Sony MDR-XD100 Repair

This MDR-XD100 repair page is about how you can easily replace the foam pads, or troubleshoot a broken wire so that you can repair it. If you need to remove the pads for cleaning, then the simplest method is to undo a pair of hidden screws. These screws are usually hiding behind the foam padding and you can gain access to them by slightly pushing the padding to the side. Undoing these screws, allows the front panel part together with the drivers to detach from the cup.

I bought these from an auction site in the spares and repairs section as they were broken and needed repair. The seller had written that sound was coming from only one side. Usually in these types of faults, there are two or three things to look out for. 1. The voice coil may have burnt, 2. The wire has broken from the jack plug end, 3. Alternatively, the wire has broken from the cup end. The latter two are simple to repair however, a burnt driver is difficult to replace, as it would be expensive.

With pre-used headphones, it is probably better to take the headphones apart for cleaning and disinfecting. Once you have access to the driver terminals, it is easy to diagnose the fault with a continuity meter. If the driver coils show continuity, then the wire has broke somewhere. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine where the wire may have broken, however the jack plug end tends to be the most common place therefore that is the best place to start. I usually snip off the jack plug and solder another one. If that does not fix the problem, then the cup-end is usually the next step to work on. If that does not work, then the wire has broke somewhere in the centre and it is better to replace it completely.

In this particular headphone, the wire had broken from the jack plug end, and soldering another jack plug fixed the problem.

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