Working earphone jack not working with WORKING earphones.

[AC Question]

I have a strange issue with my phone.
The headphone jack on my phone works with everything except my earphones.
And my earphones work with everything except the headphone jack on my phone.
I have a HTC One M8.
I've not had this problem before.
I know both devices are working, because my phone can easily connect by aux to my speakers and works with my headset.
And my earphones work fine with my laptop.
PLEASE HELP!

 

[DrinkeeCrow]

Do your earphones have separate cords for a microphone? Do they have a microphone at all? You'll see the headphone plug for a pair of headphones with a microphone built in-line like the ones that come with phones have 4 separate contacts (Left, Right, Mic, Ground) and a standard stereo headphone has only 3 (Left, Right, and Ground) when you plug a 3 contact into a phone, the contacts don't line up properly. You can buy an adapter for this.



*Ignore the "Into Laptop...." at the left of the picture, this is just illustration for the 3 contact and 4 contact plugs.