Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Cuando el micrófono falla, uso mis auriculares viejos. - When the microphone fails, I use my old headphones.

Cuando el micrófono falla, uso mis auriculares viejos.
→ Present indicative (falla) is used for:
- General facts
- Habits / routines
- Things that happen repeatedly
This sentence means: Whenever the mic fails (as a rule), I use my old headphones.
Cuando el micrófono falle, usaré mis auriculares viejos.
→ Present subjunctive (falle) + future is used for:
- A specific future situation that has not happened yet
- A “when this future event happens” idea
This would mean: When the mic fails (in the future, on that occasion), I’ll use my old headphones.

So:

Habit / general rule → cuando + indicative
Specific future event → cuando + subjunctive

Could I say Cuando falla el micrófono instead of Cuando el micrófono falla?

Yes, both are correct:

Cuando el micrófono falla, uso mis auriculares viejos.
Cuando falla el micrófono, uso mis auriculares viejos.

The difference is minimal and mostly about rhythm and focus:

Cuando el micrófono falla… feels a bit more neutral.
Cuando falla el micrófono… puts a tiny bit more emphasis on the action falla, because the verb comes right after cuando.

Both are perfectly natural in European Spanish.

Why is it el micrófono and not mi micrófono or just micrófono without an article?

In Spanish, you normally need an article (or another determiner like mi, este, etc.) in front of a singular countable noun.

El micrófono = the microphone (a specific one, probably the one you normally use).
Mi micrófono = my microphone (explicitly saying it belongs to you).

Both are possible depending on context:

Cuando el micrófono falla, uso mis auriculares viejos.
→ Neutral; assumes we both know which mic we’re talking about.
Cuando mi micrófono falla, uso mis auriculares viejos.
→ Emphasises that it’s my microphone, not someone else’s.

Leaving the noun with no article (∅ micrófono) is usually not correct in this context in Spanish. You need el, un, mi, etc.

What’s the difference between falla and saying no funciona for “fails / doesn’t work”?

Both are common, but there are nuances:

El micrófono falla.
- Suggests the microphone is malfunctioning, cutting out, being unreliable.
- Often used for intermittent or technical problems.
- Short and colloquial.
El micrófono no funciona.
- Literally: the microphone doesn’t work.
- Slightly more neutral; often implies it’s simply not working at all.

In your sentence, both work:

Cuando el micrófono falla, uso mis auriculares viejos.
Cuando el micrófono no funciona, uso mis auriculares viejos.

The first sounds a bit more natural if you mean it sometimes fails or has issues; the second is fine if it just doesn’t work.

Why is it uso and not utilizo? Are both correct?

Yes, both are correct:

Uso mis auriculares viejos.
Utilizo mis auriculares viejos.

Differences:

usar is:
- More common, more colloquial.
- Very frequent in everyday speech.
utilizar is:
- Slightly more formal or technical.
- Often interchangeable with usar.

In everyday conversation in Spain, uso sounds more natural and common.

Why is it mis auriculares viejos and not mis viejos auriculares? Does adjective position change the meaning?

Yes, the position of viejos changes the nuance:

mis auriculares viejos
- Literal: my old headphones (they are worn/old in age).
- viejos after the noun usually describes an objective quality: physical age, condition.
mis viejos auriculares
- Often understood as my old/previous headphones (as opposed to my new ones).
- viejos before the noun tends to give a more subjective or emotional nuance:
  - un viejo amigo = an old/long-time friend (not old in age, but known for a long time)
  - mis viejos auriculares could mean “my previous ones” or have a bit of affection/nostalgia.

In your sentence:

mis auriculares viejos
→ Simply “the headphones I have that are old / not new”. That’s the safest, most literal option.

Why is mis plural, and how does agreement work here?

In Spanish, determiners and adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun.

Your noun:

auriculares = masculine plural (singular is auricular but in practice auriculares is used almost always in plural for “headphones/earphones”).

So:

mis (my) → plural form of mi; used with plural nouns.
auriculares → masculine plural.
viejos → masculine plural adjective (singular would be viejo).

Everything matches:
mis (plural) auriculares (masculine plural) viejos (masculine plural).

What’s the difference between auriculares, cascos, and audífonos?

This is mostly about regional vocabulary and type of device.

In Spain:

auriculares
- Neutral, widely used for both earbuds and headphones.
- Very common in standard/neutral speech.
cascos
- Colloquial.
- More often used for bigger, over‑ear headphones.
- Example: Me he comprado unos cascos nuevos.

In much of Latin America:

audífonos
- The most common word for headphones/earphones.
- In Spain, audífonos is more often understood as hearing aids (medical devices).

So in Spain, auriculares is a very good, standard choice.

Why is there a comma after falla? Is it always necessary?

The comma separates the subordinate clause from the main clause when the subordinate comes first:

Cuando el micrófono falla, uso mis auriculares viejos.
[subordinate clause] , [main clause]

If you switch the order, the comma is usually not used:

Uso mis auriculares viejos cuando el micrófono falla.

So:

Subordinate at the beginning → comma is standard.
Subordinate at the end → usually no comma.

Does cuando here mean “when” or “whenever”?

In this kind of habitual sentence with cuando + present indicative, it often means “whenever”:

Cuando el micrófono falla, uso mis auriculares viejos.
→ Whenever the mic fails, I use my old headphones.

In English, you could translate it as:

When the mic fails, I use my old headphones.
or
Whenever the mic fails, I use my old headphones.

Both are acceptable, but the idea of a repeated, habitual action is clear in Spanish because of the present tense and context.

Could I say Cuando el micrófono fallaba, usaba mis auriculares viejos? What would change?

Yes, that’s correct Spanish, but the meaning shifts in time:

Cuando el micrófono falla, uso mis auriculares viejos.
→ Present habit: this is what you generally do now.
Cuando el micrófono fallaba, usaba mis auriculares viejos.
→ Past habit: this is what you used to do at some time in the past.
(Imperfect tense fallaba / usaba describes repeated or ongoing actions in the past.)

So you choose:

falla / uso → current routine.
fallaba / usaba → past routine.

How is micrófono pronounced and what’s the accent mark for?

micrófono is pronounced roughly: mee-KRO-fo-no.

The written accent on ó shows where the stress falls:

Without the accent, the natural stress (by default rule) would be on the second‑to‑last syllable: mi-CRÓ-fo-no anyway, because it ends in a vowel and is four syllables (mi-cró-fo-no)—but the accent mark is still there because:
- It is an esdrújula word (stress on the third‑to‑last syllable).
- All esdrújulas in Spanish always carry a written accent.

So:

Syllables: mi–cró–fo–no
Stress: CRÓ
Spelling: micrófono.