Hey head-fiers,

I've come here pretty much any time I need headphone advice and never been disappointed. I am looking into purchasing some IEMs to use with my 3rd generation ipod nano. I can only afford one pair and am looking to use them at the gym, sleeping in bed, traveling, etc... so they need to be extremely durable preferably with a good warranty. I have a pair of ATH-ES7s and the cabling snapped free of the headphone once which was costly to repair. I'm not sure if I'd run into the same situation with IEMs ever but preferably more durable than that.

You are asking for advice on one pair to do 3 things: gym, sleeping & traveling. That’s a tuff one as most would have 1 pair for gym (for example sennheiser w/Adidas has a new water-resistant design, OMX680) and at least another pair for sleep & travel. That said, you didn’t give a budget, type of sound quality you enjoy or the type of music you listen to, these things should help members give you suggestions ...

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My apologies for being vague and thanks for the advice. I'll try to be clearer

Budget: Waiting on information but assume a maximum of $300 for now.
Uses: Gym, sleep, travel
Music: Varies but rock of various persuasions is prominent.
Quality: Not picky, usually mp3 files from 128-320kb/s

I'd also recommend a separate IEM for gym; maybe the me-electronics m6 which is reputed to be durable. It's also pretty cheap (<$40).

I have to advise you not to listen to music while sleeping. It can have adverse health effects. Barring the warning, the UM1 or UM2 are both small and comfortable enough to be slept on.

If you have medium to large ears, the triple.fi 10 would be a good choice for general purpose use. It has replaceable cables, and you can customize it later if you want to. It's also supposed to be good for rock.

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Alright I hadn't considered health issues regarding use of IEMs for sleeping so I'll scratch that off and I can buy a cheap pair of IEMs for gym use if that is considered preferable.

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It is; no matter how durable they are, one slip up and they're crushed; besides, you probably won't be able to hear all the details so you don't need to bring anything high quality.

I thought the same way about sleeping with iems until I got the CK10. It depends on how you sleep..if you move around a lot then probably not a good idea. Although usually in the middle of night I take them off and sleep normally.

With a gym iem it is quite useful since you probably wont be getting an expensive iem for gym use. Typically they are backup iems or cheap ones so if something happens like cable getting caught onto something and it breaks the financial loss wont be too bad compared to a high end model.

I just don't think 5,6,7,8 hours of music playing while you are sleeping is a good idea. I usually have music on sleeper for about 40 minutes and that should be more than enough to get you to sleep. I have the W2 and sleeping on its side is completely fine, but the cable can still get tangled and in general I don't think it's a good idea to go to bed with IEM in.

As far as recommendation at this point in time unless somebody has a strong preference in one direction or another I just go with the Westone 2. They sound real balanced for me straight out of an ipod and works well with all genres. The bass isn't quite as good as my friend's turbine or my old Triple Fi 10 but is there in enough quantity and is pretty quick, some say the mids are too upfront, now maybe I'm a mids guy but I find it about right when I want to hear the vocalist, it in no ways stand out and drown out the instrument, the highs aren't as nice as the Triple Fi 10 but is solidly above average as far as IEM goes. At the end of the day, all practicality considered. I like W2 because 1)Fits well and easy fit for me 2)no microphonic 3)comfy for long term use 4)works for all music and 5)works straight out of an ipod.

but then again, I've heard people raving about the CK10 and I haven't heard those. I've never had any IEM more comfortable than the Westone 3 and the Westone 2 is only slightly behind because it's smaller and poke my ear ever so slightly more. I can't imagine the CK10 to be more comfortable.

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Music on sleeper? I'm sure it is less healthy to sleep with music playing, I typically play a few tunes and then just turn off my speakers to try and sleep. Haven't used isolating technology in a while and was thinking they might work like earplugs but I think you're right and won't use em that way.

Your suggestion of the W2 and points are well taken. I'm no audiophile (as much as I'd like to be) and cost/comfort will take precedent over sound quality. So things I'd look for would be: fit, comfort, durability, compatibility with ipod, and length of use. I will look into a pair of IEMs for the gym when I have some more money saved away.

Looking over the forums it seems the dominant products in my price range are the W2s or CK10s. Are there any recommendations as to how to go about purchasing IEMs? I'm in Canada if that matters.

I didn't think there were any adverse effects of sleeping with IEMs, I do it all the time. Of course, the music isn't running all night, I usually just put an album on and fall asleep, taking them off when I wake up in the night. I actually find music relaxes me a lot, helping me sleep.
I do know that your brain subconciously listens to the music while you sleep, but I never knew that to be a bad thing.