Most annoying thing ever, Headphone shorts.
 

You know, i've probably gone through a dozen headphones in the last 20 years, maybe more.

but now, my 100$+ babies are starting to do this and I don't want to have to buy a new pair.

now, I may just be inexperienced in the ways of the world and what services businesses have to offer, but is there anyway to fix the short that plagues these headphones? regardless of manufactuer, it's always the same, right there at the flexible part of the plug, you can tweak with it and you'll hear the static, lose sound in one or both of the headphones.

who do I go to, to fix this?

i've shaved off all the rubber on the end part on cheaper phones and tried resodering the tips on... but you got to be careful and soder it correctly or it will just get worse.... it would be imagineable that somewhere sells new ends, like how they sell new plugs for electrical appliances....

You can buy replacement tips at radio shack, in the parts drawers for $3-4ish

Make sure the plug is clean...and what it plugs into.

the only why to keep from that from happening is by taking care of youre head phone ie not rolling them up so if you figure out a way to do that you'll be fine

I agree with monkeysugar; If you are so inclined, go to Radio Shack and buy a headphone jack, or find an old or cheap set of headphones and snip the connector off. Cut the existing connector and an inch or two of the cable. Use some heat shrink tubing to insulate each conductor and then splice the wires from your new connector into the newly exposed wires of your headphones. Any friend or acquaintance with some electronics experience should have no problems with this.

Wow my really expensive Altec Lansing headphones have did this since the day I bought them. I never knew it was a widespread problem. I do roll my headphones up a lot so I imagine that it has caused the static and loss of power to the left or right side. How is this such a widespread problem? It seems like manufacturers would have noticed it and fixed it by now.

Except mine do it at the volume control, not at the actual plug. I guess I'm fucked if it's doing it in the actual volume controller.

Lasereth, if it's beyond the warrantee just crack open the volume control module and it's most likely just a short. Resolder or whatever and it should work just fine.

Lasereth

Volume controls should have a lubricated surface.
If the control had the problem when new, I'd use a "control spray"
on the volume control. You can buy it at electronics parts stores (Radio Shack)
and many hardware stores. Perhaps for about the same price a TV repairman will spray it for you and do it right.

Good luck.

so yeah, I just picked these things back up and rediscovered this issue. it's gotten to the point that they're unusable. any ideas? Is there just a store or something I could probably take them to to have them serviced?

I used to have a pair that my cats had nibble a little bit right below where they attached to the ear, that exposing enough wire that they would occasionally shock the shit out of my cheek. Good times.

You can get a soldering iron and a new plug for a few bucks at Radio Shack. If you really don't want to do it yourself, take them to a local music store and ask if they can put a new end on for you.

Soldering connectors really isn't as intimidating as it seems. Even if you botch it, all you've lost is an inch or so of cable and a little solder.

I bought another set of Altec Lansings maybe 2 years ago? or so and now they're doing the exact same shit AGAIN. This is the THIRD headphone set I've had do this. Or maybe it's the fourth? Gonna try to resolder it at a friend's house. Fuck this shit.

Damn man, as much as you're spending on these things you should just get a set of the high end stuff and an extension cable and be done with it. I've had my sennheisers for almost 5 years now and they still work fine.

I bought some new headphones recently and decided to take a few preemptive measures to prevent shorts. First taped the wires on each end of the volume controller together so that when tugged it would pull on the wire itself and not on any soldered connections. Then, Where the cord enters the headset I made a loose loop and superglued about 8 inches of the cord to the headset so any jerks would tear away from the superglue but not pull on the soldered part inside the headphones. I haven't had the headset long enough to really tell if it's going to prevent damage but I think it'll help.

On the better Sennheiser headphones all parts are replaceable. After maybe eight years my HD475 is still fine.

In the 1970s I bought the Koss Pro 4A headphone.
It was supposed to be about the best you could get and it had the cord problem from the beginning. I got it mail order and never followed up but I sure was annoyed!

See that's what I'm afraid of. If $80 sets have this problem consistently then what happens if you buy a $150 or $300 set and it still happens??

Ultimate ears has replaceable cords. a new cord is like $20 or so.
plus I bought a set used on ebay and after a year one of the ear pieces died and ultimate ears replaced them completely for free. these are around $200 ear-buds with woofer and tweeter drivers too. I did tell them I got them used on ebay and even showed them the paypal receipt that I paid about $80 used.

anyway I'm very happy with them.
as people have mentioned you can repair the end on your own if you want. I have also cracked open the earpiece on a Shure ear-bud and re soldered the wires. I've seen people offer custom made headphone cords on ebay too. they look pretty cool.

There are two types of people who replace their own connectors: people who use Neutrik and suckers who haven't figured it out yet. Yes, it costs twice as much, but at most it's 6 or 7 dollars and the strain relief will make it last much, much longer than any other brand I've used.

The re-solder didn't work. I ended up buying a new pair with a 2-year protection plan. :(

Sennheiser's have replaceable everything, both high and low end cables are readily available. I'm using an aftermarket cable on my Senn 650s; I wanted to be able to dim the light without ripping em off my head.

I've always used wireless headphones for gaming (damn dog and cords). I'm a vinyl bigot that never cared much for the sound of CDs through a headphone , though I just bought a vacuum tube powered headphone amp that is rapidly changing my mind.