# Apple Beats X mod for IEM



## brintamatic

Okay, I've always been a little crazy in the head so here is my attempt at trying to explain what I'd like:

Does anyone know if you can take Apple's newest Beats X and cut off the tips and modify it with mmcx or any other IEM connect so you can use it with good IEMs?? I know it sounds crazy but here's my logic. I had the Beats X and it's flawless in its wireless/Bluetooth execution but the sound is not great. I also bought the Westone Bluetooth adapter to use with my Shure SE846 and it sounds quite good but the connection is finicky. 

I know we've got brillliant minds on this forum and thought I'd throw the idea out there.


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## daulagiri

Bump!! I also want to do what’s described by OP. Will be nice if anyone can chip in.


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## daulagiri

Sigh, nobody cares ..

Anyways I jumped in and contact awesome people from Treoo if they can reterminate beatsx. Well they do!!

Here it goes:





And you know what? It sounds decent with my Custom Art FIBAE2!! Sound wise, it beats all my other bluetooth adapter. Well nothing less expected. Apple W1 chip does play nice with my iDevices.

Microphone also performs well. Finally I found my preferred wireless solution .

Tagging @piotrus-g, perhaps Custom Art can start offering bluetooth solution .


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## ThomasHK

daulagiri said:


> Sigh, nobody cares ..
> 
> Anyways I jumped in and contact awesome people from Treoo if they can reterminate beatsx. Well they do!!
> 
> ...



Love it, that's awesome!


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## Fralte

daulagiri said:


> Sigh, nobody cares ..
> 
> Anyways I jumped in and contact awesome people from Treoo if they can reterminate beatsx. Well they do!!
> 
> ...



Hi I'm new here

I'm interested in doing exactly this! How is the battery life with your customs? Up to 8 hours still?


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## daulagiri

Fralte said:


> Hi I'm new here
> 
> I'm interested in doing exactly this! How is the battery life with your customs? Up to 8 hours still?


Hi, welcome and sorry for your wallet .

Dunno exactly how long the battery last. But I start wearing it in the morning ~8am, use it intermittently throughout the day, and usually around 4-5pm I start hearing low battery tone. Frankly speaking I’m impressed.

Anyways the fast charge really works I stopped worrying about battery life. Just 5 mins on the power bank add ~25% charge. All you need is decent lightweight batery pack, which is plenty and dirt cheap nowadays.


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## maxxevv

Those are 0.75mm pins ??? 

If they are, you can probably fit the KZ ZS5 BT 4.2 module too. And those cost like US$8/- shipped on Aliexpress. 

Do note that there are BT 4.1 and 4.2 versions, the latter being much more stable in connection as they actually sound plenty good with the ZS5, though battery lasts maybe 4 hours only. 
If you want to be sure, get it from Gearbest as their current stock are the BT 4.2 version. 

https://www.gearbest.com/earbud-headphones/pp_712240.html


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## daulagiri

Thanks, bur no thanks . 

Tried it, nice value for money but mediocre at best.


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## Fralte

daulagiri said:


> Hi, welcome and sorry for your wallet .
> 
> Dunno exactly how long the battery last. But I start wearing it in the morning ~8am, use it intermittently throughout the day, and usually around 4-5pm I start hearing low battery tone. Frankly speaking I’m impressed.
> 
> Anyways the fast charge really works I stopped worrying about battery life. Just 5 mins on the power bank add ~25% charge. All you need is decent lightweight batery pack, which is plenty and dirt cheap nowadays.



Thanks for the info!


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## D1scoDav

Hi, 

I saw your post, and i’ve Been wanting to get the same thing done for ages as the W1 chip is the biz (unlike beats headphones haha).

I’ve managed to get hold of a pair of beats x for £40 from eBay, does anyone think that this is a mod that could be done at home? More importantly, when i chop the buds off and strip the cable back, will i be able to tell which cable is earth and which is sound.... i’m no electrician, i’ve seen how its done via some pretty good youtube videos.

Mine is going to be going in to an mmcx plug, then in to a pair of se846.


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## D1scoDav

Another question, where would be the best place (in the UK) to get the mmcx parts, i’ve Seen them on eBay and the likes, all shipping from china...

Love the ones from double helix cables, but i think they may be wasted on this project


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## daulagiri

Sure you can DIY, I was just too lazy to do it myself. Yes you can identify which cable is which from good youtube video.

Fair warning, be sure to pay attention to cable and connector polarity, it can mess up the soundstage. Double check polarity using multimeter. 

For parts, not sure in the UK. My advise, if ebay is undesired, go take a walk to a hardware store and have a chat with the staff there. You’ll be surprised on some deal that they can offer.


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## D1scoDav

Hey, sorry for the late reply, thanks for your input, its mad that someone has already done what i thought was a “just me” thing.

I’m not bothered about where i buy the parts from, just the only ones i’ve Found on eBay are a 35 day delivery time, and i’m Not the most patient of people haha.

Next for working out which heat shrink to use.... i like what you have, although i’m Gonna try and go for a right angle mmcx connector and then try and keep the flatline cable into it, not sure if this is going to require black belt heatshrink skills, but i’m Sure i’ll Find out soon enough.


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## Evshrug

daulagiri said:


> Anyways I jumped in and contact awesome people from Treoo if they can reterminate beatsx. Well they do!!
> 
> Here it goes:
> 
> ...



Hmm, fascinating! The auto-pairing tech of the W1 chip really is cool, but only the AirPods appealed to me... and I can’t justify super over-engineered earbuds. Yet again I find myself wishing I had learned soldering skills XD

Thanks for the heads up about Treoo, never heard of them before.


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## davidland

hi, I'm also new here


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## D1scoDav

Just a quick update.... had a complete cable made with the Westone connectors from effect audio (stupidly thinking they were the same ones that come on the westone bluetooth cable), it looked and sounded fantastic, the connectors wouldn’t stay in properly as they have a recessed part at the male plug. When i was trying to fix this, and completely mangled one of the connectors. 

I’ve got a pair of the Shure connectors from effect audio now and this weekend will have put it all together. I’ll post pictures when complete.


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## D1scoDav (Jan 20, 2018)

Better late then never, here is my finished product....

https://imgur.com/a/Ia5K2


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## daulagiri

Awesome!!

Kinda looks like professionally done


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## D1scoDav

Haha thanks, it took me about 5 goes to get it right over a few months, means I can demote the westone bluetooth cable to a gym only cable and I can use this as my on the go cable. 

Thank you very much sir for the inspiration!


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## kevinscottcaja

Here's my take on mine, I cut my beats X and I solder some cheap chinese MMCX cable (black would have the right option but I don't have in hand right now). I could not bother soldering a MMCX plug but I might do that in the future with my second beats X. Not pretty but it'll get the job done. Powering my iBasso IT01 and Westone UM Pro 50 v2. Sounds good than a lot of my MMCX bluetooth cables.


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## D1scoDav

Nice work! I like the two different colours of cable!


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## kevinscottcaja

D1scoDav said:


> Nice work! I like the two different colours of cable!


Thanks! I still find it weird having that two tone colour on the cable. Lol! I will do a MMCX plug only on my 2nd beats X. I'm still looking for shops here in Hong Kong who sells cheap MMCX plugs.


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## D1scoDav

I used the effect audio Shure connector, it’s rock solid and pretty easy to put together.


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## kevinscottcaja

One thing for sure, after extensive comparison between wired and using the beats X mod I noticed loss in the sub-bass and treble on both of my IEMs (iBasso IT01 and UMPro50) no idea if this is because the MMCX plug not connected directly to the beats x wire cable or simply the built in amp not capable of pushing the said IEMs. Would like to hear others if there is a noticeable sound difference in your beats x mod compared to wired. So far my PLUSSOUND mmcx bluetooth cable and my cheap Sony SBH20 adapter are the only bluetooth adapters that sounds close to wired but they really suck at providing decent and stable bluetooth connection especially when used in the subway.


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## D1scoDav

I guess it must be an issue with the resistance vs the power of the cable. I have the westone Bluetooth cable, and the beats mod, I think the beats mod sounds better, but I think the only difference maybe the volume output being a bit higher. 

I have a double helix cables symbiote sp 8 core and there is no competition between the two, I like the Bluetooth for simplicity, but I would never consider the sound to be in the same league as the wired option.


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## kevinscottcaja

D1scoDav said:


> I guess it must be an issue with the resistance vs the power of the cable. I have the westone Bluetooth cable, and the beats mod, I think the beats mod sounds better, but I think the only difference maybe the volume output being a bit higher.
> 
> I have a double helix cables symbiote sp 8 core and there is no competition between the two, I like the Bluetooth for simplicity, but I would never consider the sound to be in the same league as the wired option.



Well, I had another try so I desolder the copper MMCX and soldered a decent one cut from the Magaosi cable from my already sold K3 Pro and this time it sounded really good, almost a close as wired. I will still do the MMCX soldered directly to the beats x wire. The reason why I want that short wire is I feel like the beats X cable is not long enough for the mic remote to reach my mouth during calls.


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## D1scoDav

I have mine quite short, it hasn’t had any effect on the call quality if I’m being honest. 

I prefer the shorter cable as I find that when its longer it just wants to flap in to my face haha


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## Spankypoo

Does anyone know what the output impedance is?


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## D1scoDav

Absolutely no idea, I just cut things up and stick them back together haha


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## MrPopo

When you replaced the phones on your Beats X with connectors did you run into any trouble? I just opened mine up and can't seem to get any signal on the multimeter regardless of which pair of wires I test. On either end I have the following wire combos:
Red (coated)
blue
red/green
brown
Green (Coated)

I'm guessing that Red/blue is Right/Right ground and Green/Brown is Left/Left ground and the striped wire is the mic connection? It's strange to me that they would wire left and right to both sides of the headphones. Regardless I'm wondering if I messed something up as I can't seem to get a signal out of any pair.


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## D1scoDav

You are only interested in the red and green at both ends, the other colours are just there to make it a “flat”cable. I cant remember which which though. The way i found out which was which was i took the biggest set of pliers i could find and crushed the beats earbud so i could see which wire went to which bit, then i replicated it on the mmcx connector. I’m pretty sure it’s red goes to the centre pin of the mmcx and green to the ground.


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## MrPopo

D1scoDav said:


> You are only interested in the red and green at both ends, the other colours are just there to make it a “flat”cable. I cant remember which which though. The way i found out which was which was i took the biggest set of pliers i could find and crushed the beats earbud so i could see which wire went to which bit, then i replicated it on the mmcx connector. I’m pretty sure it’s red goes to the centre pin of the mmcx and green to the ground.



Interesting, I'll take another stab at it when I get back from work. You'd think they'd just put more of that string in for strength.


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## D1scoDav

From what I understand, the additional cable is there to make it all the same level of bendiness so that none of the cables are taking more strain than the others.


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