It appears the wires inside for the right channel have either broken or become disconnected which causes the volume on the right channel to decrease. When I bend the wire a certain way, the audio comes back to full volume, but bending it another way causes the volume to decrease dramatically. Its a shame, as I am out of warranty by 3 months and I liked these headphones a lot before this. However, I feel they should have lasted longer than 15 months.

My Metro-fi 200 earphones just broke. The cable insulation just below the cable strain relief gromet (that ridged rubber thing found on most cable ends) began to crack and expose the inner conductors. The problem lies in the type of plastic used for both the cable insulation and flex relief gromet. Both are very stiff so instead of flexing as they should it cracks at the weakest point. This case is worsened in cold weather.

A good seal improves bass response and keeps the earphones secured in the canal. The material used for the included ear tips don't seal well in the ear and often came loose from the earbuds. I picked up a pair of sony ear tips, not the 6 pack, these are green on the inside. The seal is much better and they hold on very well to the earbuds.

i was wondering what would be the best earphones under 50 bucks. i would like good noise canceling too.