[Blktiger0]

I'm looking for something somewhat specific, so bear with me on this.

I work at a diesel factory, where listening music during work is discouraged, but I generally work out of the way and by myself, so I get bit bored. I'm looking for a set of IEMs that could alleviate this issue for myself and a fellow co-worker.

What I need is: discreet, comfortable, durable

What would be nice, too is: wireless, open back/ported, good sound quality

The key components here are that the headphones are durable and comfortable, but discreet enough to be worn without a supervisor knowing. Another key is that we can still hear what's happening around us without major shuffling around trying to pause/stop or reduce volume. If we know that we can hear forifts and such, then just hit the volume down a few notches for conversation.

if we could somehow happen on a pair of wireless headphones that fit this desription, that would be amazing, as would anything open-backed or ported. If we can get good sound quality out of them, that would be great, too.

Budget: No more than $50, though preferably less

Thanks for any help, hopefully we're not asking too much

 

[PredatorZ]

You are really asking a lot, the hard part would be the Discrete part, most IEM's are pretty small, but still very noticable. I wear mine all day at work, a lot of the time with no music, like hearing protection, they cut down on the sound of all the equipment running. I work at a small PCB manufacturer, so the place is humming with all sorts of machines, at times it's deafening. My boss catches me all the time when I have the volume up to loud to hear her yelling at me across the room. If you wore a knit hat, pulled down over your ear's, then you could hide them. Sleek has a nice wireless setup, but its over your suggested budget. I normally carry my iPod/predator combo in my Lab coat pocket, I cut a hole inside the pocket to route the wires out of the way, more for snag proofing them, since I move around a lot and its easy for the wires to hook on something when I lean over. With a beanie cap and careful wire routing you can achieve the stealth you are looking for, even a small over the ear might work in that situation. I do like the sound isolation of IEM's, but with to much volume, you could get your ass ran over by a forklift, so it sounds like your work place is a bit more dangerous than mine, so caution is obviously required. I would assume you are allowed to wear hearing protection, you could disguise an IEM to resemble some common earplugs, but that sounds like a lot of bother.
  Another non headfi option would be to just get a small portable player with a speaker and listen to it that way, much safer if you can hear someone, or something coming. I know not the answer you were looking for, but I'm sure your family and friends prefer you alive and well.
 

 

[TwinQY]

Quote:

I'm looking for something somewhat specific, so bear with me on this.

I work at a diesel factory, where listening music during work is discouraged, but I generally work out of the way and by myself, so I get bit bored. I'm looking for a set of IEMs that could alleviate this issue for myself and a fellow co-worker.

What I need is: discreet, comfortable, durable

What would be nice, too is: wireless, open back/ported, good sound quality

The key components here are that the headphones are durable and comfortable, but discreet enough to be worn without a supervisor knowing. Another key is that we can still hear what's happening around us without major shuffling around trying to pause/stop or reduce volume. If we know that we can hear forifts and such, then just hit the volume down a few notches for conversation.

if we could somehow happen on a pair of wireless headphones that fit this desription, that would be amazing, as would anything open-backed or ported. If we can get good sound quality out of them, that would be great, too.

Budget: No more than $50, though preferably less

Thanks for any help, hopefully we're not asking too much

 
First off - http://www.head-fi.org/t/596233/buying-portable-or-in-ear-headphones-seeking-guidance-dont-start-a-new-thread-ask-for-advice-here
http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-278-iems-compared-astrotec-am-800-dx-60-added-03-31-13-p-659
 
Another way you could go at this is with something like the KSC-75 - not an IEM, but open-backed, hooks conveniently onto the ears, you can swap pads for comfort preferences as well. They come off fairly fast so if your supervisor comes by it takes little effort to take them off. 
 
For the wireless thing though you probably won't get much traction getting wireless on something by stock, due to the budget. It's very easy to just attach a wireless dongle, roll up the cables, hook the dongle onto the back of your shirt neck, or something like that. Gives a much larger selection of headphones to choose from. 
 
Back to the IEMs though, it's pretty easy to choose something discreet as that comes with the form factor itself, but for something vented and durable....
The Monoprice 8320s are NOT discrete withing your ears, but they are open and cheap enough (though still durable-ish - although the cable tangles if you're going to use them wirelessly and rolled up with the dongle, it shouldn't matter much) that it wouldn't be too much of a loss if you do break them.

 

[Blktiger0]

Thanks guys, I'll check into that stuff.

I should mention that I'll be listening through my Galaxy S3. I also hope to hide these using the ear protection I have as a cover, if possible. I wear ear plugs that are basically a plastic band that has soft foam tips on the end which it kind of clamps to your head, sort of like full-sized headphones. If the IEMs are discreet enough, I could simply put the ear protection over them as a cover up.

I don't want phones with an ear clip, as they usually irritate my ears

I also should have mentioned that if the phones are wireless, I could probably stretch my budget up to $100.