All of my headphones die with iPod - HEEELP

[sthslvrcnfsn]

DISCLAIMER: First of all, I do record. Second of all, I've been on the board for a long time. Third of all, I DO understand the new rules. I have an honest question about playback equipment - hey, it's good to listen back on various stuff.

So I bought my girl an iPod. She immediately ditched the earbuds and bought cheap $5 Maxell phones because our budget was tight after the iPod. Soon, one side was cutting out, and when both sides were in, there is the classic "swimmy", messed-up MP3 sound (which is ALSO associated with complete loss of bass - possibly 180 phase issues). She then bought a $15 pair of sony phones that also fell victim to this deadly avian gear disease.

Now she wants to borrow my nice Sennheiser phones ..... but I don't want those to come to the same end.

She has taken care of both pair of headphones and wraps the cable properly (I DO have some sway with her!). Considering the faulty-MP3 sound, I think that the iPod may have a problem, and stands in the way of me thinking that these are just crappy phones that don't last no matter what. The one-side-cutting-out-problem obviously points to the cable as the perpetrator. With this combination of issues, I'm totally miffed.

I have UTFSE and Googled and pondered and can't come up with any possible cause of these problems.

HELP SAVE MY SENNHEISER PHONES!

(please)
jim!

ps - welcome back!

[wedge]

Interesting. I have an older iPod -- a couple of years old -- and I experienced the same bloody thing. I even convinced the dude at the Apple store that my headphones had crapped out, and I got a new pair; however, eventually, they lost all bass response, too, and my iPod ended up sounding like a transistor radio. After a while, I convinced myself that my brain was at fault, and it was my perception that was faulty. Nothing else seemed to make sense. Could Apple actually make something that damaged headphones? Seemed absurd. Would the iPod be so bloody popular if it had a terminal fault like that? Nope. Had to be me, I surmised. I'm glad to hear, though, that maybe I hadn't lost my grape, and the dingus was at fault. That's all I can tell you, though. I have no solutions, except that I eventually stopped using the thing, and it sits on my dresser, collecting dust. I did have luck using proper recording headphones to get the bass back, but it seemed stupid somehow to resort to that type of headphone with an iPod. Like overkill. Hmmm. Maybe there's a solution out there somewhere?!?

[stinkpot]

Does the extra crappy sound quality persist if you plug it into a stereo system of some kind? If so, that would indicate to me that the jack or ipod itself is faulty. What about using it in a car with an FM transmitter (even more degraded I know, but still...), is it still crappy? That's what I would check out before chucking it or sending it in. I've had a couple for a few years now, and work just fine.

What about your mp3 conversion settings? Could they be a factor?

Just brainstorming a little.

Good luck.

[tubemonkey35]

Do the reboot ipod routine, via holding down the two butttons on startup.

[Electricide]

Hmmm...I got a pair of Shure e4c in-ear headphones. After three weeks the left side started cutting in and out. I sent them back and they sent me a new pair.

Bass response is light on those anyways, so it's hard to say. But I thought it was getting a little weak. But I don't see how you could cause headphones to lose bass response without frying the whole diaphragm, in which case you'd have no sound at all.

Maybe some sort of capictor in the pod is leaking. Or resisting. I dunno.

[Electricide]

This is helpful.

It's all about the impedance I guess.

[sthslvrcnfsn]

The problems DO persist when plugged into something different. Also, the lack of bass response I'm talking about isn't something minor. It sounds like total cancellation to me, and besides that, it is uncharacteristic of how the phones initially sounded. The compression rate/MP3 quality is across the board on the iPod. Most of them are good, though, lots of transfers from our vinyl and cd collections done at 320 kbps

Don't forget the "swimmy" sound - something I've only heard from the lowest grade MP3s - or maybe if an MP3 is fucking up.

thanks for the heeeeelp.

(are we allowed to cuss anymore?)
jim!

[Electricide]

Here is some more info.

Here's a suggestion. Take your Ipod down to an Apple store and plug in a pair of the headphones they have sitting around. then if it blows the phones, well, they did it to themselves! And then you can tell the guy right there.