Advice for new IEMs

Apathetik · June 7, 2016

TL;DR: Need budget bluetooth IEMs. $30-$50 USD price range. Compatible with older Bluetooth 2.1 device. Preferably 6+ hour play time. Snug fit (no rigid behind the head construction), and compatibility with really small ears / ear canals.

I'm looking to get a new pair of IEMs, but there are a few concerns that I need to keep in mind. That's making the search a bit tedious, so I'm here for some advice and or recommendations. But first, some background.

I'm very active, whether it be rolling around under a vehicle doing mechanic work. In the crawl space under / over a house working on plumbing, electricity, HVAC, etc, or in my friends fabrication shop helping him out with projects. Due to this, I tend to be incredibly hard on earbuds / IEMs. For years now I've been having to RMA, or buy new earbuds / IEMs constantly. At one point I decided to buy a really nice pair in hopes they could stand up to my abuse (IE8's). Unfortunately, my abuse kept damaging the cables and I'd have to replace them frequently. Until eventually the connectors got so worn out and busted up they stopped working properly. At which point I decided to stop wasting so much money and started getting cheap Skullcandy earbuds (currently on like my 3rd or 4th pair of These).

Over the years 99% of the time. The failure point is the cable, usually shorting out after a few months. But with newer and less expensive models being released all the time. I've been considering trying out a pair of bluetooth IEMs to try and eliminate the cable running down to my device as a failure point (bad habit of having my phone in my back pocket and sitting on it, messing up the cables at the connector). But I've never used a pair of bluetooth IEMs or earbuds, and I'm not sure how well they will work for my situation.

Currently, I'm using my old (very old lol) Motorola Droid 2 as my dedicated music player. With airplane mode enabled, I get very respectable battery life out of it and since I had it laying around it was convenient. However, it only supports Bluetooth 2.1. Most devices I'm seeing out now are Bluetooth 4.0 / 4.1. If I'm not mistaken, Bluetooth is backwards compatible (with the exception of Bluetooth Smart). So I don't think I'd have any issues pairing the devices. But my main concern is how much having bluetooth on constantly is going to effect battery life on my device. And on the topic of battery life. I'll have my IEMs / earbuds in anywhere between 6 hours, up to 12-14 hours at a time. I doubt I'd find anything that'll last that long. But I want something that can at least get a solid 6+ hours and hopefully a relatively fast charge cycle. Something that's going to die and need to be recharged after 2-4 hours isn't going to do me much good (a lot of the time I won't have the ability to charge on the go)

Another one of my concerns is connection quality. In most situations, my phone will be in my back pocket which will put my body directly between the two devices. I've heard a lot of complaints on various products that this can cause a break in the data stream interrupting music playback. And unfortunately keeping my phone in a front pocket isn't usually a viable option as it takes a lot more abuse that way. Mostly leaning up against metal work benches and stuff (crushed an old iPod like that once).

Lastly is the fit. Rigid devices (like This) I try to avoid (have had a pair of wired behind the head earbuds before) because when I'm under a house working, or more often on a creeper under a car. If I rest my head down, it can push them out of my ears. I also have really small ears, so getting a good fit there is also a definite concern.

I have been looking for a while now, and came across this pair of Aelec IEMs, and this pair of Hussar IEMs. I'm wanting to keep the price to around $30-$50 USD for my first pair. Just to find out if this is even going to work. But I'm not much of an audio guy, so I don't know shit about these brands. Hoping someone can provide some info on these brands or specific IEMs. Or some good alternatives in that price range. I'm also not averse to sticking with wired IEMs if anyone thinks they know a pair that can survive some serious abuse.