NYSportz

I live in downtown Chicago and work in Evanston, so I'm not too far from Niles. My sources are a laptop and a Palm Pre. I have access to an iPhone but haven't actually tried it out as a source. The left earbud shocking is still happening, though it's been less frequent with the air being a bit less dry the past few days. The one pretty much surefire way of making it happen is touching my fleece - a shocking experience almost every time!

There isn't any doubt in my mind that this is static electricity being transferred through the earbuds. One time I was sitting at my desk, and I reached for my fleece on the chair next to me and received an incredibly painful jolt through my left ear. The sound also cut out of the earbud at the same time, so I thought the driver blew out. I am now careful around the office to take off my earbuds when I move my chair or reach for anything that might have static buildup, but I still get shocked here a couple times a week. Outside of my office, this also happens at the gym, which is a pretty dry environment this time of year. The tips I'm using fit just fine, and the flange is not directly touching the inside of my ear. I really wish this wasn't happening, as I love the sound from the earbuds. I'd rather not return them to get a comparable set from Shure or Etymotics, which would cost quite a bit more. By the way, DrWho, I'm just down the road from you, in Chicago. You'd be more than welcome to check these out yourself if you'd like []

I have the same issue with my (quite new) S4i's, with the left earbud more than the right earbud. It definitely happens more in dry environments. There have been times when I quite literally could not move without being shocked, and quite painfully. This happens with my laptop and my cell phone as sources. I never had an issue with this with my old Shure e4c's. Thoughts? I feel like I'm going to need to keep a stash of anti-static wipes with me everywhere I go if that's the only solution to this. I really like these earbuds in terms of sound quality, but the static is a major head(ear?)ache.