Headphone jack type

[WPUser2]

Hi. Sorry if this has been brought up before but my search attempts yielded no results.

So o received my Lumia 950 xl yesterday and I'm loving it so far. One problem I have is that the Nokia headphones which I have (they came with my 920) do not seem to be recognised at all. But my clunky old ones from a Olympus voice recorder work fine.

I have done some research and it seems I'm not the only one. My research also tells me that there are different types of headphone jacks and plugs, different standards.

There was an awesome forum post from 2013 explaining the different standards and which standards different Lumia phones supported. It seems that MS has changed the headphone jack type in the 950 series and I'm wondering if anyone knows which type they are? Or at least, can someone tell me which earphones they're using? Preferably I'd like to get one with an in line mic.

I'm looking for something relatively good value for money, not the best, but something on the cheap side.

It's a shame because my Nokia earphones were one of the best I've tried and my Lumia 930 developed a headphone jack problem where headphones with in line mic wouldn't work properly. So I was looking forward to be able to use them again with my 950 xl but it seems they're not supported

Thanks in advance

 

[WPUser2]

just a followup from my original post in case anyone else is having this 'issue'.

I have done some more research into audio jack types and have found out that the Lumia 950 and 950 xl use the AHJ standard and that my old (beautiful) nokia earbuds use the OMTP standard. the old lumias had combo jacks but the 950 series have AHJ only as far as I know. gonna buy a converter (much cheaper than new earphones) and will post back with results

 

[Prunean Daniel]

Look for nokia wh 920 headphones. They work with 950xl and are pretty good.

 

[WPUser2]

He, thanks for the advice. I've had a look at some on Amazon and they seem to be good but are way out of my price range. Also looking at the reviews, they seem to have reliability issues. I've ordered a cheap (£2.50) converter and will post back with results. Hopefully it will save me a lot of money

 

[midnightfrolic]

Ah yes. The trials and tribulations of finding a good pair of headphones. A never ending quest. You are correct that the new Lumia 950/XL uses the American Headphone Jack standard. If you can scrounge up the dough, try to get the Sony MDR XB500. It is discontinued, so they are around $300. Buy worth every penny.

Virtually all mobile devices can use it and doesn't need extra juice to power it like amp/dac. They sound incredible. The earcups are extra large and comfy to cup your whole ear for hours of listening pleasure and gaming. Isolates most ambient noise also.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Ah yes. The trials and tribulations of finding a good pair of headphones. A never ending quest. You are correct that the new Lumia 950/XL uses the American Headphone Jack standard. If you can scrounge up the dough, try to get the Sony MDR XB500. It is discontinued, so they are around $300. Buy worth every penny.

Virtually all mobile devices can use it and doesn't need extra juice to power it like amp/dac. They sound incredible. The earcups are extra large and comfy to cup your whole ear for hours of listening pleasure and gaming. Isolates most ambient noise also.

what about heat buildup? I use the coloud boom headphones and the heat is the biggest issue for me - so I have to lift the cup for a few seconds to vent heat and then continue listening

 

[Ariel Takom]

If OP is looking for budget earphones, I have a couple to suggest that I've used/am currently using.

1) XiaoMi Piston V3. This is one of the best earphone I've used at it's given price point. It's sound focuses on the mid, but with proper tuning, you can still get a lot of bass from it. But I have to admit, listening to acoustic songs with these was astounding (given that acoustic songs are usually not filled with bass heavy tones, so there's more emphasis on the instruments and voice). Also, it comes with a 3-buttoned controller. 2 of them is for the volume, and the middle one is for play, pause, and switching the tracks forward/backward. Long press activates Cortana as well. Sadly my Piston died on me after about a regular 1.5 years of use. It didn't really died, just that the left earbud produced a significantly lower volume sound as compared to the right earbud.

Also note that while it doesn't have a flat cable, parts of the cable between the 3.5mm jack until the split part are braided, and the build quality of the earbuds themselves felt premium. Brushed metal with plastic encasing, felt and looked really great.

2) Skullcandy Ink'd 2.0. It's quite an old model, and while you can still find them on eBay, there's a high chance for you to get a counterfeit, so good luck. I luckily got the original model, and compared to the Piston, this earbuds deals with bass really well! More thump and oomph compared to the piston, so I'm guessing that the sound is more focused towards the bass, but after proper tuning, I managed to make the mids and highs sound as good as the piston, but with better bass!

In terms of build quality, it is okay I guess. I bought the white version, and after less than 5 months the earbuds appear yellowish now, and it's not due to scratch as well (I took really good care of it, even bought a pouch to carry it with me), so I'm not sure what caused the change in color. Also, it comes with a single-buttoned mic which is good for pause and play. It's supposed to be able to change tracks just as the Piston, but it was a bit clunky. The manual says I'd have to press the button 2 times to skip to the next track, but in my case with my 950, I'd have to press the button 4-5 times. To go to the previous track officially requires 3 clicks, but in my case I had to spam-click the button until it decides to go to the previous songs. Add to the fact that it has no volume controls, this earbud is not exactly the most convenient to use, but it is comfortable as it is light.

Although it felt lighter than the Piston, this earbud isn't ideal to be used when exercising as even walking to class with these on, the moving wires generated a lot of noise compared to the Piston. Quite annoying.

But all in all, I'm satisfied with this current earbud of mine, and it's priced a bit lower than the Piston.

 

[WPUser2]

Thanks everyone, for the help. I'm open to more suggestions since I'm quite an amateur when it comes to earphones! Let's just say that I don't even know what my Nokia ones are called...

The Xiaomi piston looks more like my thing, good price, good reviews, although slightly harder to get hold of in the UK, but nevertheless, seems like a good pair.

 

[WPUser2]

Some excellent suggestions, thanks everyone. I think that the Xiaomi Piston 3 are the ones most suited to my price range. They also have decent reviews although are slightly harder to get hold of here in the UK.

Thanks again. I'm a complete amateur when it comes to headphones!

 

[midnightfrolic]

what about heat buildup? I use the coloud boom headphones and the heat is the biggest issue for me - so I have to lift the cup for a few seconds to vent heat and then continue listening

Heat isn't much of an issue for me wearing it. I used to play hours of MMO, FPS, emulators. But you certainly can pause fee seconds and adjust it to release heat.

 

[SL2]

I use regular the Nokia WH-208 with my 950. They also came with my 1020, isn't it the same as for the 920? Seriously, make sure that there's nothing wrong with your phone.

The thing I like about them is that they stay put in the ear and don't fall out, even when I'm running.

I bought a couple of them at amazon, I think the retail version is better than the bulk package, the quality seems better. What I'm trying to say is, I'm sure there are bulk versions that are the same as the retail version, but how do you know that when buying?

 

[WPUser2]

Do they work 100% properly? I read that Nokia earphones use the OMTP connector standard and therefore won't work with the 950 phones

 

[WPUser2]

Originally posted by SL2
I use regular the Nokia WH-208 with my 950. They also came with my 1020, isn't it the same as for the 920? Seriously, make sure that there's nothing wrong with your phone.

The thing I like about them is that they stay put in the ear and don't fall out, even when I'm running.

I bought a couple of them at amazon, I think the retail version is better than the bulk package, the quality seems better. What I'm trying to say is, I'm sure there are bulk versions that are the same as the retail version, but how do you know that when buying?

You are correct actually. The wh 208 also came with the 920. But there were 2 versions of the wh 208. One was AHJ and the other version was OMTP. The AHJ one has white bands on the connector and the OMTP one has black bands. The one which came with my 920 has black bands and is therefore OMTP, that explains precisely why yours work and mine do not.

Just to confirm, yours does have white bands on the connector doesn't it?

 

[SL2]

Just to confirm, yours does have white bands on the connector doesn't it?

Yes, and both works with the 950 and the 1020. I used to have a 808 before, and it had the black version.

If you buy the retail version there's an adapter included.

 

[WPUser2]

Originally posted by SL2

Originally Posted by WPUser2
Just to confirm, yours does have white bands on the connector doesn't it?

Yes, and both works with the 950 and the 1020. I used to have a 808 before, and it had the black version.

If you buy the retail version there's an adapter included.

Excellent. That's nice to know.

By the way, the older wp8 Lumias like the 1020 and the 920, 520 etc etc had combo jacks. They supported both AHJ and OMTP. That's why mine worked in my 920 and yours worked in your 1020 even though both our earphones are different standards.

It's amazing how much one benefits by doing some research

 

[WPUser2]

ok so first of all i'd like to thank everyone who helped with my query. second of all i'm gonna make myself look like a right ***** because I have just discovered the following:

the pair of nokia wh 208 earphones I have are actually AHJ. I assumed they had black bands on the plug because I couldn't see any white on them. (I am visually impaired and require magnifiers etc to see things this small). so I looked under the magnifier today and found that it had white bands on, (worn out white bands which looked similar to the silver from far).



so in fact I have AHJ earphones but they still do not work with my 950 xl. (the converter did arrive and works well. I tried it with my earphones on a nexus 5 and the sound was muffled and low when connected through the converter which means it worked in converting to OMTP. nexus 5 also has an AHJ jack).

converter


also a thing to note: my earphones work almost absolutely fine (except mic) on a nexus 5 (AHJ jack) but are not recognised by my Lumia 950 xl. they also work on my 930 but intermittently and inconsistently. (it switches between speaker and headphones every 10 seconds or so).

so I tried my earphones with the converter on my 930 and it didn't recognise them at all. that tells me that the 930 also has an AHJ-only connector.

I have also tried these earphones in my sp3. sound works fine but mic doesn't work at all.

so 4 AHJ devices and 3 different reactions with the same earphones, basically:
950 xl doesn't even recognise them
930 is not sure whether it's happy with them
on the nexus 5, sound works fine, mic doesn't work at all and I couldn't get the button to work either
they work the same as nexus on the surface


so i'm guessing (by doing some more reading) that the issue here is actually the faulty mic which is causing the earphones to not be recognised. i'm gonna order some new ones from ebay (very cheap here in the uk) and see. if they don't work, I've not lost much and i'll go with one of your helpful suggestions above.

I remember the day when my earphones started working intermittently on my 930. (they used to work absolutely fine before this day). that must have been the day my mic failed. but I never realised since at that time I didn't use or need the mic.

what i'm using with my 950 xl currently


for now, i'm gonna go back and hide in my corner...

 

[SL2]

i'm gonna order some new ones from ebay (very cheap here in the uk) and see.

I'd suggest you go for the retail variant, for reasons described above. I bought mine from amazon uk for like £7.
The only bulk ones I bought didn't last very long, and felt cheaper/flimsier.

 

[WPUser2]

I've looked on amazon and all the listings at £7 ish are bulk versions. either it says it in the listing or the reviews are very mixed. some say they're like the originals and some say they're rubbish. I've also had a look on ebay and there seems to be only bulk versions available too.

so I took the plunge and bought a bulk version, but I didn't spend £7 on it, I bought it from ebay for £2.69. that way if it was a rubbish bulk version I wouldn't loose as much money.

turned out to be a genuine bulk product, sounding and feeling as awesome as the original. there are very slight differences (nothing which detracts from the quality of the sound) but you can only tell when listening through them one after the other playing the same audio on the same device. Bass is awesome, great depth, mids and highs are like the original. very happy with this bargain!



oh yeah and they work very well in my 950 xl too. seems the problem with my mic on my original pair was the reason of failure after all.

thanks all for your help. my problem is now solved

 

[SL2]

Good to hear! I guess the retail versions are sold out, those had pics of the retail box.