# [DIY] Takstar Pro 80 - Removable cable mod.



## DJScope

This isn't my first DIY job, but it is my first headphone one, and my first one where I took extra special care with my soldering and presentation.
  
 When I got these cans the only thing that I didn't like about them was the needlessly heavy coiled cable. So I decided to do a little operation to change that. Of course you could say that I could've just recabled them, but a removable cable was the most logical and convenient solution. 
  
 The cans look and sound great straight out of the box. The presentation is not too shabby when you look at the overall finish of the cans and the "hard case" which they come in. So why not fix it's only noticeable flaw.
  

  
  
 The mod is actually a very simple procedure.

Buy a 3.5mm chassis socket (This is the one I used)
Make sure to have a male to male 3.5mm cable ready to go. (I made my own)
Disassemble
Snip & remove OEM cable
Prepare ear cup for the jack
Solder onto contacts
Testing
Reassemble
Profit!
  
  
Prerequisites Get all you stuff together. You need a 3.5mm socket, a soldering gun/iron, solder, wire cutters, needle nose pliers, a small phillips head screw driver, a knife or wire stripper. Also you need an audio source to test the soldering and make sure you have that patch cable ready for testing. Last thing you want is to realise that you don't have a cable to use the cans.
  
Let's begin! Opening the cup is VERY easy. There is no glue holding them together, only phillips head screws. There are 2 ways you can do it. One being releasing the left cup from the headband, this will give you better freedom of movement. Or you can twist the cup over the other to keep it in place.
  

  
 Remove the cushion/pad. And unscrew the 4 screws holding on the front cover.
  

  
 Peel the front cover from the driver housing. It's stuck on only because of the felt, so prying it with minimal force will unlodge it. Be careful not to pull the driver housing out too violently because you could pull the cords out. The wires for the right driver are very thin, as thin as on IEMs, thought the main cable seems to be the same gauge as CAT5 core wires and are very strong.
  

  
 Now carefully take the driver housing out of the cup and place it down next to it. You'll see an oval donut of dampening felt which you need to remove.
 Now that you're here, using you wire cutters you need to cut the OEM cable below the knot. Pull the rest of the cable and the rubber grommet out. Undo the knot on the driver end and remove the shielding to expose the 3 wires: Black is the right channel, Red is the ground and Green is the left channel. Trim the wires to your desired length, strip and tin the wires, ready for soldering to the socket.
  
 Next step is to prepare the cup so that the 3.5mm socket will fit without any interference. Using you wire cutter you need to completely remove some plastic from the back of the driver housing and inside the cup (red arrows show what needs to be removed in photos below).
  
 
  
 Solder the wires to the contacts on the socket. All sockets are manufacture differently, so make sure to have the correct contacts. Once this is done, wait for the solder beads to cool down and then test that both drivers are playing and that you have the left and right channels correct. If you're happy with it, put back the dampening felt and screw the socket into the original OEM hole (you may also you glue to hold it in place. I didn't. I hate glue.). Coincidentally, the rebate in the dampening felt was the perfect size for the socket I bought, and the hole looks to be around 8mm while the threaded socket head was around 6-7mm which was perfect also. Try to be careful whilst using pliers to screw on the socket nut. I accidentally scratched the cup doing this.
  

  
  
 Reconstruct the cup the way you took it apart and enjoy your handy work!
  
Profit! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			



  
 
 
 
  
 --EDIT--
  
PS. I've got a more in depth and universal guide on doing this mod on our blog @ TechnoFAQ. Click this link if you want to have a look and see if you can do this yourself.


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## Beocord

Nice job! That black foam over the driver in the second picture, is it stock or did you put it there yourself? I was just wondering because my pro80 does not have that...


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## DJScope

beocord said:


> Nice job! That black foam over the driver in the second picture, is it stock or did you put it there yourself? I was just wondering because my pro80 does not have that...




Thanks mate!

Yeah. That layer of foam was there as stock. Its glued on. 

Sent from Moto G XT1033 w/ Faux kernel.


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## Beocord

Ok, thanks for the info. I'll have to find some thin foam pieces and try how it affects the sound. Seems there are atleast three different versions around. Straigh cable, coiled with the foam and coiled without it.


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## DJScope

beocord said:


> Ok, thanks for the info. I'll have to find some thin foam pieces and try how it affects the sound. Seems there are atleast three different versions around. Straigh cable, coiled with the foam and coiled without it.




Strange that. Can you tell me what the impact on the sound is when you do. It'd be a shame for me to rip out the foam just to a hear a decrease in bass or whatever it may be. 

Sent from Moto G XT1033 w/ Faux kernel.


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## Beocord

I'll get back to you next week. I think I have proper foam pieces stored somewhere. I doubt't it has much effect. Propably just softens the highs a bit. HI2050 has a felt ring covering the driver and it does just that + adds a bit warmth to the sound in general. Not a huge difference.


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## DJScope

beocord said:


> I'll get back to you next week. I think I have proper foam pieces stored somewhere. I doubt't it has much effect. Propably just softens the highs a bit. HI2050 has a felt ring covering the driver and it does just that + adds a bit warmth to the sound in general. Not a huge difference.


 
  
 Since you never got back to me, I recently removed the foam pads to try to see what happens. To my ears, the sound is much more natural now, bass less boomy and a minor increase in sound stage. So better without the pads. YMMV.


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## Beocord

Sorry about that. I did not find the foam pieces. Then I had to move all of a sudden and now I'm not even sure where the headphones are. Too many headphones, and definately too many cardboard boxes filled with headphone stuff


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## Miszter

djscope said:


> This isn't my first DIY job, but it is my first headphone one, and my first one where I took extra special care with my soldering and presentation.
> 
> When I got these cans the only thing that I didn't like about them was the needlessly heavy coiled cable. So I decided to do a little operation to change that. Of course you could say that I could've just recabled them, but a removable cable was the most logical and convenient solution.
> 
> ...


 
 Hi, wanted yo know if you have noticed the difference in sound quality when you switch the cable


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## DJScope

miszter said:


> Hi, wanted yo know if you have noticed the difference in sound quality when you switch the cable




No noticeable change in sound quality. The original cable is pretty decent in the first place. I use a SPC cable with these and still doesn't have any noticeable difference.


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## Androb

Solid looking work!
/Robin Andersson from facebook


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## RedHarlow

Nice mod. I'm ordering the Takstar 2050. Got one question will this chasi work with these?
 http://cpc.farnell.com/1/1/84328-3-5mm-jack-socket-3p-solder-tags-connector-body-material-metal-connector-mounting-chassis-contact-plating-nickel-gender-socket-no-of-contacts-3-connector-colour-black-contact-termination-solder-pin-size-3-5mm-series-psg03614-pro-signal.html


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## DJScope

redharlow said:


> Nice mod. I'm ordering the Takstar 2050. Got one question will this chasi work with these?
> http://cpc.farnell.com/1/1/84328-3-5mm-jack-socket-3p-solder-tags-connector-body-material-metal-connector-mounting-chassis-contact-plating-nickel-gender-socket-no-of-contacts-3-connector-colour-black-contact-termination-solder-pin-size-3-5mm-series-psg03614-pro-signal.html




I don't see why not. Just make sure its a stereo connector. Some of these 3 pole female connectors are switched mono.


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## RedHarlow

djscope said:


> I don't see why not. Just make sure its a stereo connector. Some of these 3 pole female connectors are switched mono.


 
  
 Thanks for the response DJ Scope. I've got another question. Can you use a 4 pole female too?
  
 I can't decide to choose between those two ones. 4 pole
  
 http://www.reichelt.de/LUM-1503-13V/3/index.html?&ACTION=3&LA=446&ARTICLE=116190&artnr=LUM+1503-13V&SEARCH=3.5+mm+stereo
  
 3. pole
  
 http://www.reichelt.de/LUM-1503-07/3/index.html?&ACTION=3&LA=446&ARTICLE=116184&artnr=LUM+1503-07&SEARCH=3.5+mm+stereo


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## DJScope

redharlow said:


> Thanks for the response DJ Scope. I've got another question. Can you use a 4 pole female too?
> 
> I can't decide to choose between those two ones. 4 pole
> 
> ...


 
  
 I wouldn't use those because they're PCB mount. You won't have any way to fix those in place. You need a chassis mount jack. One that you can fix with a nut.


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## ginetto61

Hi thanks again for the very interesting thread
 And i sorry but i missed a point ... have you done any internal rewiring in the headphones ?
 As i have a very heavy hand with the soldering iron i am sincerely worried about damaging the drivers with
 the heat produced by the iron tip and transmitted to the membrane of the drivers through the wirings.
 A very delicate operation i guess.
 Thanks a lot,  gino


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## DJScope

ginetto61 said:


> Hi thanks again for the very interesting thread
> And i sorry but i missed a point ... have you done any internal rewiring in the headphones ?
> As i have a very heavy hand with the soldering iron i am sincerely worried about damaging the drivers with
> the heat produced by the iron tip and transmitted to the membrane of the drivers through the wirings.
> ...


 
  
 I soldered the existing wires straight to the female jack.


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## ginetto61

Hi thanks a lot.
 I am always worried to damage the drivers with the heat.
  
 It's me again.  I have cut the stock cable and_* i am sincerely shocked by the poor quality of wires.*_
 It is a miracle that they work.   I have to buy some cat5 wire to make the short cable close to the headphone with a xlr at the hand.
 What a **** of cable. And what a mess of work.  The idea is to build a cable like this to connect the driver and the flying xlr.
  

  
 then i have already received the mic cable for the extension 
  

 i hope not to burn the drivers.  It will be very tricky.
 What a **** of cable really. 
 Thanks again,  gino


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## RedHarlow

I'm driving to a radio and television technician tomorrow. Asking him to do a detachable cable mod for my Takstar 2050's. I can't take the risk to do It myself. I waited over one month for them to arrive.
  
 Hopefully it won't be too expensive. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			




 I want to use my Takstar headphones with my v-moda boom pro so this is the only way.


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## RedHarlow

So I finally found a chassi that is black instead of silver.
  
 The problem is I don't know If I can use it because It's 3 pins. Do I need a 4 pins chassi or will this work too?


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## DJScope

redharlow said:


> So I finally found a chassi that is black instead of silver.
> 
> The problem is I don't know If I can use it because It's 3 pins. Do I need a 4 pins chassi or will this work too?


 
  
 Yes it will work. There are only three wires going into the cable; the ground is shared between the 2 channels.


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## RedHarlow

Well I got a problem now. So a technician did the brazing work for me. So I had the problem to reassemble the ear cup. While I was doing it two of the wires lost contact and now I don't how they are connected. The cables which were done by the technician are just fine but the other side which was done in the takstar factory have lost contact.
  
 So DJ Scope I post here a foto of the cup and hope that you can help me out. Help me out where the remaining cables have to be connected.
  


  
  
 Can you paint it in or something? I know where the green cable needs to be brazed but the black one?


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## RedHarlow

Edit: Looks I have another problem after I fixed the mono problem. It sounds like one ear cup is louder than the other.


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## DJScope

redharlow said:


> Edit: Looks I have another problem after I fixed the mono problem. It sounds like one ear cup is louder than the other.


 
  
 Sorry mate, I just woke up.
  
 It's good that you've got the mono problem fixed. About the volume problem, all I can say is to try and re solder the whole thing. Though, I shouldn't have removed the wires from the PCB that's on the driver, you run the risk of burning the driver if your soldering iron is too hot. Though, It's completely possible that the soldering joints don't have very good contact. Hopefully that will fix your issue.
  
 Good luck!


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## Vesperaudio

It'll be good to see last photo in a better resolution. Wires are probably soldered in wrong order.


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## RedHarlow

vesperaudio said:


> It'll be good to see last photo in a better resolution. Wires are probably soldered in wrong order.


 

  
 Here's a pic how the wires are connected now.
  
 Well with the first try the left and right channels were inverted. So on my first try the green wire was changed with the black one and the direction was wrong. So I changed the green and and the black wire. The problem now Is like I said the sound in the left ear cup is louder than the right one.
  
 I know the quality of the pic is crap but that's because of the ****ty auto focus from my panasonic lumix camera.


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## Vesperaudio

There are 3 reasons why one ear could be louder then the other - 1. inverted phase 2. extra vents or blocked vents 3. driver is damaged.
  
 As far as I can see from your photo (not much, I should say) the right wiring is  (from lower to upper contact on your last photo): 1. Left+ (tip contact from socket)   2. Ground (two wires, copper from the right ear and ground from the socket) 3. Right+, (two wires - red from the right ear and middle contact from socket.).


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## RedHarlow

I will provide you guys with a painted picture with the brazzed cables.


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## RedHarlow

As requested here's my paint shop masterpiece lol.


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## Vesperaudio

Pay no attention to colors or "chassi". You just need to be sure that signals from headphone jack are coming to right contacts inside cup. Cause mistake can be in "chassi" soldering. So just check from jack to cup contacts. "Two cables from the black thick wire" are ok, leave them intact.


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## DJScope

Sorry guys. But What is going on in those pictures?


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## peter123

Great thread. I'll give this a try on my new Pro80's (and probably HI2050 as well if I succeed) when I get the time.


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## DJScope

peter123 said:


> Great thread. I'll give this a try on my new Pro80's (and probably HI2050 as well if I succeed) when I get the time.


 
  
 Thanks mate! It's a good project which, like the HM pad mod, makes the Pro 80 much more convinient to use!


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## Hal Rockwell

Did anyone try to make the removable cable mod with a miniXLR connector instead of the 3.5mm TRS?


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## DJScope

hal rockwell said:


> Did anyone try to make the removable cable mod with a miniXLR connector instead of the 3.5mm TRS?




Not sure, but its definitely doable.


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## Hal Rockwell

djscope said:


> Not sure, but its definitely doable.


 
  
 I did it but I had to modify the baffle so the socket will fit inside the cup. I'm afraid that modifying the baffle caused a channel imbalance. I'm curious if anyone else succeeded modding the PRO 80 without altering the baffle or did altered it but didn't causing imbalance.


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## Vidal

I've modded two pairs of Takstars now, HI2050 and the Pro 80s both were fairly straight forward. Both sets have been converted to 4 pole mini XLR and I've created new cables for each with interchangeable ends - mini XLR, 3.5mm stereo - in case I decide to get a balanced amp in the future. To avoid cutting I used sugru to secure the socket in the ear cup rather than the nut that came with the XLR. The cable is 26 AWG silver plate PTFE insulated.
  
 Here's some pics, compared to the DT990s I did, these are far more robust. The picture of the 990s shows the interchangeable end piece.


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## DJScope

Looks great!


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## n-peckdd

Thanks for a very helpful article which allowed me to repair my sons Hyperx cloud II headphones with inbuilt mic.
 The solution of fitting the socket into the headphones themselves is a far better option than trying to solder a new 4 pole jack to a dodgy cable as the choice of components is superior when it comes to the socket (I used a Lumberg 1502 02 4 pole socket) & the soldering process is less fiddly & part of the old cable can be used to create the new link wires. Then I just used a flat type 4 pole to 4 pole 3.5mm male to male cable in red to complete the repair because if if the jack connections are  faulty you can just send it back to the supplier for a refund or replacement & if it wears out you fit a new one.


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## DJScope

n-peckdd said:


> Thanks for a very helpful article which allowed me to repair my sons Hyperx cloud II headphones with inbuilt mic.
> The solution of fitting the socket into the headphones themselves is a far better option than trying to solder a new 4 pole jack to a dodgy cable as the choice of components is superior when it comes to the socket (I used a Lumberg 1502 02 4 pole socket) & the soldering process is less fiddly & part of the old cable can be used to create the new link wires. Then I just used a flat type 4 pole to 4 pole 3.5mm male to male cable in red to complete the repair because if if the jack connections are  faulty you can just send it back to the supplier for a refund or replacement & if it wears out you fit a new one.


 
  
 That's a good chassis socket. You can also get similar 4P ones with silver or gold plated contacts. I use this plug in my I/O audio switch.


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## 456124

n-peckdd said:


> Thanks for a very helpful article which allowed me to repair my sons Hyperx cloud II headphones with inbuilt mic.
> 
> 
> The solution of fitting the socket into the headphones themselves is a far better option than trying to solder a new 4 pole jack to a dodgy cable as the choice of components is superior when it comes to the socket (I used a Lumberg 1502 02 4 pole socket) & the soldering process is less fiddly & part of the old cable can be used to create the new link wires. Then I just used a flat type 4 pole to 4 pole 3.5mm male to male cable in red to complete the repair because if if the jack connections are  faulty you can just send it back to the supplier for a refund or replacement & if it wears out you fit a new one.



 


I have the HyperX Cloud II and I would like to mod them to make the cable removable.
Do you remember which wire goes where on the socket (if they were color coded)?
If I connect the wires the wrong way, is there a chance of me ruining the headset?
Any tips you can give me?


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