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Tracer: PSB M4U 2 headphone failure and fix

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Tracer
About photography, technology, cycling and cars.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

My Photography Gear Reviews

PSB M4U 2 headphone failure and fix

Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G VR

I had wanted a nice pair of noise cancelling headphones for some time. The undisputed
champion of "noise cancelling" is Bose. At the time this was the QC15, more recently replaced by
the QC25. I have tried many NC headphones, and can confirm that the noise cancelling system in
these headphones is amazing. However, they are rubbish to actually listen to music on. So after
trying out a bunch of headphones, I went with the PSB M4U 2s.

Nikon F601

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 17-35 f2.8D ED-IF


Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM
The Karachi Outpost by Crumpler

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These headphones appealed to me for many reasons. The sound out of them was excellent.
They offered not only noise cancelling, but also had a built in amplifier that could be turned on
without NC. The cable was removable and could be attached to either side of the headphones.
They functioned as a headset. They functioned and sounded great with no battery at all (passive).
And lastly, they seamed very well built. No plastic snaps but screws all over, with metal and high
quality polycarbonate.

www.flickr.com

If there was one downside it was the price. And really, the price was justified but I didn't want to
spend $400 at the time. I managed to find them used for half that. I have enjoyed wearing these
almost every day for over a year. But two weeks ago the left channel just stopped working.

Customer Service & Warranty


I contacted PSB about getting them fixed. I didn't expect warranty service because I purchased
them used, but I was expecting to be able to pay to have them fixed. This proved to be false.
Unlike PSBs other products, which are made right here in Ontario, Canada, their headphones are
made in China. PSB informed me that they do not service out of warranty headphones. I called
the two closest authorized PSB dealers, and was informed that they cannot service them
because PSB does not supply parts and I should contact PSB directly. I contacted PSB again
about getting parts, and they informed me that they do not provide parts. So it appears, that if you
have a fault with your M4Us after the 2 year warranty has expired, you're on your own.

The Flaw
First off, these headphones were purchased used. It's very possible that this flaw was fixed in
later units. I took apart the left side of my M4Us. As expected, the headphones are well built using
hardware instead of glue and plastic snaps. This was until I get it all apart. On the inside it was
apparent that PSB chose form over function. The cable used to connect the two halves of the
headphones together was wholly inadequate. It was tiny, to facilitate hiding it within the head
band.

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15/06/2016, 7:52 PM

Tracer: PSB M4U 2 headphone failure and fix

http://blog.tracer.ca/2014/12/psb-m4u-2-headphone-failure-an...

I've created an image with two areas highlighted. You can see that the individual cables fray
where they come out of the sheathing a 1. One of the cables for the speaker was being held by
just one copper strand when I took things apart. You can see in the area marked with 2 that
another wire had completely come disconnected. 2. also illustrates what I would call the main
design or assembly flaw. The cable sheathing terminated right where the housing ends for the
main body of the headphone earpiece. I've pulled it out to work on it, but this explains the fraying.
The cables were rubbing up against the plastic here.
Overall, there are 12 conductors coming in through that tiny cable. They are small and fragile. I
had another 3 come off their solder joints just while trying to take the unit apart.

The Fix
You will need the following items to fix these headphones:
1. #0 Philips screwdriver
2. #6 Torx Screwdriver
3. tweezers and/or small needle nose pliers
4. precision wire cutters
5. thin masking or electrical tape
6. precision tip temperature controlled soldering iron
7. flux
8. heat shrink tubing
9. heat source for shrinking the tubing
You might also need extra cable if things are really bad. I found replacement headphone cable on
Deal Extreme which I have ordered but didn't need.

1. Take apart the headphones by fist removing the ear padding on the side that has stopped
working.
2. This will expose 4 Philips screws holding the speaker into place.
3. Be careful pulling the speaker housing away as there is very little slack in the cable.
4. Twist the speaking housing to get to the two Philips screws holding the main body
together.
5. Place the speaker housing back into the cover for the main body to prevent accidentally
dislodging any cables further.
6. Again, be careful pulling this second part away as there is little slack in the cable.
7. Use your pliers or tweezers to remove the tape holding down the wire.
8. At this point you have enough clearance to start unscrewing the part of the headband that
holds the speaker in place. This is where you need the Torx screwdriver.
9. Take apart the two halves of the speaker holder, pay attention to the copper spring
attached to the metal armature and remove the cable from the cable guide.

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15/06/2016, 7:52 PM

Tracer: PSB M4U 2 headphone failure and fix

http://blog.tracer.ca/2014/12/psb-m4u-2-headphone-failure-an...

10. Now you have slack in the main cable which will allow you to pull it into the main part of
the speaker housing so that you can work.
11. At this point I would take a photo of all the cables so that you have a reference of what
goes where if something has gone wrong later.
12. Cut away any excess wire that has frayed from any split connections.
13. Add flux to the two halves of the cable you have to repair and lightly tin the ends (360c
was good for this application)

14. Cut a small amount of shrink tubing and slide it over one end (I used too much)
15. Use pliers, or ideally self closing ones to hold the two halves of the cable with a bit of
overlap and use your soldering iron to melt the solder together. Try not to burn a whole in
the ear padding of the other speaker :(

16. Let the joint cool sufficiently and then slide the heat shrink tubing over the connection.

17. Tug on both ends of the cable to make sure you have a solid connection.
18. Use a heat gun or other source to shrink the tubing over the solder joint.
19. I would also check all the other solder connections at this point and re-solder them if
needed.

20. At this point I would test the headphones by plugging in a source, putting in batteries and
make sure everything works.
21. Once the test works out, pull the cable out so that only a bit of the housing is left inside the
headphones. I used some electrical tape to add some buffer for further fraying.
22. Then use more tape to hold down the cable so it doesn't get in the way of re-assembly.
23. You now have to re-assemble the armature that holds the speaker unit. First lay out the
headphone cable into the cable guide. The slack goes at the head-padding end for
extension.
24. Make sure to place the copper spring in place into the metal armature.
25. Getting the two halves of the speaker holder together while keeping the cable in place was
probably the hardest part of re-assembly. I have no advice other than growing another few
limbs
26. Then re-assemble the main speaker housing in reverse of how it was taken apart.
There you have it. If you have any questions feel free to comment below and I'll try to answer
them.
Hopefully PSB has fixed this issue in later production runs or plans to. For what is otherwise an
excellent pair of headphones.

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15/06/2016, 7:52 PM

Tracer: PSB M4U 2 headphone failure and fix

http://blog.tracer.ca/2014/12/psb-m4u-2-headphone-failure-an...

Update
Independent of this blog post, I have been in contact with PSB above. Before I published this
info, I sent them a further update via their support forums about the issue that I had found. They
have offered to sell me a discounted set of M4U 2s. I am taking them up on their offer. First, these
are a great sounding pair of cans with great features. This will allow me to have two pairs, but
more importantly, a whole spare set of parts for the one pair I really need.
Posted by Paul Tichonczuk at 1:36 PM

+4 Recommend this on Google

6 comments:
Robert Fan said...
Amazing. Thank you for doing this. I haven't had a problem with my PSB-M4U2 yet but will
print this out and have it ready for when the time comes. Thanks again for taking the time to
write this for the public.
7:08 AM

Paul Tichonczuk said...


No problem Robert. I'm happy to give back to the audio community with this info. I also hope
this post encourages PSB to fix what is otherwise a great set of cans.
8:45 AM

Matthew Daniel said...


Nice guide, Paul. My M4U2 headphones are over 2 years old and the left channel went silent
this morning. I will be opening them up and comparing what I find with what you found. Hope
to get them working again, as they are great to use on the train on my daily commute
8:56 AM

Brian S. Roper said...


Thanks very much for identifying the cause of this fault and how to fix it. After extensive
market research I purchased PSB-M4U2 headphones because of the superior sound quality
of these headphones compared to Quiet Comfort 15s (the 25s have come out since). At the
time this assessment was based purely on reviews. Since then I've owned the PSB
headphones for a couple of years and the sound quality of these headphones is absolutely
amazing. Unfortunately they have not been reliable. Both of the original cables failed while the
headphones were under warrenty. PSB replaced them but either the second set of cables
have failed or else the problem is internal to the headphones as described above. Since I was
sick of the unreliability of my PSBs I recently purchsed a pair of Quiet Comfort 25s. The light
weight, comfort and noice cancelling of the Quiet Comfort 25s make them superior travel
headphones when compared to the PSBs, but the sound quality is much worse. My
recommendation would be to own both headphones- the Quiet Comfort 25s are much better
for travelling (especially long haul flying) while the PSBs offer great sound quality. The
question I'm now considering is: Do I purchase another pair of PSBs given the reliability
issues? Brian S. Roper
6:20 PM

Gerald Slaughter said...


I am furious. I purchased a pair of the PSB-M4U2 headphones a few years back, only to have
the left side become staticky and the blow out. After nearly a year's procrastination I finally
sent them off to have them repaired (free of charge except for outgoing postage). In 5 weeks
time they sent me a brand new pair. Today, I encounter the same problem in these
headphones. We are talking about less than 5 hours listen in total since receiving this pair.
First it begins in full noise cancelling mode and then on hybrid (that's were we are now) and
eventually the left side will cease to work completely (based on my previous experience with
this brand/model).
I only needed to search Google briefly to discover this blog. Thank you for confirming my
suspicion that there must be a flaw in the design and for providing a solution. Sadly, I don't
know if I am up for the task (I do not own some of the tools)... At this price point I struggle with
the idea of becoming MacGyver. I wish I could simply plug & play.
12:26 PM

Morten Ulveseth said...


I encountered this issue a while ago, but just now got around to fixing it (thanks for the help on
that!). I had two wires that were broken. Unfortunately, in the meantime I have lost this inner
plastic part that holds the left cup: http://imgur.com/1zDZIcj
Does anyone have an idea if there is a way that I can replace this part? I love this headset so
much and I really just want them to work again.
7:58 AM
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