Flutterby™! : Ear Buds 2010-10-19 17:38:19.434929+00

Ear Buds

2010-10-19 17:38:19.434929+00 by Dan Lyke 9 comments

Okay, those of you who exercise and listen to music/podcasts/whatever at the same time, what are you using for audio?

I had some "hook over the ear" things that didn't really stay in too well. My white Apple earbuds don't stay at all, and rattle and clank when I run. Some $3.99 el-cheapo earbuds are better.

I have some in-hear noise isolating ones, but I want to be more aware of my surroundings than that.

Anyone got suggestions?

And this morning's run. I need to tune my "when I left the region" code so that the average speed doesn't look like .23MPH, and I should go run a flat segment again so that I have a baseline for what my straight line speed is becoming, this was a fairly hilly run.

I use cheapo Panasonic headphones, less than $5 from Fry's (when they have 'em, which isn't always) because their wire is 4.5 feet instead of the usual meter (not long enough, with the wire behind my back, leading to my walkman, hanging off the treadmill).

I finally determined the goofy 'over-the-ear' headphones are for kids who grease their hair, don't want their 'do messed up; but I'm bald up there now, and know the old ways are the best ways.

I second the headphone idea. Those old-fashiony thingies will hang on to your head better than anything stuck in your canals.

Yea the Motorola headset ones don't isolate too much. Its a hollow rubber "mushroom" that goes in the ear. They have them at Fry's so you can test them there.

I've always hated the Apple 'buds. Actually, any earplug-style thing drives me nuts (arrrrr). I use the Sony MDR-W08 headphones, just $10 at K-Mart. The sound is decent, but I can still hear the world around me. The actual speaker parts are pretty small, so I find them pretty comfortable.

Ben Williams suggested the Sennheiser MX 500, which look a little spendy for knockabout buds, but he says they stay in.

Igor, those are more my price range. If they don't isolate too much I'll have to look at the in-ear ones. I have the AO Safety in-ear ones that are like earplugs, and they're great in the shop, but I could have a diesel train on either side of me, horns going full-bore, and not know. Not exactly what I want for running.

I run using an older pair of white Apple earbuds -- they let in enough ambient sound that I'm not worried about getting run over, and I don't have any problem with them staying in my ears. I pretty much only use that pair for working out, however, as I route the cable under my shirt and it's getting pretty grody.

#Comment Re: made: 2010-10-19 19:33:06.375946+00 by: igor' [edit history]

When working(out) on something where i want to be able to hear i use those: http://www.frys.com/product/5797262 they are in ear but don't isolate too much. Additional bonus is that they have a mike so i can talk on the cellphone without having to switch headphones (and my cellphone plays my music anyway).

they are basically an earplug with a great headphone built in, i sometimes just stick them in and not play anything if i need to concentrate and its noisy.

Again, my Nokia N900 came with the best earbuds/mic I've owned.. and yeah, they stick in the ear like earplugs. But my #2 pair is also like that (earplugs), in that they stick in the ear. I bought them at "best buy" and they had some kewl name that has worn off. They had multiple size adapters and were $19.99.. and have a volume slider. I use them on airplanes and they are great at blocking some noise as well as listening.

My #3 choice, for "not earplug style" are Jabra's.. again with multiple eargels with different shapes and they fit looser than earplug style and allow more outside noise, but stay in place and sound great. like these