This is the only picture I could find that illustrates the most common reason for faulty chords. It's when the wire around the base (plug end) has been violently tampered with, making it so that the listener has to adjust the angle of the plug so that sound can be heard.
It's a vicious cycle. Replacing all of my chord gear every couple of months becomes very obnoxiously commonplace. Whether it's my phone chargers (4 replacements), headphones (6 replacements- need the 7th), or ethernet cables (3 replacements), I seem to always find a way to destroy my wires. For the longest time I thought that my electron productivity was sending surges too powerful for the chords to contain, but that was quickly disproved. I recently discovered that I was mishandling my chords, how silly of me not to be fragile with such flexible material. Anyhow, to prevent easily preventable problems [regarding chords] from happening, try not to ring your chords when you are transporting them (I'm assuming that it bends them out of shape and expedites its erosion). Do your best not to mistreat your chords, same goes for every piece of technology... it will save you time, stress, and money in the long run, so trust meh on dat!
