[dillydadally]

My wife is a bit jealous of my new collection of audiophile gear I got for Christmas and finally has expressed an interest in getting a pair of her own hi-fi headphones, but she wants to use them while she works out, which pretty much limits her to wireless, securely fitting, sweat resistant type stuff. So, for mother's day, I picked up a pair of Powerbeats 3 from Wal-mart hoping they'd be worth the $140. Well, I've heard bad things about Beats and I guess I should have listened because after setting them up and having a listen, I didn't even let her try them. The sound was horrible. I've heard much cheaper earbuds that sounded better, and I was looking for premium sound.

I tried doing a little research, but began wondering if the phones I was looking at had good sound for wireless earbuds or if there were options out there that really could compare to some high end cans. Most of the high end stuff doesn't seem to be wireless or appropriate for working out either. Also, I tried looking at "A Basic Guide to In-Ear Canal Phones" here but the link seems to be broken.

Anyway, does anyone have any recommendations or advice for me? What are the absolute best-sounding wireless in-ear options out there?

 

[San Man]

B&O E8

 

[Hyperfluxe]

There aren't really as the true wireless market isn't very mature. The best you can get is the Advanced Model 3 but it's not true wireless.

 

[Lurk650]

HiFi, amazing sound and sweat resistant really don't belong in the same sentence. Pick the priority. Do you want a great sounding wireless headphone or do you want something made for gym use? It's a gym and you are moving around, personally, super amazing quality isn't of importance. FWIW, I use a pair of Bose QC35-I in the gym, the noise cancelling is great. I used to use a pair of Pioneer CH9T but retired them for something wireless, although what you can do with MMCX IEMs is pick up an MMCX BT cable to turn them wireless.

 

[yong_shun]

You can try SOUL. Personally I like Run Free Pro HD and ST-XS. Run Free Pro HD used knowles balanced armature driver which gives good details and not compromising the performance of the bass. ST-XS is true wireless model which is tiny. It sits in my ear well.

 

[Hanesu]

HiFi, amazing sound and sweat resistant really don't belong in the same sentence. Pick the priority. Do you want a great sounding wireless headphone or do you want something made for gym use? It's a gym and you are moving around, personally, super amazing quality isn't of importance. FWIW, I use a pair of Bose QC35-I in the gym, the noise cancelling is great. I used to use a pair of Pioneer CH9T but retired them for something wireless, although what you can do with MMCX IEMs is pick up an MMCX BT cable to turn them wireless.

Well, hopefully the WILL belong in the same sentence one day!

I am also wondering whether some high end companies already started to work on a solution like that. It’s definitely the future!

 

[64alex]

Xelento has a wireless bluetooth version. Very expensive (>1k) but if it is as the wired version should be fantastic. However agree that if used for gym probably super high quality is not important and at that price tag I would try to test before purchasing.

 

[AlwaysForward]

AKG N5005 is Shawn Olive's new master tuning, according to his canjam talk. Should be up there.

 

[theophile]

Sony WI-1000X

 

[yong_shun]

AKG N5005 is Shawn Olive's new master tuning, according to his canjam talk. Should be up there.

Agreed with this. I got mine yesterday. Had a short impression - REFERENCE! This could be a good choice!

 

[theophile]

Is the N5005 wireless?

 

[yong_shun]

Is the N5005 wireless?

There is a wireless cable to turn it into a wireless IEM in the box

 

[Colors]

AKG5005 has amazing SQ for BT. Better than a lot of IEMs wired which is crazy.

 

[gorman]

Am I mistaken in understanding that AKG N5005 does not offer any advanced codec for BT audio? I don't see any reference to aptX, aptX HD or LDAC on their website.

 

[nintendoo]

I would say E8. Beoplay never lets me down.