Gifted Typist

The iPod bud and the refusnik ear: a strange tale

12 Responses to “The iPod bud and the refusnik ear: a strange tale”

1. A.A. Says:
   April 6th, 2007 at 4:16 am

   Don’t feel bad. I am a 21 year old university student (of the iPod generation!) and mine don’t stay in either. I like to use a $20 pair of wraparound (behind the neck style) headphones with mine. Great for walking or jogging, and better for your hearing… Although perhaps ironic that I have to buy them when you consider the cash we shell out on these iPods…

   Perhaps it’s only the two of us? I will be checking back to see if I, too, am missing the secret to getting your earbuds to stay in place…

2. Catherine Says:
   April 6th, 2007 at 6:10 am

   Yes! Thank you! I thought ‘I’ was the only one… the only weirdo who didn’t fit in the new world i-order. Yes, I too received my iPod from a ‘he’, which was an amazingly over generous nudge, in my opinion. So, now not only do I have the shuttle for which I did not ask, but I feel obligated to make the most of the damn thing. So, I download podcasts (Democracy Now is the best), upload songs, store photos, browse the iTunes store, rip my CDs, talk the iTalk and walk the iWalk. However the buggery of making changes to what is ‘on’ the iPod via making changes to what’s ‘on’ my computer, in the vernacular of the peasnatry, SUCKS the big one! Or, is that the gig one?

   On the ear bud matter, I’m using a very inexpensive over the ear variety that hangs in there step after step. Not to be focusing on the negative, I have the little pod stand and speakers, which means 6 inches of space on my desk equals a stereo. Okay, that’s good.

   Like your first responder, I’ll be watching for the ’secret’. I suspect it rhymes with trouble bum.

3. Catherine Says:
   April 6th, 2007 at 6:13 am

   Follow up to my last comment - I should have mentioned, all the time I’ve been spending fooling with the iPod, I used to spend on reading. I’m gradually working my way back, hoping no one will notice my escape, one spoonful of iDirt at a time.

4. elayne Says:
   April 6th, 2007 at 6:19 am

   Please don’t feel bad..I recieved an MP3 player for Christmas and I find the same problem. Also I bought earphones for it that just hook over your ear but I find the wrong move and I’m losing one or both of them also…lol..Good luck in finding one that works..I’ll check back to see if there’s a solution.

5. Arlene Says:
   April 6th, 2007 at 6:59 am

   I too have “little ears” and could not get the buds to stay in. Solution-Radio Shack/Source earbuds that go in like ear plugs but have three different sizes of silicone “buds” - $19.99. Smallest fits well and never seems to fall out.

6. jr Says:
   April 6th, 2007 at 7:03 am

   I assmue you’ve tried to replace the silicone fittings on the ipod earbuds?

   I don’t have an ipod, but my sony mp3 player came with 3 different sizes to “hopefully” fit all ears. My mother has an ipod and I’m pretty sure it came with the different size coverings. If they fall out, try the next size up.

   If you’ve tried this and still no luck, I don’t have anything to suggest besides picking up an separate set of headphones.

   Best of luck.

7. Kathleen Says:
   April 6th, 2007 at 7:25 am

   I’m in sync with jr here and what he/she says. I had to seperately purchase my headphones that I use for my mp3. The original ones of course kept falling out. This is a problem for many people I now who own music players like this. I shopped aroung and found a set that had the 3 different sizes and you simply find the size that works best for you. They were silicone as well which I find makes a huge difference in the fit. They go into the ear quite easily and take the shape of the ear so falling out is never a problem for me now. I now see lots of mp3’s that come with these headphones. Maybe the iPod should jump on this bandwagon now.

8. Trevor Says:
   April 6th, 2007 at 9:27 am

   The first thing I did when I bought one was replace those earbuds. They sound like crap. You spent $400 on a music player, they come with something that makes sound but really any reasonable person should invest in some quality headphones to go with that hi-fi device. I dropped a large amount of money on some bose triports and its like night and day.

9. tagbagger Says:
   April 8th, 2007 at 4:35 am

   The cheapest solution is Griffin Technology :: EarJams for iPod Earbuds - little in earpieces that attatch to the original earbits. The best choice (though too expensive perhaps) is a pair of properly fitting in ear phones - which offer better sound quality (alaways cause for an argument when listening to compressed files) and reduce outside noise, letting the volume level be lowered (important for those aging ears, what?)

10. gifted typist Says:
    April 8th, 2007 at 5:41 am

    Thanks for confirming that I am not alone and that the technology exists to correct this problem. Why am I not surprised that the original bud was designed to require an accessory.

11. Another odd ear'd human Says:
    April 9th, 2007 at 1:20 pm

    I as well have these odd shaped ears and had the same problem with the original buds that came with my video 2 yrs ago and amazingly in this time they have yet to adapt… go figure! Luckily I ran over mine with my car so was forced to buy a new pair and didn’t have to fight them anymore… alas I purchased the ones with the little silicone covers from Apple, to which I found out that I have freakishly small ear canals and even the smallest wouldn’t stay in! After blowing $$ on those I resorted to a cheap pair of JVC’s and they do the job since at that point I wasn’t concerned iwth quality as much as just hearing SOMETHING!!

    My best suggestion, dig out the ole glowing yellow Sony Sport walkman headphones and plug um in!!

12. An iPod in the eye at Gifted Typist Says:
    June 26th, 2007 at 4:20 pm

    […] the past I have slagged off the Pod people and the whole fixation with everything […]

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