[crammit442]

Anyone have customs and use them for exercise? The reason I ask is that I've found that with(UM-2/Westone 3) universals I can sweat heavily and retain a good seal as long as I use foam of one sort or another. The silicone tips sound better to me, but the seal is eventually compromised by sweat. So my question is does anyone use customs and sweat HEAVILY and have good results? I ride mtn bikes and normally ride for two hours or more. That's the only thing keeping me from ordering customs. Any input? Thanks ahead of time.

Charles

 

[PouncePony]

It's not a good idea to use IEMs, especially those of high $$ value, while perspiring. Moisture can get into them and do damage; temporarily or permanently.

-Pony

 

[shigzeo]

my audio technica ck10 have held up to me ( a very sweaty bloke) on the hottest of days riding hard. ive never had trouble. iems originally were made for stage musicians: they sweat more than most people would when excercising and in adverse conditions for sweat.

 

[crammit442]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PouncePony /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's not a good idea to use IEMs, especially those of high $$ value, while perspiring. Moisture can get into them and do damage; temporarily or permanently. -Pony

While I agree that ideally that's correct, many musicians sweat on stage as much or more than most of us do while exercising and almost all major(and minor)acts are now using custom IEM's. I suppose you could make the case that frequent replacement could be considered part of the cost of doing business for them. I talked to Dale at Westone the other day and his advice per sweating was that you should get a good seal and then leave them alone and you'll(assuming a good fit/seal) normally be good. He said the ear doesn't sweat much(if at all) and that most sweat reaches the ear from your hair(gross

). He recommended that if for some reason you decide to take them out(say between sets), you should thoroughly dry your ears before reinsertion and you should be good to go again. I always store mine in a small case with a dessicant pack with the tips removed since that's where most of the moisture accumulates.

 

[flargosa]

Keep in mind sweat carrying dirt may clog the IEM filters. Custom filters are non-replaceable.

 

[AndrewF]

I have managed to partially fry my UM2's a couple of time- I use them, and now my W3's every day for exercise, and I work hard and sweat a ton. It's not a huge big deal- you ship them back to Westone and they fix them for a small charge. Happens maybe every 12-15 months. So far the W3's seem not to have this problem, but I haven't had them long enough to really tell. I am using olives now and getting a better seal than with silicones, so maybe that will help.

 

[rlanger]

My customs were destroyed by sweat and I've also had more than one pair of non-customs go down due to excessive sweat as well.

I'm a runner so I think what may have been happening is that the constant pounding over long distances would dislodge my IEMs enough to let sweat get inside my ear canal.

You definitely won't catch me running with another pair of high end customs anymore. I recently bought a pair of Sony IEMs designed for sports use and they have held up fine.

 

[thatguyoverthere]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crammit442 /img/forum/go_quote.gif While I agree that ideally that's correct, many musicians sweat on stage as much or more than most of us do while exercising and almost all major(and minor)acts are now using custom IEM's. I suppose you could make the case that frequent replacement could be considered part of the cost of doing business for them. I talked to Dale at Westone the other day and his advice per sweating was that you should get a good seal and then leave them alone and you'll(assuming a good fit/seal) normally be good. He said the ear doesn't sweat much(if at all) and that most sweat reaches the ear from your hair(gross ). He recommended that if for some reason you decide to take them out(say between sets), you should thoroughly dry your ears before reinsertion and you should be good to go again. I always store mine in a small case with a dessicant pack with the tips removed since that's where most of the moisture accumulates.

Believe me, musicians do not sweat more than I do when I work out.

 

[crammit442]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thatguyoverthere /img/forum/go_quote.gif Believe me, musicians do not sweat more than I do when I work out.

The same thing is true for me. I can sweat just thinking about going riding. Bump for any more custom owners??? Thanks!

Charles

 

[hockeyb213]

high value electronics + physical activity = no go

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Yeah, all that sweat and heat build-up in your ear canals, plus the jostling around of your body pretty much makes it inevitable that something will go down the tube of your expensive IEMs.

 

[AndrewF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMarchingMule /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, all that sweat and heat build-up in your ear canals, plus the jostling around of your body pretty much makes it inevitable that something will go down the tube of your expensive IEMs.

Yeah, but why have them if you can't use them? I've got a busy job and 3 young kids- my 60-90 mins of exercise are often the only time I have to enjoy my IEM's. And they (the W3's) sound so damn good with pretty much anything that they make even indoor exercise a whole lot more fun. Westone has such great service that I just don't worry about the risk of frying them- it's just part of the cost of owning and enjoying them.

 

[Jim Barry]

When I saw this thread I misread the title as "Customs and excise"... thought it was going to be about ordering earphones from abroad

 

[shigzeo]

well, i do agree with andrewf. i enjoy my phones in all times of day: sleep, wake and excercise. i will admit that i am not on a 150heart beat burn every day and never keep myself out of control whilst riding, but my non custom ck10 have never failed me. i have not kept the best care of them as i bought them as an accessory to my fx500.

however, they are by far more resiliant than any other non custom i have tried. and some customs are even more robust in craftsmanship.

 

[crammit442]

Bump. Any other exercising custom users? Not concerned with wear and tear. Just the ability to maintain a perfect seal while sweaty. Thanks!