Headphone problems

[Trimac20]

I know this isn't the place to post this topic, but I saw another post on headphones and well, I'm sure you are an understanding bunch. Anyway, I have a pair of Sony 'Walkman' earbuds: the one with the volume control and wind-up case (I don't know the model name, will have to check). Anyway, just today I noticed that sound was only coming out of one bud (the right), with no sound at all out of the left side. The funny thing is, I don't remember if it was like that before. I don't think so, since lately I noticed the sound was a bit soft and then 'discovered' sound was only coming out of one ear (how slow am I?). I tried it on my ipaq, CD player.etc with the same results. Does anyone have ANY idea what the problem could be? Is there anyway (I doubt) to fix it? I assume its probably not worth it and will bring it back to the store tommorow. Anyway, help appreciated.

[Kati Compton]

When I've had this happen, it's because I've had the earbuds in my bag, and the cord between earbuds got a bit crushed. Which earbud works, the one closer to the listening device, or the one at the end of the cord?

[Pixelnose]

Ugh, do yourself a favor and pick up a pair of Sennheiser mx500 earbuds. :p

[arnage2]

get 1 of these: there only $30 and u wont regret it.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=4YnCoj_ti27CIH9_iOLIqXD9tdWDxlWpwM0=?CategoryName=pa_Headphones_CDSeriesStudioMonitor&ProductSKU=MDRV250V&Dept=pa

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=4YnCoj_ti27CIH9_iOLIqXD9tdWDxlWpwM0=?CategoryName=pa_Headphones_wear&ProductSKU=MDRQ55SL%2fBLUE&Dept=pa

[Anthony Caruana]

Ugh, do yourself a favor and pick up a pair of Sennheiser mx500 earbuds. :p

I've got to agree - I've got a pair of the MX500's and they are excellent. I use them with Pocket Player's equalizer set to Rock (love my guitars and drums!) and they quality is great, expcialy when you consider the price.

My only gripe is that, as they are buds, they don't block enough of the ambient noise around me.

Maybe Santa or Father's Day will see me score a pair of noise cancelling headphones.

[jake080]

heh, i personally just have like 3 sets of under $15 sonys and they get me by... its not like i have a DDS 5.1 stereo in my room, crappy 2.0 computer speakers, a 4.0 DD in the living room, and a kickin' car stereo system... not DDS 5.1, but still regular car system, WITH a 500w air-cooled German amp and 700w dual 12in sub! cough cough, yes, im like this cool black rappin' dude in local 30mph streetz, but yo, i aint really, i just like tha low-frecuency vibrational sounds and feelings... yo...?
yeah, sorry, got a little carried away there ;)

~Jake

[Janak Parekh]

Trimac20 - how old are these? The connector might be wearing out.

Ugh, do yourself a favor and pick up a pair of Sennheiser mx500 earbuds. :p
Believe it or not, I have a pair of MX500s, and a pair of Sonys (non-in-ear earbuds) that outperforms them. 8O Sadly, the Sony pair I have doesn't have any model # on them, and they're not sold by Sony anymore, so I don't know what I'll do when they break.

In particular: the MX500 are indeed an excellent set of headphones, except they have slightly higher resistance than my Sony earbuds, so the volume is a little lower. Not generally a big issue, except with the HTC Pocket PC Phone, because it doesn't have a very strong amplifier.

A bigger issue with my MX500s is that, with loud volume (say, with a good amplifier, such as iPAQs), it begins to distort bass more quickly than my Sonys. This is only an issue when I'm on mass transit and want the volume relatively loud. So, what I've done is to keep my MX500s as the earbuds for my home computer, where they do the job very well. :)

--janak

[Trimac20]

I just went and got them replaced and the new buds are working fine, although unfortunately minus a case as I lost the old case and they needed a case, so yeah. The past two pairs of headphones I've had (which came with a CD Player and cheap MP3 player) broke within a couple of months: I can really tell the different with the Sonys, decent buds. Still waiting to get the iriver hp120-the ultimate MP3 jukebox (atm at least): forget the ipod, I was almost sucked in by Apple :?

[tanalasta]

Anyway, just today I noticed that sound was only coming out of one bud (the right), with no sound at all out of the left side. The funny thing is, I don't remember if it was like that before.

I think you'll definitely remember if sound wasn't coming out of one side earlier :P It's an instantly noticed difference. Unfortunately, this is a recurring problem with earbuds. I suspect it's due to both flimsy wiring and build quality. I've had a pair of sony 888SL's and EX71SL's do exactly the same thing within 1-2 years of purchase. These are top-of-the-line sony earbuds (though nowhere as expensive as ety's :P)

Sony headphones have a 1 year warranty - i took my EX71SL's to a sony service centre last week and got a spanking new package 4 days later. It's not a problem that can be easily fixed, hence why the sony techy's didn't even bother!