Sony WH-1000XM3 cable splitter supplied is too narrow for my computer

[headphonequestiona]

Hi.

I want to connect the XM3's to my PC but the cable splitter provided is too narrow. Unfortunately it does not have bluetooth. Is there anything I can do?

[IamNic]

Hello @headphonequestiona,

the cable "splitter" is not a cable splitter but a cable "merger" (meant for use in airplanes).

You can simply connect the 3.5mm audio cable supplied with the headphones and plug it into the "headphones out" port on your notebook (with the headphones symbol).

The other port next to it is probably a microphone-in port which is of no use for the WH-1000Xm3 anyways, since it doesn't transmit the microphones signal trough the cable.

A nice workaround for that is to get a 3.5mm cable with an in-line microphone, meaning it has a TRS plug on the headphones end and a TRRS plug on the notebooks side - then you also just need a third party splitter, which goes from TRRS to 2xTRS - one for Mic (usually colored red) and one for sound (usually colored green).

Another alternative would be a USB-bluetooth-transmitter (which supports Bluetooth 5), to which you can connect the headphones wirelessly.

EDIT: https://www.reddit.com/r/sony/comments/fkvbsb/issues_connecting_sony_xm3_over_ears_headphones/

Is the above linked reddit post from you as well? If so, that information was left out here. If you connected the headphones with the supplied TRS to TRS cable initially and only had sound on one channel/ear, then your notebooks plug is a TRRS plug and not a TRS plug. I though you tried to jam the "merger" into the two neighbouring ports. 

If it only has a combined mic/audio port, then you should get a splitter (or the mentioned TRRS cable with in-line-microphone). The splitter needs to have a 3.5mm TRRS connector and split it onto a mic- and an audio-port (again the color coding should be red/green.

- Nic

[headphonequestiona]

Dear IamNic,

Sorry for the few months in delay. I forgot about the headphone requirement given the pandemic and no longer required it at the time, yet now I do.

So to summarise, my desktop is a TRRS plug - and I need a TRS to TRRS plug with an inline microphone? Is this what you are implying.

[IamNic]

Hello @headphonequestiona,

if the image shows your computers port no-it doesn't have one TRRS port but two TRS ports, one for Audio, one for mic.

You need to get one adapter to "splice" them into one TRRS port and then I recommend to get a cable for your headphones with an inline mic and a TRRS port one the PC/Adapter side and a TRS port on the headphones side.

Make sure that the TRS end on the headphones side has a slim jack or a stepped tip so it doesn't interfer with the housing of the earcup in which case you wouldn't be able to plug the cable properly into the headphones.

- Nic