I've had three of these, and all three failed in the same way: the sound dropped out intermittently in one ear, sometimes fixable by careful pressure on the miniplug--clearly a connection in the plug went bad.

The first failed after about a year, the second and third after just a couple months. The first was an older model with a 90-degree miniplug. The second and third (one "plug", one "sparkplug") both had a simple straight-in miniplug.

The idea is otherwise good: the earplug-like cushions provide sound insulation almost as good as over-the-ear headphones, in a small pocket-friendly format (and without the need for the batteries required by sound-cancelling headphones). Some might find them uncomfortable or awkward, but for the rest of us, especially for anyone with a regular commute on noisy public transportation, they're just right.

Unfortunately, the only way I can see to make them dependable is by always keeping two on hand, and being willing to replace one several times a year. If they could just fix the weakness in the plug I'd be happy.

I've been using these buds for around a year now and have really enjoyed them. They greatly reduce ambient noise and decrease conversational noise immensely. I especially recommend these buds to those travelling in carpools or public transportation!

I bought these after hearing they worked for people whose helmets didn't have speaker pockets.
I'm glad it worked for them, but "The Plug" sticks too far out of my ear - they get hung up when putting my helmet on, and pull out painfully when taking my helmet off. But, then again, we're talking about a XXXL helmet (yes, 3 X's) so your mileage may vary.

Maybe I got the earlier version mentioned in some of these reviews (off ebay, package looked like the picture here) but I found them very disappointing, tinny horrible sound compared to other earphones I have used especially Koss PortaPro which is GREAT. This one has no bass, and extremely uncomfortable and poorly fitting -- the soft foam earpiece has something hard in the middle, doesn't keep shape or stay in. I'm glad it was only a few dollars otherwise I would have felt ripped off and tried to return them.... I guess you do get what you pay for in earphones....

I have never written a review in my life. this is the first time I have been so satisfied with a product that I felt compelled to write a review. I bought these for cutting the grass and running because i did not want to ruin my Bose ear buds. It turns out the Koss set sounds much better and fits better as well. The only reason I gave them 4 Stars was due to the quality of the cable and the tendency to tangle.Other than that I would go out and buy 10 pairs of the Koss before buying the Bose.