Convert Airplane Headphones for Home Use

The Sony MDR-5770 connector has one standard 3.5 mm stereo jack plug that carries the audio signals for the left and right channels, whilst the 2.5 mm mono jack carries the power supply for the active noise cancellation circuitry within the headphones. It is possible to use the headphones without power to the mono jack. In this case, you will be able to hear audio only without the noise-cancelling feature.

In aircraft, the voltage bus is usually a common rail to all the seats on the passenger deck, and controlled by a single switch from the cockpit. The mono jack (for noise-cancellation) usually carries a voltage between 4.5 V and 5 V. Usually, the tip of the mono jack is positive, whilst the sleeve is negative.

If you wanted to use your airplane noise cancellation headphones at home, then all you need to do is to apply power of approximately 4.5 V through the mono jack. If you are wearing your headphones, then you will notice that any constant ambient noise such as the computer fan magically disappears. If you wear these headphones for a couple of hours and then take them OFF, you will start noticing sounds that your brain had learned to automatically ignore!

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