Headphone Port Combination


craigix

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Hello everyone,

Need your opinion on a last minute decision.

We would like to make the headphone port a sort of ext port too, rather like one your mobile phones.

This means we can put mic, headphones, video, UART (and more) on this one small connection.

This will mean an adaptor to use normal headphones will be needed rather like with a modern slimline phone, although if we use a samsung ext samsung headphones may work normally. The adaptor is so cheap it can probably be included free. They look something like this: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Fz...yPL._AA280_.jpg and can just be connected to your normal headphones.

We could also make custom Pandora headphones with controls for volume, skipping tracks, even custom controls (user can map them).

What do you think?

-Craig
 
Ugg, yeuck.

Try something like this:
a5.jpg
 
Hmm. Having a flexible joint where the headphones connect is actually an attractive option. I have reasonably bulky headphones, and when the plug is sticking straight out of my GP2X I can't just drop it in my pocket. The flatter that plug is the better (yes I could get a right angle adaptor, but I haven't yet, k).

I really think it needs a headphone plug though. Imagine losing/breaking the adaptor and having to look for another one before you can plug 'phones in again. Especially if you were on a long train ride. :(

Also, would it prevent other functions using the port at the same time - would we need a collection of adaptors, or a "hub"?

Re: Custom Pandora Headphones. Sounds pretty sexy actually, but I tend to be picky with headphones (I won't use earbuds) and I know it's not realistic for you guys to make custom $80 hifi cans. How about an inline adaptor (like the one pictured) that also includes the custom Pandora functionality, and allows you to plug your own headphones in? That would be sex. Of course, that also means using the Ext port instead of a 3.5mm jack. Hmm.


[edit] Squidge's pic of the Minidisc style plug, that's a win.
 
Squidge said:
Ugg, yeuck.

Try something like this:
a5.jpg
There are not enough pins on that and it's obviously a sony part, we can't use it and can't find a generic part which is anything like it.

If anyone can find such a part please post it!
 
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I'd rather have a direct port, but if the adapter is free then I don't especially mind, or if it's readily available from Pandora distributors.

Headphones are very important to me, I just don't want to be in a situation where I can't use them easily. If this simplifies design and lowers cost then I'm all for it.

I don't see much use for custom headphones, if you have a remote I think it should just be built into an adapter like that so you can plug headphones into it.
 
Squidge posted a system similar to the one on PSP.
Flush to the surface of the console, it has a standard headphone port with the serial port beside it. A music control pad can be used which plugs into both the headphone port and the serial.

I think it's important that it uses a standard headphone port and remains flush to the side of the system.
A lot of people will be using this as their portable do-everything system, including being an iPod replacement.

Hopefully you can find a way to keep both the ext port and headphone jack.
 
We had planned to use a psp/ds style port but no one else makes them, so this is a bit of a growing issue, the video, mic and uart have to come out somewhere!

You would think it would be a pretty standard part but few phones etc. have big headphone ports anymore, they tend to use their own ext ports to save space.

If some of you have mad part sourcing skills please use them now!
 
Thanks for all the hard work Craig that you and everyone are doing with the Pandora.

As for the multi-use headphone port dongle, in my opinion I would rather have a simple headphone port without needing the extra adapter. It would be another thing to carry around(and probably lose) since I will be using my own earbuds with the device most of the time.

I thought video out was already being used with another port. I also thought the Pandora had its own microphone hole so the extra dongle seems, well, extra and unnecessary. It makes me think of the FM tuner that some mp3 players add that about 5% of the population actually use. Couldn't the headphone port be used to output video without an adaptor, like found with the Ipod?

Custom headphones, well, they could be an extra purchasable accessory.

Plus, about the adapter, if it was lost from my pocket, would I need to track down another one in order to hear sound privately? I really hope this idea doesn't blossom. Yeah, not a fan of the adaptor idea.

BAD idea in my opinion. :(
 
Having to use a dongle for standard headphones is far from ideal. Is there absolutely no room to put a standard headphone jack next to an ext connector?

If there is no other option, then I guess it is what it is, but I don't see anybody wanting a semi-proprietary headphone connector.
 
Yes, that's a direct clone of a sony part available in china, and is also patented ( http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&...001033Y&F=0 ). However, what happens if you have a version with 6 pins? You could drop mic + pwr and have enough pins then :)

Ok, maybe not too practical.

The PSP lite connector is ideal, but obviously a Sony part and probably patented.

Maybe standard headphone jack + ext socket?
 
Exophase said:
rmm21 said:
Couldn't video, microphone, and Uart, by adaptor, be used in the back external port: http://www.gp2x.de/images/temp/pand080208_2.jpg

Video out coming from the back would be the most practical though, if do-able. :unsure:



That's not an ext port, that's a USB port.


Oh, so the device has both a mini-usb and a regular usb. Thanks, didn't know that. :)
 
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No luck with the parts search (but I didn't honestly believe I'd be coming up with the goods at this late stage).

It's a tough one... I'm picturing someone a few years down the track finding an old Pandora packed away in the cupboard. Seeing the lack of a standard headphone plug, they wonder why the hell it was done that way, and Pandora's place in the Hall of Obscurity is cemented. I say this because I've been there with other old devices in cupboards, lol. History won't judge it well.

Of course, I'll be happy to simply tape the adaptor to the end of my 'phones and forget about it. Maybe buy a couple of spares too. But eventually, it's going to ruin the day of the person who has no adaptor.
 
I'd rather have access to a straight headphone port for ease of use, but if having the adapter will make the design easier and mean that the pandora has less ports about the place then it's a good choice.
I'd rather have an all in one port than make the pandora look like a usb hub with lots of ports all round.

QUOTE
History won't judge it well.

Well history doesn't make the thing sell and personally I've never had problems finding adapters for all my old machines. I don't think ruining someones day is much of an argument against it, unless that person is me :p
 
I have to say I also would much prefer a standard 3.5mm TRS headphone jack. It's not a deal breaker, but if the EXT plug doesn't fit in as securely as a jack plug, I could see it being annoying. I've never had a Samsung phone, but the old Nokia connectors were crap, and needed replacing regularly. The one in the picture doesn't look that bad though.

I assume having something like the Nokia N95's one, that accommodates normal headphones, but is also used for video out and hands free kits is out of the question?
 
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