Looking for recommendations for wireless (or wired) in-ear headphones

[Dr. Prop]

I am looking for some recommendations for wireless (or possibly wired) headphones preferably less than $200 dollars. I currently have an iPhone 7 and use wired headphones that run through a headphone jack to thunderbolt adapter. The idea with a wireless headphone purchase would be to eliminate the problem of simultaneous charging and listening. However, I am also worried that this solution is going to replace the occasional issue of needing to charge my phone while wanting to listen to something with the likely much more common issue of having headphones with no charge left. I am therefore also interested in any wired headphone recommendations. Any comments on this issue would be appreciated.

 

I am not very picky about audio quality. The threshold at which I stop hearing the difference in quality is relatively low. Additionally, I mostly listen to podcasts and audiobooks, not music. So if there are headphones that somehow make voices clearer to understand, that would be a desired feature.

 

Which ever solution (wired or wireless) I go with, I will be stuffing these headphones in my pockets a lot. I usually loop the headphones in a figure 8 coil before doing so, but this strategy for avoiding knots and undesirable wire stresses only works if I take them out of my pocket again after an hour or less. After that, they are knotted just as badly as a traditional circular coil. This headphone storage choice has made me a destroyer of wired headphones (I think I go through 2-3 pairs per year). All of these have been cheaper pairs since I know I tend to break them. Are there pairs that advertise anti-knotting or greater reliability / lifetime before a wire inevitably breaks?

[KaminKevCrew]

The best solution for the whole "my headphones are dead because the cable broke" is to get headphones with a removable cable. 

 

I'm going to go ahead and recommend the Shure SE215 for a few specific reasons:

 

There are headphones for the price ($99) that will sound better. But, as you mentioned, you won't be listening to much music (which they're still good for, just not *as* good as some other options) so you're not too worried about that aspect, which is a good thing.

 

The thing that the SE215 has going for it is that it's a SUPER comfortable design. I've literally worn the SE535LTD that I used to own (same housing, just different internals) for over 24 hours straight with no issues. 

 

Also, all of the Shure SE line has a removable cable. You can replace that cable for $30. The cable that Shure makes is also an insanely durable cable. It's designed for musicians (as pretty much all of the Shure product range is) which means that it's designed to go through some serious abuse. I've gone through many sets of Shure SE headphones (literally every model except the SE846, and the SE315) and I've never had a cable issue. One of my buddies has owned a pair of SE215 for about 8 years now, and he's on his second cable now. 

 

The other great thing about the Shure SE line is that they use a standard MMCX connector that a lot of other manufacturers use, which means that you have a bunch of options if you want something different from a cable. 

 

Keep in mind that if you get the clear version, the copper in the cable will eventually start to oxidize and turn green. Some people claim that this affects sound quality, but you'll see that many of those people also claim that the black cable doesn't do that. Spoiler alert: it does oxidize too, you just can't see it because the cable sleeving is black. I've used heavily oxidized cables and I really can't tell the difference between oxidized copper and clean copper, so I wouldn't worry about that.

 

In the early days, people were having issues with splitting the IEM shell in half when people would remove and replace the cable. I suspect that they were pulling the cable out incorrectly, and that they were doing it hundreds of times in a row. Don't remove the cable unless you have to and you'll be fine (Shure seems to have upgraded the glue they use for that too, so it's not really an issue anymore anyway.)

 

TL;DR

 

The Shure SE215 have good enough sound quality for the price, and since you'll be rough with them, their insane durability will more than be able to handle your lifestyle. Also, the cable is easily replaceable for $30 (for a factory cable from Shure.)