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Got some Teach HP5 Headphones?

Love the bass? Tired of replacing the batteries?
I know I am. I use up at least 4 batteries a month. Plus the fact that the bass is only available while the batteries are close to new. After that it’s all down to nothing…

So why not use USB power to boost up the audio experience?
The only problems seems to be that USB powers it’s devices at 5V, but the headphones power themselves at 3.0V (2×1.5V batteries).

That’s no problem. We can always use something to change the voltage, and the simpliest thing I’ve found out there seems to be the LM3940 Dropout Regulator . It’s designed to drop the voltage from 5V to 3.3V. Don’t worry. The headphones should be capable of absorbing the extra 30mV (mine did – so far ). And don’t worry about the power drain either – the headphones eat up about 120-150mA (at max volume) while the USB port is able to supply 500mA.

What we’ll need:

• any usual USB cable (a printer cable, 1.9m long should do it)
• one LM3940 regulator
• one 0.47 uF capacitor
• one 33 uF capacitor
• some wires
• a pcb to solder on (unless you want to leave them all hanging in the air)

So, let’s get to work!

This is the scheme we should be doing:

Not too hard…

The LM3940 pinout is shown below:

The workspace – this is where it should all fit. The battery space is the ideal place (since it will no longer be used). The headphones control box is rather easy to open. 4 clamps and a bit of glue hold it together.

First cut the unneeded USB cable end (the one you DON’T plug into the PC) and prepare the wires.
There should be 4 wires: red (+5V), green (data +), white (data -) and black (ground). We’ll need the red and black ones. Anyway, you should always check with a voltmeter to make sure you select the correct wires. Make sure you insulate the other two well, cause a short circuit between them might damage your motherboard.

Now we can start soldering the components on the board:

(the front)

(the back)

Let’s add some output wires:

Make sure you add some kind of protective insulation (so no short-circuits could take place) and then place it in it’s rightfull place…

Then place the headphones components back on, and solder the power cables (orange/+3.3 to + and white/ground to -).

Et voila!

No need for batteries anymore!

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