What
do you
do when
one person
on the
couch
has an
xbox live
account,
and the
other
person
doesn't?
It's kind
of stupid
for the
person
with the
kit to
be yapping
away to
people
online,
when the
other
person
can't
hear what
everyone
else is
saying...
What
if the
other
person
doesn't
even have
an xbox
at home,
and only
plays
it over
at your
house?
What are
you supposed
to do?
Buy TWO
xbox live
accounts,
just so
your friend
can listen
in while
he happens
to be
over at
your house?
Doesn't
that seem
a little
silly?
It doesn't
need to
be.
After
using
microsoft's
headset
for a
while,
I realized
it wasn't
designed
very well.
It kinda
"sticks
out"
behind
your head,
just enough
to become
annoying
when you
want to
lean your
head back
against
the couch.
I'm sure
microsoft
is working
hard to
produce
"keep
you on
the edge
of your
seat"
games...
but apparently
we just
aren't
there
yet. Once
I realized
that my
cel phone
ear jack
thing
worked
just as
well (if
not better)
than MS's
equipment,
I realized
you could
just split
the connection
to two
sets,
and give
your cheap-o
friend
the default
MS headset.
A
quick
trip to
Radio
Shack
got me
all the
parts
i needed,
and here's
what I
ended
up with.
The thing
to note
is that
the communicator
(and just
about
any cel
phone
extension
earpiece
thing)
uses a
smaller
3/32"
(2.5mm)
jack...
not the
regular
1/8"
sony-walkman-sized
jack.
i wasn't
able to
find a
3/32"
splitter
(i'm sure
they're
out there,
though),
so i got
a 3/32"
male to
double
1/8"
female
splitter
(on the
left),
and two
1/8"
male to
3/32"
female
extenders
(on the
right,
in silver).
ta-daa.
Originally,
I had
intended
to have
this thing
sticking
out of
the controller,
but that
would
just be
lame,
so Igot
an extension
cord for
it (again,
3/32"
to 3/32").
I did
have to
trim down
the male
tip in
order
to fit
in the
recessed
xbox part...
Just
make sure
you have
a good
"click-in"
seating
for this
connection,
and you're
all set.
Of course,
when either
of you
talks,
it shows
up as
whoever
has the
thing
physically
attached
to their
controller...
(not "guest
of billybob"
or whatever).
In theory,
I suppose
you could
go "splitter
crazy"
and jack
it out
to 4 people,
but I
imagine
signal
strength
would
diminish
without
some of
amp in
the equation.
Happy
gaming!
See you
online.
total
cost (along
with radio
shack
part #s):
3/32"
to 1/8"
# 2740397
- $2.99
3/32"
to 1/8"
# 2740397
- $2.99
3/32"
male to
2x 1/8"
(splitter)
#2740945
- $4.99
6' extension
cord 3/32"
to 3/32"
#4302003
- $6.59
cel phone
ear piece
thing
- $9.99
(already
had one)
=======
$27.55
Tutorial
written
by : rich
