - turn radio on - option - stereo headset (grayed out) - error: stereo headset needed for stereo output. however, i do hear sound from both ears..would this be considered dual mono then?

i gave up on my hds-3 and purchased one of these modded stereo headsets - will buy etymotic er6i to match the white =) :

eBay Item Purchase: NOKIA 6230 HS-3 WH Headphone Adapter [POP PORT] tm UK! (Item #6405407810)

will post my results.

also, shout me out if you want to buy my 6230, as i am getting a 6230i =)
email greys2k@yahoo.com and leave a contact phone # if interested

Posted by: chinman

here's the pic of the one i bought off egay

Posted by: chinman

now selling my nokia accessories - i upgraded my phone
http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...713#post5739713

Posted by: robr

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinman

HDS-3 stereo headset - turn radio on - option - stereo headset (grayed out) - error: stereo headset needed for stereo output. however, i do hear sound from both ears..would this be considered dual mono then?

i gave up on my hds-3 and purchased one of these modded stereo headsets - will buy etymotic er6i to match the white =) :

eBay Item Purchase: NOKIA 6230 HS-3 WH Headphone Adapter [POP PORT] tm UK! (Item #6405407810)

will post my results.

also, shout me out if you want to buy my 6230, as i am getting a 6230i =)
email greys2k@yahoo.com and leave a contact phone # if interested

i just bought one of these per your advice... interestingly enough, no stereo. i have the same mp3s on my mp3 player, theyre in stereo, i copied the same mp3s to the 6620 and used the mp3 player headphones... mono. this sucks.

Posted by: mujie

@Bitterbatter

Your work is very untidy,looks like a 8 year old kid did the mod