[Xperia Arc General] xange:
Note: TRY THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK, I won't be responsible for your damage or lost of the phone because you just short-circuited your phone or what so ever, I didn't point a gun on your head and demand you to do it :) I'd just explored this method randomly and pure randomness, nothing else, and a brave heart maybe :p btw, i can't imagine how to make the phone short-circuit with just bridged the gnd and mic plate of the headset.

Since our phone are stuck in OMTP connectors forever and where newer phones/tablets/phablets are now having CTIA connectors and producing more and more CTIA standard headset everywhere. It is hard to find a OMTP standard headset nowadays (except if you want to buy Nokia phones, i mean asha series, not lumia, asha series usually implement OMTP standard connectors and headset while Lumia-s having CTIA, but who would want to buy a phone just for a working OMTP headsets, seriously... ). When you connected a wrong standard headset to your phone, you will know whats went wrong, like the sound lose the bass and vocal, mic doesn't work, handfree button doesn't work and so on...

And if good quality earphone (additional condition that's you are an audiopile, sounds quality means everything to you) out there just cost too much for you but you have a good quality CTIA headsets (eg: Samsung, Sony OEM headsets) plus you don't want to do the soldering work to change CTIA to OMTP by exchange mic and gnd cable.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you a way to convert your CTIA headset to a working earphone with only 1 piece of 1cm wire (when i say earphone, of course it mean the mic will not be able to function. Why? good question, continue reading)

HOW to DIY:

1. try to grab any wire in your house, or just cut out a cable from any of the malfunctioned wire keyboard or mouse, then cut out 1cm of copper wire from the cable, you may make extra 1cm or 2 to do the hanging work.

2. use a pliers to "apply pressure" on 1 side of the tip to make it thin just like a paper, make sure the thin wire length must not exceed about 0.5cm, the sole idea of this DIY is make a bridge to connect gnd and mic wire to cheat the phone that you just connected a earphone, and this is why the mic function will be gone.

3. then bend the thin wire tip to 90 degree, or any degree to suit you on how to hang that wire on the phone's headset connector. Again, make sure your thin wire length must not exceed 0.5cm!!!

4. insert the thin wire tip into the headset connector, not middle of course, i mean "stick to the wall"

5. the remaining wire is up to you on how to hang the wire but the thin wire must be "stick to the wall" of the headset connector. Use paper tape or glue or whatever you can get to stick the wire with your phone, don't let loose. Use your imagination.

6. then try connect your CTIA headset to your phone and play some music, check for sound quality, Is it the same sound quality that you get with other newer phone. If you found it hard to insert the headset jack, "apply more pressure" on the thin wire tip, make it thinner then test again.

7. if it works, congrats, you just made it there!!!

** if you are unsure how it does, check the picture or leave your comment(not pm), share what is not being clear in this post, allow me to refine the details of the procedure, XDA forum is all about sharing ideas....

this same procedure could convert OMTP headset to normal earphone in CTIA standards connectors too (theoretically). OR should I name it universal CTIA/OMTP to earphone converter trick? :p

ps: if you have a better vocabulary to replace "apply pressure" please suggest me :p or you found this will cause catastrophic damage on our phone, please do notice me about it!

info: i made this work on my Xperia Neo and China made tablet (RK29xx tabs) which also using OMTP connectors and i'm using Lenovo and Samsung OEM headset to test on both of them.

what is CTIA/OMTP? what are the difference between them? read: Phone_connector