I really like these ear buds. I ordered a second pair when the price was right so I'd have a back-up. The only buds I've found that are on par with these, for the price, are the Klipsch Image S4 (which I also like, and perhaps sound marginally better). The cord on the Audio Technica's is a bit more robust than the Klipsch, though, so they are less prone to tangling. My only real gripe about the Audio Technicas is the LENGTH of the cord. It comes with a very short cord along with an extension. The short cord is SO SHORT that I pretty much have to use the extension ALL the time, which makes the cord both a bit too long AND bulky because there is now a connector in the middle of it. I appreciate what AT was trying to do here (very short cord for those using a player in an armband or shirt pocket) but in my opinion it would be a lot more useful to a lot more people if it simply included a longer standard cord.

See above regarding cord length.

Plastic, but seems well-made. The cord is a decent thickness.

It's an ear bud. The red actually looks pretty cool.