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Shufflephones 2.0

Posted by timothy on from the status-symbology dept.

Photo_Designer writes "After hacking my first pair of headphones to accept an iPod Shuffle, I just couldn't keep my hands off my other set of headphones and hacked an iPod shuffle adapter inside them, too. This version also includes an all-new expansion jack which allows sharing your music on the go, plugging your Shuffle into a stereo with a patch cable (without removing it from the phones), and also allows the headphones to be used as regular phones with the shuffle removed or turned off."

17 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. How come no-one by odaen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Has got round to putting the buttons on the outside. Surely you don't want to remove your headphones whenever a song you don't feel like comes on. Now do this mod with a Zen Micro and I'm interested.

  2. It might sell... by two-tail · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A worthwhile retail product. Although I'd prefer one that has the shuffle buttons on the outer case of the headphones. Of course, that means that someone next to you could sneak up behind you and change tracks! (would be nice if the new jack was line-level; better for stereo connections)

    1. Re:It might sell... by ciroknight · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Grr, I effing hate that /. doesn't have an edit post button, but...

      What if they built Bluetooth 2 into the iPod? I know it wouldn't be effective for transfering songs because it's so damned slow, but what it would be effective for is WIRELESS BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES. That way there's no need to over-engineer a pair of headphones and you can keep the iPod in your pocket. They could even build a little module that plugs into the "iTrip" port on the current iPods to give them bluetooth. Beats the hell out of carrying around a pair of AM/FM headphones, an iTrip and an iPod.

      --
      "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
  3. ouch by Keruo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I bet his ears hurt after few hours of listening, that ipod stuck between the cushion must feel awful.

    He should use something like this instead

    --
    There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
  4. Re:Next Up by thatnerdguy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    but its an ipod shuffle: the whole point is that you can just press play and leave it. That's what I do. You dont need too much access to controls.

    --
    I saw the Sign, and it opened up my eyes
  5. How bout the blockage of sound? by krunk4ever · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think the biggest disappointment of all would be the actual sound quality. these look like decent headphones, but the iPod Shuffle seems to be block almost half of the speakers for one of the ears. this personally will distort the audio and unbalance one of the ears.

    --
    HD Trailers
  6. Street cred? by BrK · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How exactly do old-ass headphones give you "street cred".

    Not to mention this whole "hack" is so non-Apple. There is no "style" to it, and it's cumbersome. Not to mention that the Shuffle in one of the ear cups probably affects the sound quality a bit.

    I'm also a little tired of the "hack" moniker being thrown around so readily. Soldering a couple of wires together is not a "hack" in most cases, it's just... well... soldering.

    Take the shuffle apart, integrate its electronics into the headphones, and port the controls and I/O to the outside, keeping the same layout so that the headphones have a "hint of shuffle" to them (maybe even paint the headphones a nice eggshell white). THAT would be closer to a hack, IMO.

    --
    -This sig intentionally left blank
    1. Re:Street cred? by reaper · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I'm also a little tired of the "hack" moniker being thrown around so readily. Soldering a couple of wires together is not a "hack" in most cases, it's just... well... soldering.

      Dude, this is a hack in the purest sense of the word. Dirty, cheap, and barely viable for the desired outcome, and done with stuff lying around. Back in the long-long ago times, on alt.hack, every post had to have a hack listed, so even though some people listed these elaborate hacks, a lot of them were of the "duct taped this contraption to that one, and you could use it to hold a cup of coffee!" variety.

      No one ever questioned the validity of those hacks.

      --
      - Dan
    2. Re:Street cred? by Shotgun · · Score: 3, Insightful

      OK. This isn't a hack worthy of a /. article, and the all black canvas isn't 'art' worthy of being hung in a museum either. Both are aptly described as 'lame'.

      The former soldered a few wires into a set of headphones that most people would be embarassed to wear in public unless they were using a chainsaw to cut down trees. He didn't even have to design an impedance matching circuit.

      The latter is just boring. Something to be expeceted from the lazy kid in a high school class as he tries to throw together a 4-week assignment on the final night.

      I agree. This is a hack. Just a very un-notable one.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  7. Re:iPod in the headphones? by ciroknight · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I just don't get why he didn't cut a small hole in the bottom of the headphone to allow the Shuffle to slide in and out of the big hollow chamber behind the speakercone of the headphone when he had it open.. other than the obvious fact it wouldn't look seemless.

    --
    "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
  8. Re:"Groudn down screwdriver" by antifoidulus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What is the point of having good karma if you can't waste it on something that stupid once in a while? Having the extra bonus ensures a lot more readers than if I were to go AC

    --
    Monstar L
  9. Goddammit! by agraupe · · Score: 1, Insightful

    This is a pretty cool hack, but I'm getting more and more pissed about this iPod Shuffle. About a year ago, I bought a Creative MuVo. I figured, hey, it's about a quarter of the price, works easily with linux, and can double as a flash drive. Suddenly, everyone has an iPod or some other non-flash-based player, and I look like an idiot. What the fuck did apple do to have such control over the mp3 player market? I mean, being rather satisfied with my current player, I can't imagine what the shuffle does better, as the only thing I want on mine is ogg support, which the shuffle does not have either. Why does apple, traditionally the company of great expense an zealous fanboys, suddenly have such mass market appeal, compared to its competitors? Why do people act like Apple was the first people to make mp3 players?

    1. Re:Goddammit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Because ...

      1) It works well with iTunes and the MuVo doesn't work so well. Last time I tried I rendered a MuVo unusable and had to reformat it with a Windows only program. There wasn't a Mac or Linux program to reformat it.

      2) it's cheaper than the competition

      3) It's got style

      4) It's got marketing

      5) It works with the best online store

      6) It's got a really simple no fuss interface

      7) It's got better software - iTunes

      I've not tried it yet, but iTunes can downshift the bitrate to 128 AAC when it copies MP3 and AAC files to the Shuffle. Since iTunes supports OGG with a quicktime plugin it may also do that for OGG. Maybe others can confirm that. Whilst that's not direct support, it would be enough for most people.

    2. Re:Goddammit! by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If your player works for you, what's to be angry about? Has anyone denied you admittance to a restaurant because your player wasn't an iPod? Been turned down for a job because your earphone wires weren't white?

      From your reference to "zealous fanboys", I might guess that Apple's success is sticking in your craw. I hope I'm wrong about that, because if that's the case, it would indicate that you've got unresolved personal issues.

      --
      It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
  10. Question you should be asking... by Brando_Calrisean · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why does this piss you off?

    --
    Don't call me a cowboy, and don't tell me to slow down!
  11. Weak... by RaZ0r · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This mod is WEAK!

    I expected to see some complicated mod that provided controls for the iPod in the headphones.

    This guy simply soldered a headphone jack into his expensive headphones and stuffed his iPod shuffle inside the headphones, which restricts access to the controls.

    WEAK.

    --


    - Think for yourself, question authority.-
  12. Bluetooth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Is this a new trend?

    Only until Bluetooth becomes more popular. Then you'll have a hack for your iPod that broadcasts the audio via BT and anyone with a BT headset can listen in.