Enjoy a potentially less tangled yet stylish mod to your earphones! Maybe you would be more adventuresome and try other colors/patterns of paracord.











Feel free to comment on your experience.





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More Trivial Notes/Findings:

¹ I'm not so sure now that audio quality is noticeably reduced. I managed to listen at -74dB attenuation (the minimum volume Rockbox on my Sansa achieves) when I woke up at 4AM one day, and to my ears, left and right channels were balanced. I blame the ancient Walkman I tested it with earlier for having unbalanced output at low volume, since its volume control is a potentiometer. So if they're balanced, I imagine there is no loss in quality, or you could say that they've equally degraded :D



• The sound of wind blowing against the cord has changed for my closed-design earphones:

the original, thin cord would emit a high pitch whistle. it now gives a middle range howl.



• I don't know what to do in case the paracord gets dirty. It's porous, but at least it won't mold or mildew. Just hope the section to clean isn't around the solderwork. Then again you could seal that with clear nail polish or something?



• It's good to use lengths of paracord that are slightly longer than the corresponding wire sections leading to your ears. I suppose that when they are compressed relative to the wire they sleeve, they will buckle less, therefore making it less likely to form knots when bunched up. These can still tangle, but the knots should be easier to undo than the typical thin rubbery wires they sleeve. As a consequence, however, it may be that compressed paracord will cause it(s fibers) to chafe against itself at the slightest movement, and transfer that sound to your ears. I can't be sure, since I typically use this in a noisy environment anyhow, such as while jogging or mowing the lawn (wearing hearing protection).



• Many months later, I realize that it's better to superglue the ends of the paracord, before shrinking down the heatshrink. I've edited the materials list to reflect this.