Plantronics Halo 2 xbox headset for pc??

Discussion in 'Tech Talk' started by Ryld Baenre, Mar 10, 2012.

  1. Ryld Baenre
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    I haven't kept up on my tech in a long time and with the demise of the ear pads on one of my other plantronics headsets I thought I would try to get my old headset to work. This is what I would like to use on my pc and to that end I purchased a 2.5>3.5mm adapter which worked all well and good for voice but I was not able to set the audio to go through it. Does anyone know of a way to make this work? This is my favourite headset and would love to be able to get some use out of it again.
     
  2. EniGmA1987
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    Most likely you need a different adapter. All those connections follow the same format, either TS or TRS. Some things have an additional channel though for video, but we wont deal with that here. Most likely that headset uses a TRS connection in the 2.5mm size. This means it has a tip, ring, and sleeve. Which comes to 2 channels plus a ground. Normally this is used for a balanced audio connection or stereo unbalanced audio. However in the case of this headset looks like it uses 1 channel for audio to the speaker and 1 channel for the mic. The adapter you bought is probably just a TS, meaning you are losing that second channel and thus your audio doesnt work to the headset.

    Look at the adapter you bought, does it have as 2 black rings on the connector just like the headset does? Or does it only have 1 black ring? 2 rings = TRS, 1 ring = TS

    Another thing I just thought of is that you might be connecting it wrong. The XBox uses a really low end TRS connection for both its mic and speaker, this is not the standard way of doing things in audio. Microsoft only did this because then they get away with a single wire for a headset and plugging it into the controller. In your computer things are done properly. Your sound chipset has a connector for mic input, and L/R output. If you use the right adapter then you can still only plug it into a single port, which means you only get one or the other. What you need to do after you get the right 2.5 -> 3.5 adapter is to then buy another adapter that goes from stereo 3.5mm female to dual-mono 3.5mm male. Then plug one connection into your mic input and the other into your L/R output. Normally pink and green connectors on the computer.
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2012
  3. Ryld Baenre
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    Thanks for all the info Enigma,

    The male ends on both headset and adaptor look the same so I think it is TRS as you mentioned, they both have 2 black bands. On my laptop there are 2 separate ports for mic and headset and I get the corresponding function depending on which I plug it in to. I've never had to work with these before because my pc headsets for gaming have always been usb. I'll look for the 2nd adapter now and hopefully it does the trick!
     
  4. mwhays
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    Good catch Enigma. I was reading the post this time and I was thinking the same thing! I'd be surprised if this didnt fix you right up, OP!
     
  5. Ryld Baenre
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    Haven't found anything yet to get me where I want to go as far as plug adapters are concerned. What I did come across was the plantronics mx500i which comes with a usb adapter so that the mx500i which is a 2.5mm headset which can be used on the xbox360 is compatible with pc. Might end up just buying this and using just the adaptor.