DIY headphone wiring (nylon-stranded wire)

[courteous]

I've connected the 3 wires as shown in the picture: GROUND, GREEN, and RED (the latter 2 having their enamel removed).
[PLAIN]http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/4133/nylonstranded.jpg
But I'm getting only low-volume (un-amplified) sound. Now, if I connect either GREEN or RED wire to the device's casing/housing (the metal part of it), I do get "normal" volume.

Why is this so? Shouldn't this be the GROUND wire's job?

PS. Perhaps the GROUND does have (transparent) enamel on it? I'll try to "remove" it either way.

 

[sophiecentaur]

That's a lovely bird's nest in the picture. It's hard to see what you have actually done with all those wispy bits of fine wire.

I am assuming that you will be soldering the wires. This type of wire doesn't usually need to have the enamel stripped off it as the enamel dissolves in the hot solder.
But you are right to be surprised that you need to connect to the case of the player. The 'outers' of the individual channels should go to the signal ground. You may not actually have made this connection with the 'fuzzy' arrangement you show in the picture or you may have shorted the signals to ground in your attempt to connect it up in that way.
Neaten it up significantly and it should work ok for you.
If you aren't familiar with soldering then try it on some gash bits of wire first. It just requires a bit of practice.

 

[courteous]

Yes, that is a mess. :) I'll clean it up and solder it.

Thank you for your reassurance that I wasn't making some blunder regarding the casing behaviour.