Got my Sonic Voom headphones, now what?

[SATire]

Looking at these things, I thought I had every adapter known to man but guess I don't.

Can anyone shed some light on adapting these things.

In my case, I'd like to keep the headphones to use, as headphones while modding the box to become a permanent fixture near my two FTA receivers.

 

[Mr Tony]

here is what you need

3-Ft. 1/8" Stereo to Dual Phono (RCA) Plug Y-cable - RadioShack.com

1/8" stereo to 2 RCA plugs...they have 3 or 6 foot cables

plug the 1/8" plug to the front of the unit (where the headphones would go) and this still allows you to use the headphones in the other port

 

[SATire]

The decoder would be in the basement, nowhere near the headphones, and being used only for decoding on the receivers. So I need two things.

One, what's the way to wire the decoder for stand alone use and second, same thing for the headphones.

 

[SATire]

Any chance that breaking the extra 8 pin connector off the headset would result in a standard stereo headset?

 

[Mr Tony]

Any chance that breaking the extra 8 pin connector off the headset would result in a standard stereo headset?

I dont have the headphones anymore (broke) but I dont think they worked that way. I do remember trying to plug them into a normal pocket radio and getting no sound out of them

 

[SATire]

Ok, so looks like a little re-wiring on the headphones.

There's a 5.1 output connector on the decoder, one would think there's a breakout adapter for this thing.

 

[Skyscanner]

Satire,
If you use the adapter, you may [most probably] experience a big reduction in volume through your audio, if that's OK with you, fine, but if not, TantalusFld posted a thread about how to overcome this--means you will have to sacrifice the headphones, but it not only restores the audio but will boost it to plenty of volume. Don't know where that post is, should be easy to find, or just PM him. I am using his method and it works great. As for the headphones, once you see inside how cheap they are, you won't have any compunctions about sacrificing them for the project.
ss ><>

 

[SATire]

I found a lot of mentions about this device but can't seem to find one where someone is sharing what they did to get this working.

What seems to be the simplest is to use the coaxial input and find a 5.1 breakout cable on the output side but I'm guessing it's not that easy .

I don't much care about the headphones, just thought it would be a bonus if they could be used instead of junking them.

 

[Skyscanner]

PM TantalusFld. He has a simple, effective way to run all your audio through the sonic voom. The headphones are dollar-store components inside nice-looking plastic, the only thing of real value is the box and the headphone cable containing the plug and amplifier module. The headphones are throw-aways.
ss ><>

 

[Pixl]

Iceberg's suggestion to buy a patch cord from Radio Shack will work and is a easy way to get started. But if you find you have low level of audio and have to crank up the tv, then get blasted out later when you change to regular tv you can follow these instructions out of one of my many posts on this project. On the headphone cord about halfway up is a black lump that has an amplifier inside. Cut the wire past the lump and attach an RCA cord.

> In case you get the nerve up to cut into the headphone cord, I just opened
> up my splice and looked at the wires you will need. This will save you
> some time tracing out and experimenting. Of course the cord is double
> cord, one for left, one for right. Split it apart and strip off outer
> jacket. Inside you will find four bundles of colored hair wire. They have
> very thin insulation on each hair and you can burn thru the insulation by
> "tinning" the end of each bundle. This is six channel audio, you only need
> two, the others are unused by the sat audio. 1st cord...
> red - unused
> green - unused
> red/green - left audio
> gold - shield or ground
>
> 2nd cord...
> red - unused
> green - unused
> red/gold - right audio
> gold - shield or ground
>
> Jim

Use the volume control on the decoder to boost the level to match your normal tv audio. Standard sat audio passes thru automatically so you don't have to switch back between AC3 and standard.

You can buy these off of Amazon for less than $20.
Amazon.com: Cyberhome CH-SRD 600R 6-channel Surround Headphones with Game Decoder: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31s7uUYDl8L.@@AMEPARAM@@31s7uUYDl8L

Edit: I'll even add this for people who don't want to solder wires. Cut the headphones off the end and send me the remaining cable with connector and lump in an envelope. I'll supply an RCA cord and solder it on for free, then mail it back to you. Only cost you a few dollars in shipping both ways. PM me for arrangement if interested. Jim

 

[SATire]

>Iceberg's suggestion to buy a patch cord from Radio Shack will work and is a
>easy way to get started.

Oops, guess I misunderstood that as meaning if I wanted to use the headphones at the same time as outputting into something else.

>On the headphone cord about halfway up is a black lump that has an amplifier
>inside. Cut the wire past the lump and attach an RCA cord.

I found threads talking about cutting into it at the bump but had not seen any wiring info. Thanks for the info, I'll fire up my soldering iron later on. I bought two sets, one for each receiver so it'll be nice to tune more stuff in now.

Mike

 

[Pixl]

An interesting note, I also have my receiver in the basement controlled by IR repeaters. I have the AC3 decoder down there and spliced in 35 feet of shielded audio cable to the tv upstairs. Works fine, no noise or hum.

 

[SATire]

I connected a 1/8" to R-L Phono adapter to the output, have coaxial from the receiver going into the decoder, have the decider set to coaxial.
Standard audio works just fine through it but AC3 isn't being decoded.

Where am I going wrong, seems pretty straight forward.

 

[Pixl]

What do you hear thru the headphones? You should get it working thru them first before using adapter cables or cutting off the headphones. Can you use the optical cable instead of the coax.

 

[SATire]

I hear the same encrypted audio in the headphones as I do on TV.
I tested both decoders, both act the same.

I'll give the optical a try on the other receiver.

 

[Mr Tony]

I connected a 1/8" to R-L Phono adapter to the output, have coaxial from the receiver going into the decoder, have the decider set to coaxial.
Standard audio works just fine through it but AC3 isn't being decoded.

Where am I going wrong, seems pretty straight forward.

what receiver is it hooked to? I know some receivers have a coaxial or optical output yet AC-3 doesnt work....or there may be a setting in the menu to turn on the SPDIF option
(now that I think about it both the Geosat & Traxis you have will output AC-3)

 

[SATire]

I only tested the geosat today, I'll try the traxis tomorrow.

 

[Pixl]

I've been using the Sonic Voom decoder on my GeoSatPro 1100 works fine with the optical cable. Never tried the coax. I wonder what you are hearing, as anytime I was on a channel with AC3 audio I heard nothing at all till I got the decoder.

Jim

 

[SATire]

What I hear is exactly the same as without the decoder in-line. I've not tried it on the other receiver yet, I'll give that a shot soon.

 

[Pixl]

Something seems weird as to where that "noise" is comming from. My GeoSatPro on a AC3 sat had absoultly no audio at all, no noise , nothing, till I added a AC3 decoder.