Mind the Cord Please: Headphone Care

Ok so you sat in your comfort chair, with the laptop in your lap; turned on your favourite playlist and put on your headphones. The mood was just getting groovy, when suddenly one side of the earphone doesn’t work: “Duh what crap”. Few feelings in this world are worse than getting your musical mood ruined due to impaired headphones. And while you may vent out your anger and frustration on the poor broken pair for spoiling your mood, truth is most probably, you yourself are responsible for it .
You probably belong to the careless majority who often weirdly enough sleeps with headphones on, cruelly jerks them out from the socket, throws them onto the table to rot until next time, and what not, treating the gadget like extra tough for no clear reason.
There is nothing wrong with one breaking every two three years; that is how much life they generally have. But if your headphones are breaking every three months, you are treating your pair badly.
Earphones or headphones, truth is they are delicate and deserve gentle handling and some care for optimal and longtime performance. Follow the under given simple routine, and you won’t again be cursing your pair of headsets. Enjoy music uninterrupted.
Store in a case when not in use: While most headsets come with one; still buy one if yours didn’t. It is important to protect the headset from debris. A roomy pouch or sack that will prevent the cord from getting crimped, caught or tangled is ideal. Strictly avoid stuffing them into your pants’ pocket, a quite common malpractice, which severely damages the cord due to excessive rubbing and pulling.
Avoid poor storage methods: A most common way to put off the earphones is to wrap it around the device it is plugged to (many do it with utmost care). Don’t do that, as it it stretches the cord, especially when wrapped tightly, leading to the weakening and eventually breakage of the inner wire overtime. Always carefully unplug it from your listening device when you’re done. While unplugging, grasp the plug rather than pull on the cord.
Use with caution: The biggest problem is not with the storage, but with the usage. So engrossed we become enjoying the tunes, that we totally forget about the device delivering all that aural ecstasy. We’ve all been there when we suddenly get up and the headphone cable is snapped off our head; the headset crashing to the floor, or accidentally roll over the headphone cable with the wheeled office chair. Also, smashing them right away on a surface instead of putting gently leads to the tearing of the delicate membrane which delivers the toned sound. That shrill are distortions you might be complaining about in your headset is a fruit of the very smashing. Avoid it.
Replace foam covers: Some earphones have foam that covers the ear-bud inserting into your ear canal. This material can break down over time and is to be changed once or twice a year. And no it is not at all expensive to replace. Also make sure to clean the covers after every use, to avoid ear wax deposition which it catches every time it goes into the ear. Even better to keep your ears clean as well. Your hearing will be better too (Nah I wasn’t referring to you by that).
Exposure to water or moisture of any kind could damage the internal wiring and consequently the functioning of the earphones. Earphones are all about wires and a piece of magnet. For cleaning, use a moist absorbent paper or a soft cloth with a dab of rubbing alcohol which should clean it well enough. Make sure to keep it only unto cord and not reach the diaphragm (speaker unit).
No full volumes: A constant buzzing noise all the time while listening could mean there is a problem with the earphone (occasional muzz means the played content is the problem. Using frequent high sound levels leads to loosening of components, eventually causing a buzz and a reduction in audio quality. Cranking up the bass too high is the biggest culprit.
If your earphones have stopped working, try cleaning them before you give up on them and move on to another pair. Also check the warranty information to see if you are eligible for a replacement.