How to use a Multimeter for Continuity - Audio cable and headphones test

A beginner's guide to using a multi-meter, specifically for testing continuity, and testing a pair of Sony Headphones.
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[@jugomebu]

I really appreciate the great, clear and really well presented video. Damn good job Marcus, thanks for the effort in making such a good clip.

[@MarcusHutsell]

Thank you so much. And you are welcome, I’m glad it was helpful. :)

[@jayfrog5446]

I have to say, you are the most competent small youtuber I have ever seen. Nice video, nice cut, nice music and you know how to speak the camera. You have a big talent, 10/10. Well done!

[@MarcusHutsell]

Thank you so much Jay! I appreciate it!

[@FrankJCarver]

Pronounce it like mul-tim-e-ter, as we do in the UK. It might be easier for you to say. Great video, by the way. Nice and clear.

[@MarcusHutsell]

Ha! I’m saying it that way in my head now with a British accent :) thank you so much.

[@ismaramos6891]

thank you so much for your video, it means a lot, I really like how you compare them,,, I have the tamron, 28- now Im thinking of buying this.... thank you keep going with such hard work...

[@intelcorei0364]

Very helpful if i will encounter a headphones or earphones to fix in the future

[@MarcusHutsell]

Thank you so much, I'm glad the video was helpful :)

[@JaiJaiSings]

Thanks for making this video. This video really helped me in troubleshooting the issues with my pair of headphones.

[@MarcusHutsell]

You are welcome, I'm so glad the video helped. Happy Listening!

[@ivanjerez2417]

Thank you for your video! Thank you sooo very much!

[@MarcusHutsell]

You are welcome!

[@brettking177]

Excellent sir. Underrated video. Plus one subscriber now. Thanks

[@MarcusHutsell]

Hi there. Thank you Brett!! Much appreciated :)

[@smellslikeupdog80]

what a mad lad he just called us dummies in the first 30 seconds.

[@MarcusHutsell]

*I didn't call you dummies, I was just referencing the "this-topic-for-dummies" book series that's been out for a long time :)

[@sulgrave_]

Hey, here I was, needing a "use a multimeter for dummies" video

[@MarcusHutsell]

🤓

[@malsawmdawngliana5017]

Thanks for the video

[@MarcusHutsell]

You're welcome, I'm glad it helped :)

[@sebastiennesp1978]

I'm a dummy, thankyou, I was going nuts attempting to find a fault in one of my synths!!!!

[@MarcusHutsell]

You're welcome, I'm glad this was able to help you. :)

[@beef88]

Cheers for the help

[@MarcusHutsell]

You're welcome, and thank you too. Cheers!

[@MrHubert5600]

Thank you for the video

[@MarcusHutsell]

You’re welcome :)

[@TomasLomba]

The video was great but you made a mistake, the omega symbol means resistance or impedance and it is the symbol used for that unit in particular which is ohms

[@MarcusHutsell]

Copy that. Thank you for the correction. I was just talking from the hip, so misspoke a bit. i script all my videos now, because I’m always learning from my mistakes. :)

[@TomasLomba]

@@MarcusHutsell no problem man, the video was really helpful.

[@MarcusHutsell]

So glad it helped :)

[@WarnerJoshuah]

I have a pair of jvc ha-rx900 headphones. The left headphone has stopped working. Testing at the solder points in the headphone, the red wire (right headphone) has continuity with the ground. The green (left headphone) does not. Does anyone know why that would be or what I should check for. This video seem to indicate that the ground should not share continuity with the other 2. Even stranger to me is that the one that has continuity with the ground still works.

[@kakaandbeyond]

Hope you can make a tutorial on how to do it on usb type headset like the Logitech one. I have like Tangled and expiring wire housing usb type headsets that i cant figure out if the wires are still working or not. Helpful video btw!

[@MarcusHutsell]

Hi there. The process would be the same, it doesn't matter what type of wires you're trying to trace. You can do exactly what I'm doing with audio cables in this video and trace your wires on your headsets. You just have to find both ends of the wires. Of course, this is assuming both ends of the wires are loose (not still housed in a USB connector) and that you can open up the headset and actually find the other ends of the wires or at least where they terminate; AKA, the solder-points inside the headset on either the left speaker, the right speaker, etc. Hard to know exactly your situation with your gear, but, still doable.

[@amirruldeen]

Hey there when will you solder them? I'm going to make my HD681B detachable but got no idea how to verify those wires & connect them to female 3.5mm jack

[@MarcusHutsell]

Hi there. I did actually modify my headphones and put a 1/8" jack on them. If you get a multimeter and watch my video around 11:00 minutes, I go through how to verify exactly what you're trying to do which is verify which cable goes to left, right, and ground. The mod worked, but for some reason the jack that I bought and installed wore out and the external 1/8" cable would not stay in the jack after a couple of months. My soldering was good on the inside, nothing was loose and the sound quality was just the same as before, but I think I may have overheated the jack itself when soldering, leading to the tiny internal components inside the jack to loosen over time and it just wouldn't hold a 1/8" cable any longer. But, the original mod worked fine, I think I just needed to work on my soldering skills so I could get the solder done quickly the first time. For a TRS connector, the Tip=Left, Ring=Right, Sleeve=Ground. Good luck, and practice soldering first!

[@Winnifred26]

I am new to soldering electric wiring. I can solder sterling silver wire in jewelry making. SO much easier than this. In checking continuity is there something wrong if the meter beeps on 3 out of 4 of the rings and sleeve of a male 3.5mm jack and one of the solder points in one earmuff (speaker)? My hearing is terrible and I need a headset. My hearing aids don't work on my TV.

[@MarcusHutsell]

Hi there Winnifred. So, yes, I'd say there's probably something wrong if you're getting continuity on 3 out of the 4 rings on one end of your cable if you're only touching ONE of the conductors on the other end. I'd say it sounds like your solder points are touching, making them essentially all on the same "circuit." I ruined a pair of headphones de-soldering and soldering........and I'm not even sure how because the bass on the headphones just went away, so, it wasn't a left/-right continuity problem for me, just an unexplained frequency loss. So, I haven't tried again just yet, b/c I don't want to ruin another pair of headphones! But yes, if you're getting continuity on multiple conductors, then something is mis-wired or mis-soldered.

[@aaronmanuel179]

Hi sir, i haves working 1/8 stereo headphones but when it’s plugged in with a 1/4 stereo adapter it sound becomes mono. I also tried different adapters, is it a compatibility issue or those 3 adapters are really faulty? How would i check? Thank you in Advance

[@MarcusHutsell]

HI there Aaron. hmmmm, well, you said you've tried several adapters. Obviously make sure the adapter is a TRS adapter, both inside the adapter's female port and the outside 1/4" section. TRS meaning (2) black bands separating the plug into Tip-Ring-Sleeve, or 3-conductor sections. If you wanted to actually TEST the adapters, you could insert a spare 1/8" male-male cable into the adapter, then use a multimeter and test for continuity on each end of the cable like I do in this video. Basically, put one of the adapters on one end of your spare 1/8" cable, then, test the tip-to-tip continuity between the male section of the 1/8" cable against the male section of the 1/4" adapter, then the Ring, then the sleeve. if the adapter is a 1-to-1 cable, then you should only get continuity from tip-to-tip, ring-to-ring, and sleeve-to-sleeve. So, let's say you test it and you get tip-to-tip continuity, but you're also getting tip-to-ring continuity.......then something's wrong because that WOULD sum everything to Mono, because the tip and ring are your left-right channels. It's possible that all of your adapters have loose connections inside or just aren't machined well. I know that some headphones really like their OWN adapters, it doesn't mean they won't work in some adapters, and it doesn't mean the headphones aren't still a standard 1/8" (3.5mm) plug, but I've found some headphones don't seat well into a particular adapter, like, maybe it doesn't go in far enough. If the adapters or the 1/8" plug on the headphones are making contact inside the adapter with multiple portions of the TRS plug on the headphones, then yes, it could sum itself to mono. Are your headphones regular TRS, or are they by any chance a TRRS (Tip-Ring-Ring-Sleeve) plug? That could also greatly affect how the signals get to their proper or improper contacts.

[@aaronmanuel179]

@@MarcusHutsell i realized that my headphone has a mic, (3 rings) that makes it incompatible maybe?

[@MarcusHutsell]

Yes that can complicate things because many of the companies and manufacturers did not agree which rings on the TRRS adapter go to which cable inside, etc. Some companies have the ground on the second ring, some companies have the ground on the final sleeve, and it can obviously mess up how adapters work. However, you can try a female TRRS to male TRS adapter and might have better luck. Did you make those style adapters, I even have one just in case. Again, it depends on the brand of headphones, so you might start with looking at that brand of head phones and see if that company makes or recommends a specific adapter.

[@drummerdoingstuff5020]

What’s that, my headphones cut out, touch live electricity. Got IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUUYYYYYYTT

[@MarcusHutsell]

😵

[@jonzmoviebar7580]

That's how to use the multimeter in a Hutsell

[@MarcusHutsell]

😂😂😂😂

[@meme-tg6hr]

Too long

[@MarcusHutsell]

🤷‍♂️

[@JosephDriscolljoerdie]

13 and a half minutes and never explained which setting you have your multimeter on... Seems like a lot of talking without a lot of actual explaining.

[@MarcusHutsell]

3:30

[@JosephDriscolljoerdie]

@@MarcusHutsell Gah. Google jumped me past that from the search result. Sorry! It's there.

[@MarcusHutsell]

@@JosephDriscolljoerdie (whew!) scared me for a sec thinking I didn't mention it!