What you ask
Most weeks the same handful of questions arrive. Here they are with the answers we send back, including the ones where the answer is that we cannot help.
How do I tell which plug my device takes?
Look at the edge of the device rather than at the box it came in. A small round hole about the width of a pencil lead takes the round jack. A flat oval slot with rounded ends, the same one you charge through, takes USB-C. If the only opening is the charging one, you want the USB-C shelf, and the picker will confirm it in two questions.
Will a round plug work on my phone with an adapter?
Usually yes, and the adapter is doing real work rather than just changing the shape: it holds the same electronics that a USB-C pair keeps in its plug. It also adds a joint to the cable and one more small object to lose. If you plug in every day, the direct cable is the calmer answer.
My earbuds sound thin and quiet. Are they faulty?
Almost never. Thin, quiet and bass free is what a pair sounds like when the tip is not sealing, and the fix is a larger tip rather than a return. Try the next size up, push gently until the outside world drops away, and the bottom end comes back immediately. If nothing seals on one side, the ear canals are different sizes, which is common.
Which tip size should I start with?
Start with the medium ones already fitted, then go up rather than down if the seal is not there. Most people who think they need a smaller tip actually need a bigger one, because a tip that is too small slides in easily and seals nothing. A correct tip takes a moment of gentle pressure to seat.
What is the difference between silicone and memory foam tips?
Silicone holds its shape and seals by pressing outward, so it goes in fast and comes out fast. Memory foam is crushed first and then expands to fill the canal, which seals more completely and stays put longer. Foam is warmer, takes a few seconds to expand, and wears out faster.
Only one side is playing. What now?
Before anything else, try the same pair in a different device. A plug that is not seating fully behaves exactly like a dead channel, and sockets collect pocket lint until the plug stops short. If it works elsewhere, the socket needs cleaning. If it fails everywhere, start a return on the order page where you bought.
How long should a cable last?
Years, if it is never pulled by the cord. The cable is the part that fails on nearly every wired pair, and it fails at the two places where it is bent hardest: just behind the plug and just below the housing. Pull the plug itself when you unplug, and coil loosely rather than winding tight around a phone.
What do the buttons on the cable do?
The center button handles play, pause and answering a call, using the press counts your phone or laptop already understands. On the lines with a three button block, the outer two are volume. Nothing needs to be paired or set up, because the buttons talk down the same wire the sound comes up.
Can I use these for calls and meetings?
Yes, and one line is shaped specifically for it. A microphone on a cable sits closer to your mouth than the one in a laptop lid, and a tip that seals means you are not raising your voice to hear yourself. The person on the other end gets less of the room you happen to be sitting in.
Can I wash the ear tips?
The memory foam ones, yes, and washing them is the whole reason they last. Warm water, work them gently between your fingers, then let them dry all the way through before they go back on. Foam holds water in the middle long after the outside feels dry, so give it longer than seems necessary.
Where do I track my order?
On the order page where you bought, which is our retail partner rather than this site. There is no cart here and no account, so nothing about your order exists on our side at all. Their page holds the carrier, the tracking and the people who can chase a late parcel.
Something arrived broken. Who fixes it?
Start on the order page where the purchase happened. The partner runs the window, the label and the money, and they can act while we cannot. Write to the bench only if you cannot work out which button starts the process, and we will point you at the right screen.
What is your jack?
Two questions. The first is about the socket you plug into, because that rules more pairs in and out than anything else here. The second is about what you are actually doing while you wear them, because that is what each line was built around.