We’ve had threads about earbuds that don’t suck, and a couple ofthreads. We’ve even had thread in quest of bulletproof. All of the above are at least somewhat relevant to my issue.
As with most phones, the 3.5mm jack for earbuds or whatever is on top. It’s been my experience that plugging the earbuds directly into this receptacle and then walking around for extended periods leads to the earbud cord tangling and often getting snagged on things like doorknobs. Also, because of the way the cord has to loop up and then down, and then back up, cheaper earbuds will tend to wear out where the cord is connected to the jack, or to the earbud ends. A simple solution to this problem would be to make the jack-end “L”-shaped, but from what I’ve seen none of the better earbuds have this. Better quality earbuds don’t wear out as easily, but they get tangled and snagged as easily as the cheapest ones.
In this picture you can see my current pair of cheap Rocketfish earbuds along with the two right-angle adapters I use to be able to wear the earbuds more comfortably. Notice how the jack has the two contact rings, same as the adapters–this means the earbuds will worth through them. And there’s another problem right there. All of the better earbuds I’ve seen, starting at a still modest price of $30 or so, have that extra little button on the cord with which you can advance to the next track, control the volume, or whatever. And this requires the jack end to have a third contact ring–which means they won’t work in the adapters.
I got so tired of the looping, tangling, and snagging that when my last pair of SkullCandy buds wore out and it came time to exchange them, instead of replacing them with a comparable item I walked out of the store with six of the aforementioned Rocketfish earbuds. As cheap as they were, they sound quite good for my needs–but they don’t last. Cheap earbuds have that name not because they look like newborn flowers, but because they are as delicate as newborn flowers. So it’s barely more than three weeks since I bought them and the first of the six pairs wore out yesterday.
I’m considering taking the five remaining pairs back to the store and exchanging them for something better. But is there anything I can find that runs around $30 and has only two contact rings on the jack, so it will work in my adapters?
I’m not sure, but I think that headphones with the extra contact for control functions are supposed to work with standard stereo jacks as well.
Using those right-angle adapters might reduce the strain on your earbud cable, but it creates a long lever arm that puts a lot more torque on the phone’s jack any time the cord gets pulled. Since the phone is worth a lot more than a pair of earbuds, I would worry about protecting it rather than the headphone cord.
I don’t quite understand the geometry, but part of the problem seems to be that the headphone jack is on the top. Does it help to simply have the phone the other way up?
Wireless/bluetooth isn’t a bad idea. However, if you want to stay wired, I’ve been very, very, *very *happy with these. They have an L-shaped plug and come with three sizes of silicone buds. I’ve had problems with other earbuds being too large and uncomfortable, but I use the smallest attachment and can actually sleep with these in. And they’re under $6!
I bought mine in August and sleep with them on almost every night. I even twist and turn a LOT, and have noticed no degradation in sound quality or construction.
Also you don’t want to force the phone into the carrier upside down, especially with a straight-in earbud cord plugged into it. The strain on the cord and jack are self evident.
They do work in the jacks all right, so you’d think they would work in the adapters as well, but they don’t, unless you keep that button pressed down continuously. It’s as if pressing the button causes a three-ringed jack end to behave as if it only has two rings.
Do you mean when the total change from the vertical is 90 degrees, causing the jack itself to act like the short end of a lever? (“Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I will wreck your phone’s jack”, Archimedes would have said.) In this case I can see your point. But doesn’t the use of two adapters, as shown in the picture, pretty much eliminate that problem? That way the cord hangs straight down in the most relaxed way possible, and most of the force on the phone’s jack is likewise straight down.
Thank you all for the suggestions and replies so far. Battle Pope, does your set have any extra functions, besides just delivering the sound to your ears? Because I think that’s the key issue. I need good sturdy earbuds with reasonable sound and which specifically lack any extras like volume sliders or track list controls.
thirdname, looking over the number of times I have had to replace earbuds, and considering what I would have had to pay if I hadn’t always opted for replacement coverage, that amount might have come close to what the phone is worth, or at least a couple hundred dollars. I think the phone’s worth considerably more than that, but as in many cases that cost is camouflaged into my monthly service fees.
In case anyone else was having this issue, I thought it would be OK to bump this thread from last November. Today I had to replace my ear buds (again), and like most ear buds except the very cheapest, these had the control button on the cable, and the third contact ring on the jack-end to accommodate it. But by sheer coincidence I got a very pleasant surprise when I opened the box: the manufacturer actually includes an elbow adapter that will work with these ear buds! You can plug the other end straight into your phone, or even into another elbow adapter if you want a full 180-degree change. For me this just makes the whole setup a LOT more comfortable.
It’s a small thing, but I’m a happy camper today.
If anybody wants to know more about these buds, feel free to drop me a PM. I don’t want to post it in the thread what with it being a bumped thread and all; might look spammish.
I was just going to add that my solution to the “cord getting caught on crap” problem is to simply run it under my shirt. It’s not perfect, but it helps a lot.
I’m one of those weirdos who like to tuck their shirts in, but even so this strategy does help when I happen to be wearing a pullover sweater over the shirt.
I did find a way of enabling 360 rotation, which was simply to flash a CyanogenMod ROM.
