Three days ago I was absolutely gutted when my beloved Sennheiser HD205's lost all of the lower frequencies. Still had right and left channels but only the upper ranges. No lower frequencies unless I played with the cable close to the headset. Twisting the cable close to the left side confirmed a damaged wire within as the lower frequencies would come in and out. I didn't try to replace the entire cable as I knew in "my case" it wasn't necessary. I knew the problem was within 3" of the exit from the left side. I pulled the 'phones apart, took a picture of the connections and de-soldered the leads from the circuit board on the speaker plate. I arbitrarily cut about 4 inches (100mm) from the speaker end of the cable. I clamped a pair of needle nose pliers about 1/4" (6+mm) from the wire end and with a lighter I burned the ends to remove the "insulation" then cleaned them with alcohol and then acetone (just to make sure). I then tested each lead with my Fluke multimeter to verify continuity on all leads. Satisfied that all were good I soldered them all to the speaker board. Another continuity test verified I was then good to go! I plugged them in to my cell phone and ran Pandora. Sweet music played again! Took me all of about 10 minutes start to finish to bring my 205's back to as new condition. They're no less than 8 years old (maybe even a few years older) and I wouldn't part with them for the world. If you know one end from the other of a soldering iron you can easily save what was thought to be a hopeless piece for the garbage can. All it takes is a multimeter to VERIFY where the break is. Cut the lead back from the break and prep and solder the leads back where they belong. There are so many HIGHER priced headphones on the market. The HD 205's cover ALL my needs. I'm SO happy that I was able to restore them to live another 10 years or so.....
Exactly the same problem happened to mine 2 days ago 😭😭😭 I just watched 3-4 videos on how to repair Sennhieser HD 205 headphones. Now I hope mine will also be repaired. Unfortunately I got these videos at night, and tomorrow is Sunday ! I have to wait till Monday morning 😥 Lets hope mine Headphones also restore.
@@idealthinker101 It was such a mega pain in the ass just trying to route wires and reassemble without wire damage. I finally just threw them away. I really did love them for as long as they worked though.
@@oldfatjoe6329 But I can't afford to throw them in the thrash though... Today morning I took them to an electronics repair workshop, and described the problem. I'll collect it tomorrow. Then I'll surely tell you what happened. These are the best and only headphones I have now. I can't throw them 😅. Because I'm sure I won't get the same audio quality at the same cost.
@@oldfatjoe6329 Hi sir, I got the exit poll jack of the headphone replaced. Now its working the same as earlier 😃 But... 😐 I am unsatisfied by the new jack itself. Earlier it had curves for 6.5 mm adaptor. The new one doesn't support 6.5 mm adaptor 🤐
Thanks for the reply. I have checked the main wire already(basically moved it around at every instant checking if the sound to the right headphone would turn back on, which it never did. So I'm confident the main wire isn't the problem rather something in the actual headset. I guess I might as well try to take apart the headband section, even if I mess it up(I tired before and noticed it was difficult which is why I came here), I did pop off the ear cups as well but could't see any broken wire.
My issue is that the sound comes on and off in the right ear. By playing around and twisting the jack when it's connected, I can manage to get full sound but have to be almost motionless for it to remain. That would suggest a jack problem, right? Anything I can do?
Sounds to me like the break is somewhere near the headphone end but if I were you, I would just replace the whole cable. Its neater and saves having to potentially do a job twice. Look on ebay etc for an 3.5mm auxiliary extension cable and then snip one end off. You will loose the screw on 1/4 jack ability but you could get a cable and adapter for under a fiver.
Oh and does the cable replacement degrade audio quality? Or is it barely noticible of a difference. Thank you for making this video! It helps quiet a lot, and saves me $70!
I am replacing the plug on one of these but when I test for short circuits within the cable with my moving coil test meter on the lowest ohm scale it says that all 4 wires have the same DC resistance to each other, 0 ohms. Is this normal? Before I took off the old plug one speaker worked and the other was intermittent.
Hey Daniel do you mind making a video on how to open the HD 205's up properly? The wire goes into the left headphone and my right one has stopped working. It used to work on random occasions for a month but now it has fully stopped, I pretty much made sure it isn't a connection on the main wire and I fear its probably inside the headphones somewhere, maybe in the middle that connects the left as it slides and has greater chance to get fucked. I can't seem to open that part up, only the side.
The ear cups come off fairly easily; they kind of pop off. But, as far as I can see you can't get the headband section apart, or at least not easily. My advice would be to check what you can i.e. the wire (move it around at different sections while listening to music), the internal connections (as in the video above and the right headphone) and then if nothing seems to work..you have nothing to lose. Try pulling it apart and seeing what you see.
.....also, know that if you haven't miss treated your headphones then the chances are its the wire. If one of the right or left audio wires is broken (within the single main wire) then you would not hear in one headphone.
Yeah i have this issue with mine where they is slight distortion so most vocals are completely distorted, I found you have to replace the wire, its a weird issue, but the question i was wondering is, are all standard cables red,white and ground?
Hi, I see this was uploaded months ago but if your still answering questions I would be grateful if you could answer this one. My HD 205's has lost sound in the R speaker. Left is perfect and all wiring and soldering is as it should be. Have you any ideas as to why Right speaker has suddenly stopped? Many thanks.
i have the same problem, the wire snaps in between while you twist it over your ear after a while it stops working, thx for posting the vid, helped a lot
Wow, I didn't know the original wire as a knot in it.. I`m always worried whenever I accidentally pull it away because it is non replaceable.. Thanks,,
Sorry deleted my message because I raged on my headphones : ^) But they must have changed the design, it literally just snapped the prong holding the ballbearing. If you've owned the headphones under two years, always send them back, if not, only gently pry up the ear cushion.
Nightmarish design to repair. On my headphones the isolation of the cable between the earcups rot away, so it started to short. You have to unscrew dozens of different screws and after that headphones just fall apart
![I Tried Modding My 10-Year Old Headphones [Sennheiser HD-205]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/u93b-rDOPJk/mqdefault.jpg)
![I Tried Modding My 10-Year Old Headphones [Sennheiser HD-205]](/img/tr.png)
Three days ago I was absolutely gutted when my beloved Sennheiser HD205's lost all of the lower frequencies. Still had right and left channels but only the upper ranges. No lower frequencies unless I played with the cable close to the headset. Twisting the cable close to the left side confirmed a damaged wire within as the lower frequencies would come in and out. I didn't try to replace the entire cable as I knew in "my case" it wasn't necessary. I knew the problem was within 3" of the exit from the left side. I pulled the 'phones apart, took a picture of the connections and de-soldered the leads from the circuit board on the speaker plate. I arbitrarily cut about 4 inches (100mm) from the speaker end of the cable. I clamped a pair of needle nose pliers about 1/4" (6+mm) from the wire end and with a lighter I burned the ends to remove the "insulation" then cleaned them with alcohol and then acetone (just to make sure). I then tested each lead with my Fluke multimeter to verify continuity on all leads. Satisfied that all were good I soldered them all to the speaker board. Another continuity test verified I was then good to go! I plugged them in to my cell phone and ran Pandora. Sweet music played again! Took me all of about 10 minutes start to finish to bring my 205's back to as new condition. They're no less than 8 years old (maybe even a few years older) and I wouldn't part with them for the world.
If you know one end from the other of a soldering iron you can easily save what was thought to be a hopeless piece for the garbage can. All it takes is a multimeter to VERIFY where the break is. Cut the lead back from the break and prep and solder the leads back where they belong.
There are so many HIGHER priced headphones on the market. The HD 205's cover ALL my needs. I'm SO happy that I was able to restore them to live another 10 years or so.....
Exactly the same problem happened to mine 2 days ago 😭😭😭
I just watched 3-4 videos on how to repair Sennhieser HD 205 headphones. Now I hope mine will also be repaired.
Unfortunately I got these videos at night, and tomorrow is Sunday !
I have to wait till Monday morning 😥
Lets hope mine Headphones also restore.
@@idealthinker101 It was such a mega pain in the ass just trying to route wires and reassemble without wire damage. I finally just threw them away. I really did love them for as long as they worked though.
@@oldfatjoe6329 But I can't afford to throw them in the thrash though...
Today morning I took them to an electronics repair workshop, and described the problem. I'll collect it tomorrow. Then I'll surely tell you what happened.
These are the best and only headphones I have now. I can't throw them 😅.
Because I'm sure I won't get the same audio quality at the same cost.
@@oldfatjoe6329 Hi sir,
I got the exit poll jack of the headphone replaced.
Now its working the same as earlier 😃
But... 😐
I am unsatisfied by the new jack itself. Earlier it had curves for 6.5 mm adaptor. The new one doesn't support 6.5 mm adaptor 🤐
I successfully repaired my pair of 205's with this tutorial. Thanks.
Thanks for this. I bought an extension cable from Maplins. The ground was not coated so I cound split it between the two terminals. Works a treet.
Thanks for the reply.
I have checked the main wire already(basically moved it around at every instant checking if the sound to the right headphone would turn back on, which it never did. So I'm confident the main wire isn't the problem rather something in the actual headset. I guess I might as well try to take apart the headband section, even if I mess it up(I tired before and noticed it was difficult which is why I came here), I did pop off the ear cups as well but could't see any broken wire.
Do you remember which colored original wire was for which speaker?
Mine broke and this seems like my only option
Yeah works perfectly! Glad I could help. Do you have the same pair/problem?
I bought a wire, but it has one blue, one red only one copper-color. How should I attach these?
Perfect bro!! ...I've been searching for a while a video like this one!. just one question....
It is working well after replacing the cable ?
My issue is that the sound comes on and off in the right ear. By playing around and twisting the jack when it's connected, I can manage to get full sound but have to be almost motionless for it to remain. That would suggest a jack problem, right? Anything I can do?
Sounds to me like the break is somewhere near the headphone end but if I were you, I would just replace the whole cable. Its neater and saves having to potentially do a job twice. Look on ebay etc for an 3.5mm auxiliary extension cable and then snip one end off. You will loose the screw on 1/4 jack ability but you could get a cable and adapter for under a fiver.
When you're twisting the jack you are also twisting the wire slightly. Replace the wire as i've shown in the video and it should be fixed.
Have you changed the cable?
My cable is broken between the left and right speakers! How can I repair that?
Oh and does the cable replacement degrade audio quality? Or is it barely noticible of a difference. Thank you for making this video! It helps quiet a lot, and saves me $70!
I am replacing the plug on one of these but when I test for short circuits within the cable with my moving coil test meter on the lowest ohm scale it says that all 4 wires have the same DC resistance to each other, 0 ohms. Is this normal? Before I took off the old plug one speaker worked and the other was intermittent.
Where can we get this cable... It's not available in service center
Hey Daniel do you mind making a video on how to open the HD 205's up properly? The wire goes into the left headphone and my right one has stopped working. It used to work on random occasions for a month but now it has fully stopped, I pretty much made sure it isn't a connection on the main wire and I fear its probably inside the headphones somewhere, maybe in the middle that connects the left as it slides and has greater chance to get fucked. I can't seem to open that part up, only the side.
The ear cups come off fairly easily; they kind of pop off. But, as far as I can see you can't get the headband section apart, or at least not easily. My advice would be to check what you can i.e. the wire (move it around at different sections while listening to music), the internal connections (as in the video above and the right headphone) and then if nothing seems to work..you have nothing to lose. Try pulling it apart and seeing what you see.
.....also, know that if you haven't miss treated your headphones then the chances are its the wire. If one of the right or left audio wires is broken (within the single main wire) then you would not hear in one headphone.
Yeah i have this issue with mine where they is slight distortion so most vocals are completely distorted, I found you have to replace the wire, its a weird issue, but the question i was wondering is, are all standard cables red,white and ground?
+NonsensicalVids yes usually
glad it worked.
Hi, I see this was uploaded months ago but if your still answering questions I would be grateful if you could answer this one.
My HD 205's has lost sound in the R speaker. Left is perfect and all wiring and soldering is as it should be. Have you any ideas as to why Right speaker has suddenly stopped? Many thanks.
Got any ideas to fix the problem?
Thanks.
i have the same problem, the wire snaps in between while you twist it over your ear after a while it stops working, thx for posting the vid, helped a lot
Thanks!
Where do you find this replacement wire?
eBay, Amazon. Just search for 'three core wire'.
Hi, tnx for your video. Why we MUST change the cable? if we've only a broken jack, cannot absolutely reuse the old cable? bye
If its the Jack then you can just change the jack. I had a broken wire though so changed the wire.
Sorry, i don't speak english so well and i misunderstood what you told. Thanks.
Exactly what I was lookin for!
Thanks!
Moving the wire might not give you any feedback. A replacement aux wire is only a couple of pound so I'd give that a go.
I think this is the issue that I have, I need a replacement aux wire. After I buy one, I should just follow the steps on here?
what happen with the other ground? or it's not important ?
not important
Daniel Piper thanks
How do I open these Headphones? Please reply :O
My wire broke :(
You have to pull the ear cup off (might need to pull quite hard) and then unscrew what is underneath if I remember right.
Wow, I didn't know the original wire as a knot in it.. I`m always worried whenever I accidentally pull it away because it is non replaceable.. Thanks,,
Owe you a beer thanks.
where can we buy the wire ?
My wires at my speakers are well connected. I think my plug is broken. That is fixable.
phew thanks!!
Sorry deleted my message because I raged on my headphones : ^)
But they must have changed the design, it literally just snapped the prong holding the ballbearing.
If you've owned the headphones under two years, always send them back, if not, only gently pry up the ear cushion.
AngelSnes No worries. Doesn't sound familiar so sounds like they might have. Things tend to be made so you can't fix them yourself these days. Shame.
Cheers, was thinking as much.
nice!
Nightmarish design to repair. On my headphones the isolation of the cable between the earcups rot away, so it started to short. You have to unscrew dozens of different screws and after that headphones just fall apart
I would fix this another way :) very simple ... without buying another cable
+Hayk Dingchyan how?