Wanted: headphone adapters that don't resemble crowbars

September 18, 2007 10:43 PM

Can anybody help me source headphone adapters that won't break all my headphone sockets?

70 school computers, 70 sets of headphones. Headphones have 6.5mm stereo plugs; computers have 3.5mm stereo sockets.

Everywhere I look for 3.5mm male to 6.5mm female stereo adapters, I see these solid one-piece units with a 3.5mm prong on one end and a 6.5mm hole in the other. I don't want to use these in the school, because the combined leverage of a 6.5mm headphone plug plus a solid-body adapter makes it far too easy to snap off the 3.5mm plug end and/or damage the socket it's fitted to.

Does anybody know of a reliable, preferably Australian, source for adapters consisting of separate 3.5mm stereo plugs and 6.5mm stereo sockets with a short length of cable in between? Please tell me I'm not going to have to end up hand-soldering 140 connectors myself!

posted by flabdablet to shopping (4 comments total)

I think the Hosa HMQ-319 does what you want. I'm not sure how helpful the right angle on the 1/8" side will be, though. Lots of people selling those online.
posted by mragreeable at 11:07 PM on September 18, 2007

I'd go with this

I don't think I've ever seen a cable headphone-to-walkman converter, just the barrel kind, but you could probably get 6" ones made by a shop for a reasonable price. Barrel plus wire clamp as above should do it for you.
posted by rhizome at 11:11 PM on September 18, 2007

Thank you, mragreeable - the HMQ-319 is indeed exactly what I need. I don't think the right-angle plug will pose any problem at all.
posted by flabdablet at 11:49 PM on September 18, 2007

Here's an Australian source in case anybody else is looking.
posted by flabdablet at 12:42 AM on September 19, 2007