Then you've been too rough with them and now they're broken. Buy tougher headphones or be a little more careful, particularly when untangling them. This guy is correct, the wire is damaged. It was either a poor quality wire to begin with, or you've pulled it around too much. You can get quality headphones cheaply nowadays. I would point you to these: - Sennheiser HD201 - Sennheiser HD205 I own the HD205. Very good for the money, but they do need a good break-in like all cans. Just leave music on overnight or something.