Perhaps I got a faulty boot and normally they work well with no issues. The sound is great, the feel is classy, the look is appealing. So then I ordered a 7. Whatever sand stuck to them easily brushed off! Like everyone says, the shaft opening is relatively small but I got them on with a slight struggle. I had a shoddy laptop keyboards coating last a good five years longer than this. Truly disgusting,especially if you though your q tips had been doing a good job. If you play a lot of vinyl and need to replace a VMN95E or VMN95C, its definitely something to consider. But, unfortunately these run really small. These have that lightweight cheap plastic feel to them even tho theyve got a bit of a soft texture to it.