Earphone/iPod Connection Problem

[rcwoll]

I seem to have this problem with all my portable CD players and now with my iPod. i wonder if anyone knows why and how to fix it.

After a relatively short time the connection becomes "dodgy." By dodgy I mean that I lose sound in one or both earphones unless I twist the connection. Then it will come back to stereo (hopefully). The connection seems to go in-and-out with motion/bouncing.

I change headphones, the new ones work for a while (but usually less time than at first) and again it goes bad.

I use portables almost exclusively at the gym, while running (keeping them in a cup holder -- not attatched to me) so they don't get bounced too much but they do get exposed to some sweat.

Could this be a dried sweat issue? Or is it trauma/bouncing? Are their any ways to avoid it or any headphones that work better.

[gvenditto]

What happens is the wire inside the cord is coming loose where the metal contact is connected. It happens with most headphones, eventually. You may be making it worse if you're bending the wire near the plug. You always want the wire to be loose right there so you're not putting unnecessary stress on the wire.

I did have a problem with an Intel MP3 player where the socket on the player went bad -- I could tell it was the socket because the problems occurred with more than one headphone and the headphones worked OK with other equipment.

Better quality headphones should last longer but you will still need to try and avoid stressing the plug to preserve any headphone's life.