In a previous post, I dissed the standard Apple earphones in favor of the Etymotic ER-6is, which (to recap) sound awesome, but have a flimsy, too-long cord that dangles to my knees. In fact, I wrapped them around my iPod so many times that the cord broke and I had to send it back to get it fixed. After that, I decided to forget the problem for a few months because they sound so damn good.

Then I got an iPhone.

As I quickly learned, my ER’s didn’t fit into its recessed headphone jack, so for a while I was back to using the shitty Apple-issued cans. In fairness, Apple did get a few things right: the cord is nice and durable, it’s the perfect length, and it even has a tiny microphone so you can break from your music to answer a call. Still, isn’t the most important thing about a set of earphones the way they sound? At that point, I evaluated my options:

• Carve down my Etymotics to fit, making the flimsy cord even flimsier.
• Buy an adapter that would make the cord even more unwieldy.
• Purchase a new set of iPhone-ready buds, like these. (Nuh-uh)

The great thing about the Internet is that if you have a problem, chances are somebody with more knowledge and more time is out there having it too. It was then I stumbled on Ultimate Buds, a Tennessee-based company that specializes in iPhone earphone mashups (say that 10 times fast). Send them your ER-6is, your Apple earphones and $40, and in a few days, they’ll send you back a pair of franken-buds: the no-compromise alternative for people exactly as anal as myself. Viva la long tail.