Headphone/MP4 Problem?

Question

Hey,

Recently, my MP4 decided it that it was time to stop playing on both sides of my headphones. I use every single headphone set i have and it still does the same thing. If i nudge the jack slightly, it does play on both sides until i release it! What do i do, do i have to dismantle the player and fiddle?

Tom.

Answer 1

The most common fault with all MP3/MP4 players is damage to the headphone jack (socket). The physical damage can range from a simple broken solder joint to damage to the actual PCB. The damage is normally caused by hanging the product by your headphone cable.
I am really confident that you have damaged the "earth" connection to the PCB. This part of the jack/PCB is the closest to the exterior of the product. When the earth connection is broken, you will lose audio in both earphones...not just one.
To fix it, you will definitely need to open the unit, but be careful. The more complex that your product is....the higher the possibility of the headphone jack being "surface mounted" (solder and Jack on the same side of the board) making it a lot harder to repair with a basic "everyday" soldering iron.

I hope that helps and good luck!!

Answer 2

There's probably a broken solder joint on the headphone jack. If you're really skilled with fixing electronic devices (particularly with a soldering iron), you might be able to fix it. But if you're not, chances are the repair bill will cost you about as much as buying a new player that probably has more capacity and better features than your current model.