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Apple headphones on Galaxy, problems with sound.

I happen to have an old mic for a bluetooth device that has the 4-pole 3.5mm plug and then lets you plug a normal set of earphones into it. This turns out to be pin compatible with the Galaxy. I was going to use it to make an adaptor to let me use an iPhone headset so I took it apart and used it to confirm the pinout. Left, Right, Mic, Ground from tip to sleeve. I checked the headset that came with the phone and the button operates the same way as on the iPhone too, shorting the mic to ground.

As it turns out there is an open standard proposed by the OTMP here. The pinout of the galaxy conforms to this standard, as do all 2.5mm and 3.5mm Nokia headsets (pinout). So, I'm just going to buy the Nokia version of the Sennheiser MM50 headset.

Both the iPhone and the Galaxy/Nokia pinouts make sense when plugging normal headphones into the socket. The left and right connectors line up and the headphone ground connects to both ground and the mic. However, it is more traditional to have the ground as the furthest connection from the tip.
 
Sorry for have a bit of a tangent here, but what I find frustrating is that I can't use my usual headphones when I am listening to music and call comes in. They are lovely B&O ones (I'm a bit deaf, so the clarity is appreciated, if not as much bass as I'd like) that I've been using for years and I would miss them. I think it should be possible, as I can hear the caller if I answer the phone, but the mic is disabled so, no good.

Instead, I have to rip out one of my earplugs, unplug the headphones from the phone (which nicely stops the music - but it was going to be stopped regardless when I answered the phone) and then answer the call.

Any reason why the built-in mic shouldn't work in that circumstance? I wonder if a work-around is possible, either by covering the section of the jack (tape? paint?) which would then negate that connection.

Or perhaps the phone/code could detect when a normal set of headphones is plugged in and just have the system use the built-in mic as required by any app. Not sure how they'd differentiate between temp insertion shortage [which is currently buggy, can cause auto-music playback/shuffle playlist], ext. mic use, shorts due to pause/skip button function and a steady short (?) when a std. headset w/o mic is plugged in. :/
 
Nefser said:
Sorry for have a bit of a tangent here, but what I find frustrating is that I can't use my usual headphones when I am listening to music and call comes in.
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Interestingly enough the mic thing I have sounds exactly like what you would want. It plugs into the headphone socket of the phone and has a small clip-on mic at the end of a short lead. The mic has another socket in it that lets you plug whatever headphones you want into it. The lead is too short to actually clip the mic onto your lapel but you would still be able to hold the phone and mic near your mouth and listen through the earphones. Unfortunately, I don't know where you can get one. I got it a couple of years ago as an accessory with a bluetooth device that is no longer sold and it just happens to work with the Galaxy.

However, I have seen similar devices for other mobiles but I haven't come across any that use a 3.5mm plug. It might be possible to get one that uses a different plug and solder a 3.5mm one onto it.

Using the internal mic when headphones are plugged in might be a bit trickier. It would depend on how the mics were switched. If it is implemented in software (phone detects headset and chooses to listen to that mic instead of the internal one) it should be possible. If it is switched in hardware though you would have to use an external mic.
 
So, the MM50 headset arrived today. It works perfectly with the Galaxy. Sounds really good, too. I didn't realise this before but the earphones can be unplugged from the mic and button and replaced with a different set of earphones. This might be a solution for Nefster but I suspect it might be a bit costly just for an external mic. Although, I would definitely recommend the earphones that it comes with.
 
The main thing i'm interested in is the button i guess, to skip music.

So are we saying that nokia use the same pinout as samsung?
 
edgx said:
So, the MM50 headset arrived today. It works perfectly with the Galaxy. Sounds really good, too. I didn't realise this before but the earphones can be unplugged from the mic and button and replaced with a different set of earphones. This might be a solution for Nefster but I suspect it might be a bit costly just for an external mic. Although, I would definitely recommend the earphones that it comes with.
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YAY! THANK YOU VERY MUCH EDGX, that was exactly the info I was interested in. Can you compare MM50 earphones with those that came with Galaxy?
 
Thanks for the info. Yes, this would be pricey option just to get some minor functionality.

I think what would be handy would be just a small 'stub' extension, perhaps even as a 90 degree plug which had a mic and a button to give the play/pause/skip functionality. But even a vendor selling a cord extension with a mic and button would be fab, rather than having to cough up money for extra headphones I don't need.
 
Comparing the MM50 and the given headphone. Well, functionally they are pretty much the same except the the earphones disconnect from the microphone/button assembly. So you can replace the earphones with another set or even use the earphones on something else if you wanted. The earphone section though has a very short cord.

Sound quality is much better, but that is fairly subjective. They are a bit louder, too. The earpieces are smaller and don't stick out like the samsung ones. Also comes with 3 different sizes of silicon covers for the earpieces.

Overall it is a bit shorter than the samsung one. It is thinner and lighter but not flimsy. The mic/button assembly has a small clip on it, too.
 
edgx said:
Comparing the MM50 and the given headphone. Well, functionally they are pretty much the same except the the earphones disconnect from the microphone/button assembly. So you can replace the earphones with another set or even use the earphones on something else if you wanted. The earphone section though has a very short cord.

Sound quality is much better, but that is fairly subjective. They are a bit louder, too. The earpieces are smaller and don't stick out like the samsung ones. Also comes with 3 different sizes of silicon covers for the earpieces.

Overall it is a bit shorter than the samsung one. It is thinner and lighter but not flimsy. The mic/button assembly has a small clip on it, too.
Click to expand...

Tnx for info :)
 
edgx said:
Comparing the MM50 and the given headphone. Well, functionally they are pretty much the same except the the earphones disconnect from the microphone/button assembly. So you can replace the earphones with another set or even use the earphones on something else if you wanted. The earphone section though has a very short cord.

Sound quality is much better, but that is fairly subjective. They are a bit louder, too. The earpieces are smaller and don't stick out like the samsung ones. Also comes with 3 different sizes of silicon covers for the earpieces.

Overall it is a bit shorter than the samsung one. It is thinner and lighter but not flimsy. The mic/button assembly has a small clip on it, too.
Click to expand...

do the earphones work if you plug it into your laptop? because the original ones do not work like normal earphones.. the sound is all distorted if you use it for anything but your phone
 
mvnjpy said:
do the earphones work if you plug it into your laptop? because the original ones do not work like normal earphones.. the sound is all distorted if you use it for anything but your phone
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They have the same sound issues as the original headphones. If hold the button down they go away but otherwise the two channels get subtracted from each other.

You can disconnect the earpieces from the mic and they have the standard 3.5mm plug on them but they are very short on their own.
 
I think that depends on your laptop. The connector can touch any part of the last 2 sections - which are ground ordinarily. If it touches the 3rd section it won't work, if it touches the 4th it will.

Eg on my thinkpad the samsung headphones work fine.

Basically if the MX50 will work exactly the same as the samsung ones.

Be warned these headphones wont work on HTC phones, or apple iphones. Also there are alot of cloned ones on ebay.
 
KlaymenDK said:
Mine sure don't. Either you have applied lateral pressure at some point, or you haven't shoved it all the way in to where there's a click sensation.
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I also have the problem that the hole in my phone is too big. I have several headphones that won't connect solidly to the phone. Does anyone have a workaround for that?
 
bresslau said:
Does anyone have a workaround for that?
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I have come up with a solution that might work. My specific case is the connection between the phone and an audio cassette adapter for my car's stereo (yeah, it is that old). I just used pliers to squeeze the male pin of the cassette adapter, thus deforming it and making it a bit wider in one direction. I now have a solid connection, but still have to test it on my car's stereo to see if the signal is going through correctly.
It is not an elegant solution, but a quick one and, from a technical point of view, should work all right.

here two pics of how that looks like.


Image 01


Image 02

Update: I tested it on my car, it works. Again, not elegant, but didn't cost me a dime and solved my problem.
 
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