is this a physical problem?

I had the same problem with the original headphones for my iPod about a year ago. Turned out that I slightly bent the plug and it wasn't connecting correctly. I took them to the Apple store and they replaced them for free and they worked fine. Later on, I bought the in-ear ones from Apple and have had no problems. Try to bring them to an Apple store if there is one near you. If they are still under warantee, there should be no problem getting a replacement.

 

This happened to my right in-ear headphone. Again, they hadn't been used a huge amount recently. I just took em back into the Apple Store and they swapped them for a new pair without any hassle aside from the poor Genius having to fill in a mountain of paperwork since I'd bought them in the US and was returning in the UK.

 

This is where life gets interesting and you might want to give Regent St a call and ask them.

When I took mine back, they said that if I'd bought them there, they'd just have been able to do an exchange at the cash registers. Very easy.

Because I hasn't bought them there and had a US receipt (not sure how an Apple UK receipt or another retailer's receipt would be handled), I had to get them replaced as a 'spare part' at the Genius Bar. This meant I had to have a Genius Bar appointment and had to go back another day.

If they say you need to do it via the Genius Bar, either get there early when the store opens. Or go online as soon as the store opens and book a Genius bar appointment for that day. They get very, very busy and if you turn up in the afternoon, you might not get an appointment for that day.

Alternatively, I guess you could just call Apple and see if they'll post a new set out to you?

 

I have had a similar problem. It started several months ago, and I discovered a simple solution to this problem. Make sure you clean the earpiece in question and softly blow and suck through the end. Not sure which direction works best but about 3 seconds of this clears the broblem right up.

 

This happens to my Shure e3s, sometimes. Not really often, usually when it's cold out. I suspect that it is either my iPod, or that the audio jack is slightly bent, as someone said above, and it contracts due to the cold.

Edit: just checked it out, my audio jack is definately not bent...has anyone had a similar thing happen when using your iPod?