Greetings,

As a new LG Voyager Titanium owner, I wanted to know how to connect a decent pair of wired headphones to it. One of the reasons I selected the Voyager is for its capability as a music player. The headphone amp inside it isn't very powerful but with an efficient and high quality set of headphones it sounds very good. I connected a pair of Sennheiser HD-280 professional headphones and was very pleasantly surprised at the good sound quality.

Sadly, stories are circulating about the Voyager having mediocre or worse sound. I believe this is usually the fault of poor headphone/earphone selection (they need to be efficient or you'll push the Voyager into distortion if you turn its volume to the maximum setting) and/or the headphones/earphones are connected incorrectly.

In this topic I'll explain how the headset jack of the LG Voyager works and the kind of adapter that you'll need for it if you want to plug in a great pair of headphones or earphones. It's going to get technical so if you're not comfortable with audio wiring, you might want to skip this topic and get someone to help you.


Terminology
Please forgive me for starting with terminology but we have to because the terms we need to use have been seriously muddled.

• Phone Plug -- The male connector on the end of a headset or headphone cable that you plug into your cell phone. The male connector is always called the "plug". As for the label "phone", I'm not sure where it came from. It could refer to the kinds of plugs used decades ago with ancient telephone switchboards where operators physically plugged and unplugged telephone lines to route calls. If this is where it came from then "phone" is simply short for "telephone". But it could also have originated with common "headphones" which popularized the phone connector in modern times. Phone plugs have been used for making audio connections for decades in the pro audio industry. In addition to headphones, they're used for microphones and musical instruments like electric guitars. So, depending on who you talk to, "phone plug" may bring "headphones" or "telephones" to mind. The standard phone plug is 1/4 inch in diameter and is usually called a "1/4-inch phone plug".
• Phone Jack -- The female connector that a phone plug connects to. Usually, phone jacks are mounted into audio equipment (chassis mount) rather than on the end of a cable (in-line connector). But adapters often have in-line phone jacks. The chassis mount variety appear simply as a hole and the in-line variety appear as a hollow tube with a hole in one end. Female connectors are always "jacks" but you'll frequently see people call them plugs by mistake.
• Headphones / Earphones -- Headphones usually rest on or encircle your ears. Earphones usually fit into your ear. They both allow you to listen only. Headphones and earphones do not have a microphone so you can't talk to a caller with them. They can be mono or stereo.
• Headsets -- Add a microphone to headphones or earphones and you have a headset. They let you listen and talk. You need a headset if you want to handle calls. The headphone/earphone part of a headset can be either mono or stereo. If you see only one ear piece then you know its mono. But you can't be sure if you see two because some headsets have two ear pieces but each one gets the same signal and is therefore "mono". In order for it to be a "stereo" headset each ear piece must receive a different signal. The surest way to tell them apart is to look at the headset's phone plug and see how many poles it has (more on that below).
• 3.5 mm Phone Plug/Jack -- The 1/4-inch phone connector was reduced to a smaller size with a 3.5 mm (1/8 inch) diameter and is usually called a "mini phone" plug or jack. However, manufacturers are not consistent and you'll sometimes see them with other names. The safest thing is to always refer to them by their diameter (3.5 mm). The 3.5 mm phone plug is the size that you'll find nowadays on most stereo headphones and earphones. Most mp3 music players have 3.5 mm phone jacks.
• 2.5 mm Phone Plug/Jack -- The 1/4-inch phone connector was reduced even smaller to a diameter of 2.5 mm and is often called a "micro-mini phone" or just "micro phone" plug or jack. However, as with the "mini phone" connectors above, their names are not used consistently and you'll see them called other things as well. Again, the safest thing to do is to always refer to them by their diameter (2.5 mm). The 2.5 mm phone jack is popular on telephones and this is the size provided on the right side of your Voyager. It's purpose on the Voyager is so you can connect a wired stereo headset.
• 2-Pole, 3-Pole, 4-Pole -- The type of device you plan to connect will determine the number of electrical connections that will be needed. The simplist would be a mono headphone and it would need two wires or two connections. Electrical engineers call them "2 poles". Normally each signal requires one separate "+" wire that only connects to it and a common "-" wire shared by all the other signals. Understanding how many poles (or wires) your Voyager connector needs is vital to making a proper connection. The Voyager has a 4-pole 2.5 mm phone jack because it is designed for a stereo headset. It will need one wire each for: (1) mic, (2) left ear, (3) right ear, (4) common. If you insert a plug with fewer poles, you'll short-circuit part of your phone's connector and this may damage your phone, cause it to shut off or operate improperly. An improperly wired adapter can be just a dangerous.

One of the most important things to realize is that if you plug a common mono headset with a 3-pole 2.5 mm phone plug into your Voyager, you'll be short-circuiting part of its 4-pole 2.5 mm phone jack. The same is true if you plug an adapter with a 3-pole 2.5 mm phone plug into your Voyager. Your Voyager needs a 4-pole 2.5 mm phone plug. All you need to do is read the problems people have been having with their phones shutting down and malfunctioning to realize that this is not a good idea.


Wiring
The following image shows how a stereo headset plug must be wired for proper operation with an LG Voyager.

Notice above that the different contacts of a phone plug are labeled "tip", "ring" and "sleeve" and 4-pole plugs like the one required by the Voyager have two rings.

Another thing to realize is that not every telephone with a 4-pole 2.5 mm stereo headset phone jack like the Voyager will use the same wiring and LG appears to be out of step with some of the other manufacturers. This means that some third-party adapters will cause you to hear the left channel in the right ear and visa versa. This won't hurt your phone or your headphones/earphones but it may be annoying---especially if you can't reverse the headphones/earphones on your head.


Ready-Made Adapters
If you want to connect your high-quality headphones or earphones with a common 3-pole 3.5 mm phone plug to your Voyager, the easiest solution is to use an LG adapter. One popular choice is the LG SGEY0003602 Headset. It comes with an adapter and a cheap pair of earbud-style earphones. You can unplug the cheap earphones and plug in a high-quality pair of your own choosing. Plus the adapter plug contains a built-in microphone, call answer button and a headphone volume control. So you can also take calls while wearing your headphones. I've got one and it works pretty good---especially for its low cost (they often sell for under $15 and I've found them on eBay for under $10).

Purists who want the best sound possible for listening to their favorite music may not want the mic or volume control in line with their headphones. I found that the Cingular Headset Adapter works great. It has a simple in-line 3-pole 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack at one end and a 4-pole 2.5 mm stereo headset plug at the other. It has no volume control and no provision for a microphone. In fact, the microphone connection on the 2.5 mm phone plug simply doesn't connect to anything. The package says it's compatible with the ROKR E1 telephone. But guess what?---it's also compatible with the Voyager (I know because I have one of these adapters, too). I've also been told that Motorola makes a similar compatible adapter but I haven't been able to confirm this yet.


Custom Adapters
With the information shown below, you can make your own adapter. Consider this: Some of the best headsets are now made for the PC multiplayer gaming industry. In fact, Sennheiser has a PC350 that is stellar. The headphone part has the quality of their best professional headphones and the microphone is equally impressive. But the sad thing is they are only available with connectors for hooking to computer sound cards. This means that they have two connectors: A 3.5 mm phone plug for the headphone part and a separate 3.5 mm phone plug for the microphone. It wouldn't be too difficult for someone to make an adapter that would allow you to plug one of those bad boys into a Voyager. And if the PC350 is too expensive for you, then consider some of the less expensive models such as the PC151 (closed back) or PC161 (open air) headset.

As you can probably tell, I'm partial to Sennheiser; however, the same principles described in this topic will work for other brands and models.

Note: I prepared the drawings in this message to be life size if your computer display has a resolution of 72 pixels per inch (ppi). Permission is hereby granted for you to copy my drawings and use them freely as long as you do not change them or remove my copyright notice.

Enjoy!
WiredNot

Thanks for this post! It's quite informative! I've stickied it in the forum.

I just bought an LG Dare and when I asked if it had a standard headphone jack I was told yes. I thought a standard was the 2.5mm, not 3.5mm. I can't wear earbuds so have to wear a headset (for phoneuse) but how do I go about finding one that fits a 3.5mm jack? Any suggestions?
Your post was very thorough but it goes opposite to what I am looking for.

Thanks

The standard headset jack for a wireless phone is 2.5mm. The problem is very few other electronics (besides phones) use 2.5mm. You won't find an iPod using a 2.5mm jack. Then the wireless industry thought "What if we made our phones use the standard 2.5mm jack". This began to happen about a year ago and now more and more phones have a 3.5mm jack...but the 2.5mm is considered standard for a phone.

The manufacturers who make the headsets/earbud headsets have not quite caught up with the phones and the 3.5mm headset jack. It isn't likely you will ever find a headset that already has a 3.5mm adapter. You would need to get a 2.5mm to 3.5mm headset jack from the carrier. Here's one for Verizon Wireless: 2.5 to 3.5 converter

Originally Posted by lcp

I just bought an LG Dare and when I asked if it had a standard headphone jack I was told yes. I thought a standard was the 2.5mm, not 3.5mm. I can't wear earbuds so have to wear a headset (for phoneuse) but how do I go about finding one that fits a 3.5mm jack? Any suggestions?
Your post was very thorough but it goes opposite to what I am looking for.

Thanks

Originally Posted by lcp

I just bought an LG Dare and when I asked if it had a standard headphone jack I was told yes. I thought a standard was the 2.5mm, not 3.5mm. I can't wear earbuds so have to wear a headset (for phoneuse) but how do I go about finding one that fits a 3.5mm jack? Any suggestions? ...

Hi lcp,

It's difficult to understand what you want because it seems like you and the salesman are confusing headphones and headsets. The LG Dare does NOT appear to have a 3.5 mm headphone jack at all. Rather, (if the product description provided by Verizon is accurate) it has a 3.5 mm headset jack. Furthermore, it appears that its headset jack is stereo since the phone functions as a music player.

Headphones and earphones do not have microphones. Headsets have microphones and therefore require plugs with an additional "pole" for the microphone. Note: Even if earbuds are employed, the device is still called a "headset" if it includes a microphone. All of them are available in either mono or stereo and you can't plug a mono device plug into a complementary stereo jack without short-circuiting something.

The adapter that nicknrm listed is only for headsets. According to the link he provided, Verizon claims that it works with either "standard" (mono) or "stereo" headsets. The "standard" headset would have a 2.5 mm 3-pole plug and the stereo headset would have a 2.5 mm 4-pole plug. While it is possible for one adapter to serve both, I'm skeptical that it will handle a "standard" mono headset properly. Unless it has isolation transformers, it will probably allow a "standard" headset to short-circuit part of the 3.5 mm stereo headset jack of the phone. And the photo of the adapter shows that there is no room for isolation transformers.

You could not use the phone's 3.5 mm headset jack with a pair of headphones or earphones without a special adapter (a different one than the one nicknrm listed). This makes the move to a 3.5 mm headset jack look like a total waste to me.


If I were making a killer multimedia phone what I would do is include two jacks:

1. One 3.5 mm 3-pole stereo headphone/earphone jack which you could use to connect nearly any pair of stereo headphones or earphones for listening to music (no microphone and no talking). No adapter would be required.
2. One 2.5 mm 4-pole stereo headset jack the same as my LG Voyager. This would support both headsets and headphones/earphones with appropriate adapters. This would provide backward compatibility with existing LG 2.5 mm stereo headsets and adapters.

This would cover all of your bases and provide great capability with a minimum of adapters. It would make it easy to use the phone as a music player without requiring an adapter for any of the hundreds of headphones and earphones currently available. Or you could plug in a stereo headset for handling calls and listening to stereo music simultaneously under program control.

Instead, it appears that LG has created a non-standard jack for the Dare that almost no one supports yet. Why would they add to the confusion? It doesn't make sense to me ... unless LG has invented a configurable jack that can be dynamically rewired by the phone to match the wiring of the plug you've inserted into the jack. Such things are possible---but I think they would be too expensive both in terms of cost and space.

A darker purpose would be to force the buyer to purchase an expensive LG headset with a requisite non-standard plug. That's the kind of behavior that I would expect from Sony---not LG.

Finally, there is another possibility: LG's product information for the Dare could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time that a company labelled a headphone jack as a headset jack or visa versa. I've seen so many errors of this sort on product packaging that I've lost count.

Best regards, WiredNot

Thanks. I am confused and very frustrated at this point.

Nicknrm, thanks for the link to Verizon - I tried that but since I am located in Canada I could not get past the zipcode page.

WiredNot, I took a closer look to what is provided by LG - here in Canada Telus carries this phone. Anyways, The LG Dare has a 3.5mm jack . The Headset/eadphone buds combo comes in 2 pieces that can be taken apart - not sure why. One piece has a 3.5mm 4 pole piece with a volume control, the volume control is a female piece; the second part has another 3.5mm 3pole plug that inserts into the volume control - I've taken a picture and added it. To top it off, I actuall called LG today to ask what I could do to use a wired headset - they informed me they don't have one - just these earbuds (which due to my ears I can't wear any buds!). So I am feeling completely stuck.

Hi lcp,

Judging by your photo, your headgear consists of two parts:

First are the earbud-style earphones which have a 3.5 mm 3-pole phone plug. These appear to be standard stereo earphones and this is great news for you. You should be able to substitute any common pair of headphones or earphones in their place. This is probably why they provided two pieces---so the earphone/headphone part would be "normal" and could be changed by the user.

Second is the adapter with volume control that connects your headphones/earphones to your LG Dare. It has two connectors: [1] an in-line 3.5 mm 3-pole phone jack (to accept the headphone/earphone plug), and [2] a 3.5 mm 4-pole phone plug (to connect to your phone). But I can't say any more without seeing some better photos of the in-line phone jack (the barrel end that the earphones plug into).

The volume control is for the headphones/earphones. What we need to know now is: "Is there a microphone in it also?" If there is, then you will see one or more holes for it at the top of the connector and you would expect to see a push-to-talk button to allow you to answer or hang up a call. Plus, the in-line jack should have a clip so you can clip the mic end to your clothing where it will stay close to your mouth/neck.

LG has included microphones in some of their other adapters (I have one for my LG Voyager). It transforms the headphones or earphones that you plug into the adapter into a "headset" so you can both listen to music and take calls. The phone has the smarts to automatically pause the music when a call is received. Then it will resume playback when the call is finished (my Voyager does this).

If the in-line phone jack end of the adapter does NOT have a microphone, then what you have is simply a stereo headphone/earphone to stereo headset adapter that allows you to connect conventional headphones or earphones to your phone to listen to music or other media. But it won't let you take calls. You would need a different adapter for that (or a stereo headset that is designed specifically for your phone).

I hope this helps. But remember, this is the LG Voyager forum and we are not LG Dare experts here. I've never used or handled your model phone.

Best regards, WiredNot

Thanks WiredNot. I apologize for posting here. Truth be told I have been to every site available, including a number of Dare forums, but no one could explain the differences as you so clearly did. Everything I didn't know about plugs I learned from reading your single post.
I took a look and there is a button, with a few holes above it so it looks like that's what it is. I was also able to go out and see if there were any adapters, headsets (over the head) that would work with these types of plugs, something I wouldn't have been able to do before.
I am out of luck so I will have to depend on speakerphone, as there an no adapters out there for a headset, only for the headphone (music only) and there are no wired headsets made to fit 3.5mm.
I really appreciate you sharing what you know.

Cheers
lcp

Hi lcp,

Thanks for the kind words---I'm glad that I could be of some help. But I'm confused. Based on what you reported (that the adapter in your photo appears to have a built-in microphone) I would expect you to be happy. Unless I misunderstand, it should do everything you want.

You can plug any stereo headphones or earphones with a standard 3.5 mm 3-pole phone plug into the adapter. This is the most common plug for headphones and earphones---you should have hundreds to choose from. You can choose some that are comfortable and have good sound quality.

With the built-in microphone in the adapter, the headphones/earphones that you plug into it will be converted to a headset so you can take/make calls.

I would think this would give you everything. Comfort (you can plug headphones/earphones of your choice into the adapter in place of the earbuds that came with it). Good sound for music. The ability to take/make calls.

What am I missing?

Best regards, WiredNot

I'm going to sound pretty foolish, but I understand what you are saying. I was told by the reps in the store that I would be unable to use any other headphones with the mic portion as a headset because of LG proprietory parts - I had to only use LG parts. It made no sense to me but they were pretty adamant. So when I actually called LG and was told they didn't carry any other headpones I was stumped.
Seems like I was completely misdirected by the salespeople - they probabl didn't even understand my questions. Guess I should have been forewarned when neither rep knew how to put in the tiny microsd card...

Thanks for helping me
lcp