[romnation]

Wondering if I should just go with something like Airpods for the noise canceling feature or look at a proper high end IEM if my use case here is only dialogue alone. I do spend a lot of time on loud public transit so isolation is probably important. Price doesn't really matter, just looking for what will work the best. Source is iPhone

 

[mashuto]

If you are just listening to dialogue, you really dont need to spend a ton of money getting the best audio quality, honestly anything will likely be fine. So, look for whatever has the features and is in the form factor you want. If thats the airpods, cool.

Edit: For example, I have (and have had) a few high end IEMs in the $1500-$2000 range, and for listening to podcasts, I use aftershokz bone conduction headphones. They cant compete at all with the higher end stuff, but for dialogue, totally fine, and they were in the form factor I wanted for that and had the features I wanted there.

 

[romnation]

I forgot to mention, I do spend a lot of time on public transit so isolation is probably very important.

 

[mashuto]

I forgot to mention, I do spend a lot of time on public transit so isolation is probably very important.

The airpods these days are in ear right? And not earbuds anymore? If so they might be ok. And if they have noise cancelling, that should help too, I would imagine.

If you want top tier isolation though. The etymotic er2 series (I have the er2xr) is probably your best bet. And if you decide to listen to music too they are quite good and dont break the bank. But they are wired, so you will still have to deal with that, though I imagine by your question you are ok with that. Only issue is they are very very deep insertion headphones and can be uncomfortable to some.

 

[stephenlee2801]

If you're looking for IEMs just for dialogue / podcasts, I'd say fit, isolation and ease of use are the key factors you should consider. Most IEMs with a good seal will produce decent passive sound isolation but if you're mostly using on public transport then IEMs with ANC would be ideal (especially if you're listening to podcasts instead of music). I think alot of people use the Airpods Pro or the Sony WF1000XM3s.