Tuesday, May 8th. A day like any other. But when I put on my headphones, only my right ear was satisfied. Overnight, the left speaker had died. RIP, my sonic friend.
These particular headphones are the kind that wrap around your neck. I've worn these black-corded headphones for a while, spiting the white earbuds that came with the iPod because those earbuds hurt my ears. I know that the wrap around your neck style hurt some people's ears, depending on the size of your head, but I've never had any problems.
I wish I could wear earbuds because that way I could wear glasses at the same time, as the wrap around your neck interfere with glasses wearing. And as for those big monstrosity headphones that go across the top of your head with the big earcups, those seem like overkill. Plus, they mess up your hair.
But with my wrap around headphones out of commission, I needed a quick fix. A-ha! Along with the new hp-laptop came a pair of glossy black earbuds. Perhaps they wouldn't hurt my ears like the Ipod buds. So I tried them on.
And they weren't bad, but the left ear was a little irritated. That wouldn't do so well for hours a time. But wait...what's that in the bag? Little black foam covers? Could they really make a difference?
The bigger question is could I get them on the earbuds at all? My fingers struggled and struggled and yet I felt like I was going to tear them before I got them on there. So naturally I asked my wife for assistance. And she tried for about 10 seconds before declaring it impossible. So I sat and stared at the foam covers. Would it even matter? But I wouldn't give up that easily. I sat there, pulling the tiny foam apart and managed to slip it on.
And sure enough, it didn't hurt at all. Great Scott! I put the other one on, and I exclaimed that I had found a new set of headphones. I wouldn't need to buy new ones. I could wear my glasses. And they even have a volume control built into the cord. How convenient!
The only hard part was that I couldn't tell them apart, which was left and which was right, without looking at them up close. It might not seem like much, because usually songs are playing the same thing through both channels, but when they're not, I want to know that I'm getting the intended effect.
So I strutted off to work on Wednesday, May 9th, proud of my new buds, my new sonic friends. And at work I was listening to some music when all of a sudden...plop. My left earbud fell out. No problem, right? I'll just put it back in, right?
The foam cover was gone. I checked on my lap, on the floor, and I didn't see it. I put it back in my ear without it, and it felt wrong. I definitely had it in my ear just moments ago, it didn't feel like this. So where did it go?
I proceeded to spend about 15 minutes under my desk, off and on. Giving up, then saying it must be here, only to never find it. It had vanished. Just hours into it's new role of starting headphones.
Ultimately, I stared at my new earbuds, with one foam cover between the two of them, and I had would could only be described as an epiphany. My left ear was the one that hurt. So if I put the cover on the left, then everything would be fine. Plus, I could tell them apart without having to analyze them.
And everthing is perfect...for now.
Update: Actually pretty soon after I finished this post, both ears started hurting. Why do they make the buds so wide?
Buds are such a tricky thing...they have to be big enough not to fall out at the slightest movement, but small enough not to start hurting your ears after a short while. I found I couldn't wear the iPod buds with the foam on them...they were too big. Without the cover they were perfect.
ReplyDeleteThe truly perfect solution?
In-ear headphones.
They're better quality, they block out noise, they don't hurt. Of course their downside is they cost quite a bit.