One one ear bud works on my in ear headphones

When you pull the wire up does it increase the right ear bud volume/ sound? If it does, then it means the right side ear bud has a short within the head phones circuit which is aka the wire that leads to the musical device in which the ear buds branch off from.

If the right side ear bud does not produce an increased volume for sound by picking the wire up or pulling it in towards you or to the left side of your body or musical device then it means that the right speaker is blown.

I know that all head phones come spiced together aka they are stuck together and have to be pulled apart in order to get both head phones seperated from each other so that they can be worn in the ears. If you pulled the wire apart to much or too quickly then that is what ruined the right head phone.


I suggest that regardless if the ear phones begin to work by pulling the wire up,side ways, or into towards your body that you return them back to the store since after awhile the problem will eventually continue to happen causing the right ear bud to completely blow. Once you return the ear phones be cautious with the new set when you seperate the ear buds from each other since they are very touchy and have to be handled with delicateness when seperation is taking place.

Please let me know how it works out for you. I have had many ear buds and I tell ya something; they are very easy to blow one side when seperating. I had to learn after a few pairs that I was ruining the speakers by the way I was seperating my wires. I kept thinking for the first 3 pairs that the store was selling blown ear buds until I began having same problems with another few stores so I said to myself "well the solution is to figure out what I am doing wrong in order to blow one side of my ear buds every time". After few seconds it was not that obvious that all I had to do for assembly was to pull the wires apart in order to get both ear buds to go into my ears.

Hi mharrington9,

You may want to post the make and model of your mp3 player. Someone may have solved the same problem with the same player, and would then be able to give you a more specific answer than this one;

I assume you have replaced or re-charged the battery first, and that full power to your player did not help. If so, it is likely to be a problem with the headphones, the headphone receptacle, or the amplifier inside the mp3 player;

1) Headphone problem?
Get a different set of ear-bud headphones, and try them out. If the alternative set works but your headphones do not work, it's the headphones.

1a) Large headphones, small player?
If your headphones are large, but the power of your MP3 player is small, the player may not have enough power to drive the headphone speakers. If you run your MP3 player through an additional amplifier, you may then have enough power to get sound out of your headphones.

1b) Broken wire in ear bud jack?
Most of my broken ear-bud sets have failed because one or more of the wires has broken, usually at the plug-end. There are 3 thin wires; If you break the left-channel or right-channel wire, only one earbud goes out. If you break the ground wire, both earbuds stop working, or you may hear a very faint sound at full volume. If you like to solder things, it is possible to get a new plug, cut off the old one, and solder in a new one. But it may be easier to get a new set of earbuds.

2) Broken Receptacle?

Plug your ear-buds into a different, working MP3 player. If the ear-buds work, then
Plug your MP3 into a computer through the data cable, and try to play something through the computer.
If the MP3 works through the data cable, something is wrong with the receptacle for your ear-bud plug.
You may be able to get your MP3 player replaced under warranty, since the purchase was recent. Or, if no warranty and you feel adventurous, take the back off and try to re-solder or replace the receptacle-- Though this usually ends in irreparable damage to the MP3 player :-\

3) Broken MP3 player?
If you can't get any music to play through the data cable or the computer, something is seriously wrong with the guts of the MP3 player. Try for a warranty replacement if you can.

Best of luck, mharrington9

Probably can't. What typically happens is that the base of the wire gets stressed from wrapping the cord around you media player and it eventually breaks the copper wire inside of the insulation. You likely can not even see the damage, let alone repair it. Be more carefull with the next set, and might I recommend a set of AKG ear buds. I use AKG studio headphones and bought my little sister some AKG ear buds, very impressive quality very close to my studio headphones. AKG K 313

Most likely they are defective, and you should take them back if
you have the receipt, or warranty.

take the wire off and solder the broken part.

yes a coil can burn out in secounds i think you have better have the unit looked at by an technition

could be caused by the way you wrap them up the cords should never be wound tightly it causes a short and it just so happens that earphones are made of light weight wiring to make them seem to disapear when wearing them so what to do is instead of winding them when your done simply fold them loosely so to speak

i have this problem too, except it's the left side that doesn't work. i think that's because the copper wire inside broke or is severed partly. there is no way to fix it... just go buy a new one and this time try to kot coil the cords around hour mp3or ipod.

This is usually caused by a short in the wire. The most cost-effective solution is to buy a new pair. "Shure" makes very nice ear bud headphones.

ur headphones are messed up