Why does the left earbud always die?

[Spork829]

I've had this happen so many times with lower end earbuds. Why is it that the left one always dies first, seemingly for no reason? Furthermore, is it something I can fix?

[Festive]

Put the left in your right ear.

[BingoFishy]

Depends on how it breaks

[minibois]

Because they can never seem to get it right.

/s

 

It's probably because of pure chance. Or they put some more technology in one compared to the other.

[Spork829]

Just now, Minibois said:

Because they can never seem to get it right.

/s

 

It's probably because of pure chance. Or they put some more technology in one compared to the other.

Oh it's not pure chance, this pair is the 11th in a row for me. And almost all 11 have been from different brands.

[FloRolf]

That has electrical reasons. Because of the way the drivers are designed, the electrons run through the right ear first.

When the electrons come into the left earcup, they are already used and kinda dirty so to speak.

That makes the left ear "clog up" and then die earlier.

 

 

This was all complete Bullshit and makes no sense

[zMeul]

because one left and the other one is always right 

[AdmiralMeowmix]

The wiring favors the right ear over the left since typically the right ear picks up more sound than the left so it prioritizes it with the wiring.

[Pomfinator]

When you take off one earbud to listen to someone talk or something like that, which one do you always take out and leave dangling?

 

Fixing cheap earbuds like that is more hassle than it's worth, that is why it is highly recommended to buy IEMs/earbuds these days that have a removeable cable. 

[Spork829]

28 minutes ago, Pomfinator said:

When you take off one earbud to listen to someone talk or something like that, which one do you always take out and leave dangling?

 

Fixing cheap earbuds like that is more hassle than it's worth, that is why it is highly recommended to buy IEMs/earbuds these days that have a removeable cable. 

It depends on where the person is, i.e. I'll take out the left if they're on my left. And yeah once these current ones completely die I'll probably invest in some nicer IEMs. 

[SilicateWielder]

I would have to assume its due to wearing habits or the wire closest to the surface of the plug snapping internally due to excessive strain.

 

I would suggest looking into modding on some strain relief next time you buy a pair of earbuds.

 

Or modify some headphones with a new cable if you have skill with a soldering iron. you can even braid the wire if you don't want to sleeve it. The reason I say to make your own is because often companies will use cheap thin wire that is prone to breakage as a means of inducing planned obsolescence, if you use thicker wire you end up with a much more durable cable on your headphones, thus making your headphones capable of lasting a very long time if you take care of them and don't throw them around like some people do.

[Moist_Sock]

Left side is typically where the inline mic or playback controls are, and they are always a massive weak-spot. I go out of my way to purposely buy IEMs that don't have controls or microphone purely because of that.

 

You can repair them easily with a soldering iron though. Last time I repaired one I bought some cheap IEM that had good braided cables. Worked really well and they lasted for a fair while.

[Ahoy Hoy]

I snapped the end off my left Shure SE425s. But that just happened because i smeshed into something while they were in my pocket