Apple's original, craptastic earbuds.

Anyone who remotely cares about the quality of their audio knows that Apple's standard iPhone or iPod earphones simply aren't that great . And while you could go out and buy a decent third party pair, you lose out on the handy functionality of Apple's built-in microphone and remote . For hands-free junkies and audiophiles alike, the choice is difficult one. he combined his two options into one . By simply splicing the wires of Apple's microphone and remote with a superior style of earphone, Tsutano was able to get the best of both worlds — and we'll show you how to do the same.Luckily, the actual process takes little explaining. Snip the earbuds from your Apple headset, ensuring the cut is made above the microphone hardware and not below. Meanwhile, remove the 3.5mm minijack from your new and improved earbuds. In both cases, be sure to leave as much extra wiring as you can for stripping purposes, should you make any mistakes along the way.Once this is done, connect the two wires together, either with a small amount of solder or electrical tape. If all goes well, secure the whole cable together, and you should have a fully functional remote and microphone — but without the crappy Apple earbuds.This process is, perhaps, a no-brainer, but it's a clever way to combine the functionality of Apple's own accessories with the superior sound of some good quality headphones. That being said, you could even modify the process to make things more modular. Instead of splicing a good pair of headphones to your Apple cable, you could use a female 3.5mm plug instead. This would allow you leave your superior headphones untouched, and car audio or speaker systems could even take advantage of the in-line volume control too.Do you have any old uses for old or retired headphones? Are the stock Apple headphones and remote good enough for you? Let us know what you use.