Sylvie Barak created a custom pair of earmuff headphones to keep her ears warm while she listens to her music. She bought a pair of cheap headphones and hacked into them to cut out the speaker. Once the speakers were out, the speaker wires were soldered to the plug connections and the jack. She sewed the speaker into a faux fur muff, and a PCB board was added for support. The speaker muff was attached to a headband wrapped in fabric to complete her funky stereo earmuffs. Sylvie says the headphones can be customized in many ways and is even considering incorporating them into a hoodie.
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That was my point...although not the "especially for young women" part.
I've seen teens (both genders) customize their headsets over the years. It's really popular at certain DJ concerts. The headsets are still functional and unique. I first saw the earmuff variation in Tokyo a few years ago. It gets very cold in the winter.
mrdon has a good point that the construction build porcess makes it freak worthy.
Sylvie, I got the idea but not getting what's the need of PCB Boards. Whether she is adding any extra amplifying circuits there for better sound clarity.
I agree completely. It's already been done even. The 180s Metro with Headphones is one example, see http://www.180s.com/pages/catalog_view.aspx?g=1%2C2&y=7&i=162. Earlier this year these were a "daily deal" at $10 delivered. Not as showy as Sylvie's though.
PCB boards is a misnomer. They are not printed circuit boards. There are no electronics involved. The purpose of the perfboard disks is to hold the speakers in place, while letting the sound to pass through the tiny holes, where components would normally be mounted.
It's "Mr." Spock, if you are making a reference to the Star Trek character, not "Dr." Spock. Dr. Spock was a pediatrician who gave child-care advice.
As one of your other readers pointed out, furry ear-muff headsets are not a new idea. It would be easier to simply cover a pair of headphones, rather than disassemble them and modify them. Is it too easy?
nice idea.. looks decent too (especially like the idea of a hoodie mod)
did similar headphone hacking up in the 1980's while in the Army. mounted the speakers in my kevlar, ran the cord under my web gear and put my Walkman in my ammo pouch (other pouch held spare batteries/casettes)..helped keep me awake on late night guard duty. Also had the added benifet of being almost invisible to any roving officers. :)
That's a very nice project for someone who wants to DIY...
I hacked up an old headset way back around 1970. The speakers were then mounted in a piece of medium hard foam which was then in turn wedged inside the fluff of my pillow. The rest of the family stopped telling me to turn down/off my music at night after that.
If I had been able to toss and turn with the headphones on I would have never had the personal satisfaction of that little project.
I also hacked the phonograph so that it would play the stack of LPs as usual but the last one would keep repeating until I shut it off. Good reason to save my fav for last...
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