Audio for headphones via Cat6?

n30_mkii · 25 Apr 2011 at 18:49

Hi all I'm about to start the process of running cables in the walls for my living room. I will be running a number of CAT6 cables from the back of the living room around to the front left corner ready for the next room and all my AV type equipment. The main question is I want to be able to listen to my headphone occasionally so would like to have a 3.5mm female connector to the back of the room. Is it possible to get and wire a 3.5mm faceplate using a single pair of wires within the CAT6 cable or not? or would I be better running a long already made cable and have it coming out through a brush faceplate?

Any advice appreciated.

Disco Boy · 25 Apr 2011 at 21:01

I'm struggling to picture what you're trying to do in my head, does your "AV type equipment" not include anything with a 3.5mm output?

Sin_Chase · 25 Apr 2011 at 21:56

No reason why not.

You can get RJ45 to 3.5MM jack adapters or just wire some up yourself. The only potential issue you might face is the gauge of the wire and the power you have available to send it over that distance.

Test it first? Strip some cat5 and tack it onto some old 3.5MM jacks and see if you get a good connection. cat5/6 et al is just cabling after all.

lucid · 26 Apr 2011 at 01:53

n30_mkii said:
...Is it possible to get and wire a 3.5mm faceplate using a single pair of wires within the CAT6 cable or not?

It's a bad idea. Headphone cable is shielded. Standard UTP CAT6 isn't. The cables are not the same at all.

Headphone cable needs three connections to work for stereo sound - not two as supposed in the OP. The ground connection is from the copper braided jacket. It provides shielding to reduce interference. Unless you plan to run shielded CAT6 then your headphone connection won't be shielded... And No, before you ask, just connecting an extra core from the CAT6 cable won't do for shielding.

If anyone suggests that CAT cable has noise cancelling properties then they're talking out of their backsides. The noise cancelling comes from the way the signal is processed at the receiving end. The cable itself doesn't have any noise cancelling properties.

Buy three core shielded cable and solder it to the connections on the faceplate.

danza · 26 Apr 2011 at 07:30

lucid said:
Headphone cable needs three connections to work for stereo sound - not two as supposed in the OP. The ground connection is from the copper braided jacket.

Yes it needs three, but the ground connection is not for copper braiding as I've found in all of the headphones I've worked on (a fair few pairs now). It's the commoned ground to both the drivers. I can't remember which conductor on the plug corresponds to it though.

/edit

Derp, just re-read properly. You're right as far as the cable run is concerned from faceplate to amp.

lucid · 26 Apr 2011 at 09:59

danza said:
Yes it needs three, but the ground connection is not for copper braiding as I've found in all of the headphones I've worked on (a fair few pairs now). It's the commoned ground to both the drivers. I can't remember which conductor on the plug corresponds to it though.

You're quite right. That'll teach me for posting at daft o'clock

Three core shielded cable is whats required. The ground goes to the largest connector in the back of the jack plug. That's the one that corresponds to the sleeve.

n30_mkii · 26 Apr 2011 at 10:45

Sorry forgot to mention it will be CAT6 STP so will give it a go methinks. If it doesnt work very well I will run a dedicated 3.5mm cable

MikeHunt79 · 26 Apr 2011 at 10:53

Use 2 pairs and it will work fine.

In fact CAT6 makes very nice interconnect able...

n30_mkii · 12 Jun 2011 at 19:50

Ok the time has come to actually solder the faceplates.

I have taken a shot of the back of the faceplate with my phone (rubbish quality)

Any idea whats what? I can only see terminals for three connections?

I have also run a standard 10m 3.5mm audio cable as well as a CAT6 STP run

Should I try the CAT6 first? the 3.5mm has a female at both ends but won't look as good as a faceplate finish, if I chop the ends of will it have all the wires I need to be able to solder to a faceplate

Any help appreciated!

sHo0sH · 13 Jun 2011 at 07:45

Astro Mixamp 5.8

lucid · 13 Jun 2011 at 08:57

n30_mkii said:
Any idea whats what? I can only see terminals for three connections?

You only need connections for three wires for a stereo signal on jacks. The tip is usually left channel. The ring is right. The sleeve is the earth.

Depending on the quality of your 3.5mm jack cable it will have either three wires (unshielded) or three wires plus a copper braid jacket for shielding. The latter is better quality.

When you chop off the jack plug don't cut it right next to the plug. Leave a 10cm tail. This way you can strip the cable back and use a multimeter to work out which wire goes to what part of the pin.

If you have three wires + copper braid then the braid is left unconnected.

n30_mkii · 13 Jun 2011 at 12:44

If I test it with the CAT6 first, do i just need to use 3 wires then, and it should work? it's only a fairly cheap 10m 3.5mm cable so I doubt it will contain 3 wires.

lucid · 13 Jun 2011 at 16:50

Your cheap 3.5mm will have to contain 3 wires or else it would be mono!

It's whether the cable contains a copper jacket shield. For the love of god just cut the damned wire open and have a look.