6 Jan 2025

DIY Shure SE215 fix

In 2012, I bought a pair of Shure SE215 earphones. I have to say I have been quite happy with them. One killer feature is that each earphone can be disconnected from the cable. This has several consequences:

• cables tend do die faster than earphones, so here, the cable can be changed, which is cheaper than changing the whole thing;
• at some point they introduced a cable for iPhones and a cable for Android phones, so making the earphones compatible with the device you own is a matter of getting the right cable;
• at some point they introduced a cable compatible with both iPhones and Android phones;
• at some point they introduced a bluetooth “cable”, basically a cable joining both earphones and containing a bluetooth receiver and a battery, making the wired earphones become wireless ones;
• at some point they introduced bluetooth adapters, one for each earphone, making each earphone wireless and independent.

I’m personally more of a pro-wires type of person, so I keep using the cables. I had to change the cable about every 3 or 4 years. I think cables are way more ecological:

• no need for extra electronics, so less mining and associated pollution;
• no need for extra batteries (one in each earphone and one in the case), so less mining and associated pollution;
• no need for extra power (to power the electronics, but also about 20 % lost in charging/using the case’s battery on top of which about 20 % is lost in charging/using the earphones’ batteries);
• wireless earphones are easier to lose;
• the battery lifespan is quite limited and probably won’t last more than 3 years (Apple charges 50 $ to change batteries on 130 $ AirPods).

Anyway, about 2 years ago, the plastic case started becoming a bit brittle, so I had to add a bit of superglue to keep everything in place. Then the right earphones started to have connection issue. At some point it didn’t work at all anymore, and I realized that the connector (on the earphone side) was damaged.

In that spirit of making things last as long as possible, and after a bit of research, I found replacement connectors and cases for a few euros.

Steps to fix them:

• open the SE215 with a sharp tool along the edge between both sides of the case, be careful to not damage wires inside the case;
• remove the glue in the case and connector;
• remove the driver, wires and connector from the case;
• unsolder the wires from the old connector;
• solder the wires to the new connector;
• put the driver, wires and connector in the new case;
• close the case, plug it to the phone cable and test that sound is coming out of the earphone;
• re-open the case, add superglue (using a needle to apply the glue can help be more precise) on the case edges;
• close the case, wait for the glue to dry;
• do the same for the other earphone;
• connect the cable again;
• add earphone’s foams;
• plug into phone/device and enjoy the music.