Far End Gear Short Buds 15" Cord Single in-Ear Stereo-to-Mono Earbud for Clip-on Music Players

I'm a long-time 1-ear listener. And I use a clip player that sits up around collar level. Am so happy to find a short cord 1-bud ear set that doesn't leave 3 feet of snarl and 1 stray earpiece dangling down my shirt, in my soup, in the dishwater, and getting caught on 5 random things a day. Sound quality is decent. Fabric cord doesn't snarl when you pop it in your pocket or purse (maybe it's just the length that prevents this, but it's GREAT!). Have been using for 3 weeks so can't speak to its years of longevity. But all my other buds have died horrible deaths within 3 month or so due to yanking, submerging, and other random dangling/dipping/snarling trauma, so the it's doing the trick for me, even if it doesn't last long enough to become a family heirloom!

These are quite unreliable. more so than the previous model.I like to listen to music while i ride my motorcycle, and having GPS directions in my ear is often handy, occasionally a necessity, however having both ear plugged up with headphones is obviously dangerous. So i sought out a stereo to mono single earbud.This was what i landed on because, oddly enough, there arent many options out there and this one looked like it would do the job.The first one, within 2 weeks of purchase, dropped the right channel completely, leaving several songs sounding strange or without vocals. tried my trusty bose headphones... no problem. contacted support and t hey very quickly sent me out another one.that was november 19th, it is now december 10th, and that replacement just stopped working altogether while going down the road.I have sent them another email. I will not be purchasing from this company again.UPDATE:After contacting the manufacturer several times for repeated warranty replacements, I have received the NEW update to this model, and so far so good.They requested, and provided a label, for me to return my several defective ones. they then contacted me to tell me why these kept failing and that they were working on a new model.They sent me another of t he previous model to get me by, and once the new model came out, they sent me a replacement from THAT design as well.So far, the new design is holding up well.

The design is perfect for listening to audiobooks with my tiny Sansa Clip+ mp3 player in a shirt pocket or clipped to my collar. The sound quality is not good enough for music.I liked the previous version, with the right-angle plug. It lasted 14 months.The current version has a 45-degree plug. My first of these lasted 4 months; my second lasted only two weeks.I'm done with this brand.

I was looking for something to use as I fall asleep at night listening to podcasts, and a short cord helps to eliminate excess cords. I tuck my Iphone into my bra as I sleep, so the cord only needs to be less than a foot long. The Far End Gear Short Bud Short Cord worked great at first, but it broke quickly (within a couple of months the sound started to go in and out). To Far End Gear's credit, they replaced it free of charge as soon as I contacted them. But then the replacement began to have the same intermittent sound. I love the product, but I need something that I know will work day after day. If I knew the product quality was reliable, I'd buy again in a heartbeat.

I listen to podcast on my daily walk to and from work. I like to have one ear open for situational awareness -- especially traffic (Brooklyn drivers are nuts).I use a bluetooth unit clipped to my shirt pocket, and plug this Short Bud into it. I'mm 6'6", and the cord still leaves enough slack to turn my head left or right as far as I can (when crossing the street, for example), without tugging on my pocket or my ear. It's perfect.And the sound quality! I've always used cheap buds for podcasts (it's only voice, right?) but there's more clarity to the voices now, and when listening at 1.5x or 2.0x, as i tend to do, I find it a few percentage points easier to hear and understand what's being said than with the sub-$20 stereo earbuds I've burned through over the last six years.The only question now is if they'll last me a full year of use, or less (or more!?). (They're wound up and tossed in a bag or pocket several times a day.) Remind me to update this review sometime in 2014!So far tho, I am very glad I spent the less-than-$20 I did on this single bud instead of another pair of stereo buds. They both serve my specific usage needs better ~and~ sound better. Wish I'd tried them a few years ago!++++++EDIT, 9 months later:They're dead. The wire, where it meets the rubbery bendy bit that leads to the jack, tended to get contorted at nasty angles, even though it had enough length to reach from the bluetooth receiver clipped onto my chest pocket to my ear. Instead of shooting out straight from the rubbery jack bit, it would end up turned in the opposite direction, like a knee bent the wrong way, just through the result of normal walking-down-the-street-to-work-each-day body movement (head turns when crossing the street, shirt/coat movement, etc.)They began to cut out or transmit sound at lower volumes about two weeks before dying completely. I kept intending to wrap a tiny piece of electrical tape around the wire where it meets the rubbery jack bit, or add a dollop of liquid rubber, but never did. I'm pleased they made it through nine months of daily use, though a full year woulda been a nice even number to survive til... at any rate, I have two more pairs now (they're not always available, and hard to find, so if you like yours, stock up.)