My ears are so last century

[susandennis]

I never have loved earbuds. To be fair, I wasn't that wild about holding a transistor radio up to my ear either.

Today was a perfect example of my issues. I use a waterproofed iPod Shuffle in the pool with a special waterproofed short cord set of earbuds.  Today, I was having trouble hearing the music. I could make out what it was, but it sure wasn't clear.  I pulled out and repositioned the earbuds a half dozen times.  Then, for no reason except desperation, I reversed them. I moved the one in the right ear to the left, and vice versa.  Problem solved!

I pent the rest of my swim pondering this.  I've been using these earbuds for nearly a year and never knew there was a right/left.  Why have left/right earbuds anyway??    My ears are the same. Where they live on my head is different but that shouldn't make any difference in the sound?

Then as I was ending my swim, the thing told me I was nearly out of battery. Kind of curious cause it usually lasts longer than this but what.ev.er.

I get home and with good light discover that there is no label on the earbuds. They do not say left or right.  I stuck them in my ears and switched them back and forth and could not tell one bit of difference.  And.. the battery was 75% full.

WTF???  It's a sad day when your player and earbuds fuck with you.

Comments

[linuxcub.livejournal.com]

Uhm, your ears are _not_ the same ... they're at best mirror images of each other

[susandennis]

ok, right BUTT... they hear the same, honest, they do.

[jwg.livejournal.com]

Left - right for correct stereo reproduction. It matters somewhat for some music for faithful reproduction- e.g. violins on the left...

[lookfar.livejournal.com]

Hey I just bought these things called Yurbuds, earbuds for women, and I'm so excited about them. I'm used to painfully jamming regular buds into my teeny ear canals and having them fall out. Yurbuds are shaped completely different - more like cones with openings at the point - and you screw them in a little, but then they stay put. I'm a convert!

[susandennis]

Ohhhh they look VERY interesting! It doesn't appear they are ok for swimming. BUT I might buy a pair anyway for non-swim listening. Thanks. I'd never heard of them.

[susandennis]

So... after I looked at them and couldn't find any swimming info, I tweeted them a question and, in 10 minutes, got an answer. The answer was no on swimming. But, while the answer sucked, their response was so quick and they look so intriguing, I'm going to have to get some.

What model did you get? They do have a few too many choices!

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

There are right and left ear buds that are mirror images of each other. I'd think it even more important for waterproof ones as you want to fit in well.

I get mine confused all the time...

[susandennis]

BUT they are exactly the same - looks wise so fit wise. Exactly. Plus, if they were really different wouldn't they be labeled? How am I supposed to know?: guess?? I'm still buffalo'd.