[pikelet]

Heh, I'm sure my choice of headphones will be crude to you guys, but I am really stumped here. My headphones of choice are the Sennheiser PMX60s. They're lightweight, comfortable, sound decent to me and are open so I can hear ambient noise. However, I am on my third pair in two years. I'm not sure if they'll replace this last pair that broke, as they themselves were a warranty replacement at the beginning of this year.

In every pair of these I have owned, the sound has gone in the left ear. The problem is in the connector, as for a few days I can get them to work by holding it a certain way or putting pressure on it, then they go. I don't actually treat my headphones badly. I do use them every day with my iPod, but I make sure I am careful, don't get the cable caught on anything, and don't just yank them out of the iPod. Yet every time, this happens. The first pair lasted a year, the next three months, and these...maybe seven or eight months? It's hard to remember.

So, now I'm going to try and get these replaced once more, and start looking for a replacement. I don't really like either spending $70 (New Zealand dollars, btw) every few months or waiting for a couple of weeks to get them replaced. Is it me, or is it the headphones? Any recommendations for either a new pair of headphones that are known for having a robust cable (not expensive, I'm a poor student, so around this price or a bit more

), or solutions to prevent this happening to me and let me keep using the PMX60? My most important qualities are that they are lightweight, comfortable and preferably behind the neck design (I'm a girl; I change my hair a lot, and I wear glasses, so these work best for me).

 

[1Time]

It could be you or the headphones or both. Just buy different headphones. I suggest the iGrado, which is a behind the neck style.

 

[krmathis]

Yeah, sounds like you are...
Or perhaps its a weakness with the PMX60, and hence it might be worth trying a different 'phone?

Welcome to Head-Fi!

 

[scytheavatar]

You might want to consider the KSC75, I don't know how good the built quality of the PMX60 is but my KSC75 is going strong despite the abuse I subject them. And their sound will blow you away.

 

[pikelet]

Hey guys, thanks for the tips. I had a think and am pretty sure it's the Sennheisers - at the moment, I'm using an old pair of Sony headphones that I had before and used every day for three years. Same design - behind the neck, single cable, same kind of connector. They still work perfectly fine and they cost half of what the Sennheisers did. Before that, I had a Phillips set of the same design, which lasted around a year for me and my brother had used them for two years before - so this sudden spate of breaking seems to be a problem with those Sennheisers.

The iGrados are actually a decent price, normally NZ has huge markups on headphones and you usually can't order them from overseas, but the iGrados are only $109. They also seem to have seperate cables for each earpiece, which could mean less breaking or at least easier to repair? I got my brother to try and repair the first pair of Sennheisers, no go - and he repairs his headphones all the time. He's an audio geek, so I'll make sure to ask him as well, though he was useless before. His idea of good headphones means 'spend $400+ and get huge earmuff things.' Good for some people but not for me; I'm not a big girl, I have a small head and those kind of phones are too heavy.

My other option was to skip cables altogether and grab the Logitech FreePulse Bluetooth headphones, which are $110, but I don't like the idea of charging them, I'd never remember. Also a bit worried about sound quality there (c'mon, Logitech? I know their speakers suck, I owned them for a whole hour before returning them in disgust), and about the reviews stating interference with other Bluetooth devices.

Just had a look at the KSC75 - I can't actually find a local dealer selling them. There's one NZ website selling them for $16 so I was all ready to buy them and try them out (at that price, there's nothing to lose!) but it turned out to be a link to Amazon US, who don't ship electronics here and it wouldn't be practical even if they did

 

[1Time]

I think the clip design of the KSC75 might be a pain with long hair. I found its clip design somewhat inconvenient and my hair is short. But if wanting to save some $, that would be the way to go.

 

[pikelet]

My problem with clip-ons is that they never seem secure. I tried out my boyfriend's Sennheiser (oh wow, am I seeing a pattern here) clip on earbud-style headphones (cannot remember the model, but they are neon green!) and they will not stay on. Either that, or they clip on too hard and pinch my ears. My ears are small. I am only five feet tall so I am small all over

 

[1Time]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pikelet /img/forum/go_quote.gif My ears are small. I am only five feet tall so I am small all over

I think you're just being modest, because when I read this it sounded to me like you said "I'm only five feet tall and cute all over".

 

[pikelet]

Happy ending! I went to fix a computer at my cousin's hi-fi store. He had the iGrados in stock, let me try a pair and gave them to me as payment for cleaning up the computer

I love them and would have had no idea to ask for them without you guys.

 

[1Time]

Congrats on your iGrados. Enjoy!