[rinski]

Two things to keep in mind when looking for durable IEMs: the plug style and the plug's cord guard. I've known a bunch of people who've broken their IEMs within a month, and all of them had headphones with straight plugs (as opposed to those with a 90-degree bend in them) and bad cord guards. Sometimes the audio in one channel would cut out, sometimes audio playback would stop entirely, and sometimes the cord would shear clean off at the end of the plug.

The cord guard is the rubbery housing immediately after the plug and it stops the cord from bending back on itself too sharply. Of course, wires bending sharply at a hard surface is bad, because it causes wear and tear.

Straight plugs are dangerous, especially if you're connecting to a media player in your pocket. As you walk, your media player will get jostled around. Since the IEM's cord is most likely rubber, it'll want to grip onto the cloth inside your pocket, causing it to pull against the media player and, by extension, the plug. Combine a straight plug and a bad cord guard, and you've got a recreation of any movie scene where a captive rubs their ropes against the edge of their chair to get free.

If you're getting a pair of IEMs with a straight plug, I'd recommend buying a short extension cord that ends at a right-angled plug, and then reinforcing the straight plug's cord guard with electrical tape. It might look a bit DIY, but it'll go a long way towards protecting your investment.

 

[turtlee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dorfmeister /img/forum/go_quote.gif . The UM1 looks ideal. Any recommendations as to the best place to buy them?

Earphonesolutions.com (one of head-fi's sponsors) also sells them at a comparable price. I'm thinking of getting a pair myself.

 

[monolith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dorfmeister /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, they are durable. I've had mine for 3.5 years of pretty heavy use but now the right cable is fraying where it meets the earpiece. Does anyone have any opinions as to whether the UM-1 is more durable than the E2C? If not I wonder if E2C's can still be obtained?

The E2Cs I had sure weren't durable, not to mention not very good sounding.

 

[Bones13]

I have used Etymotic ER6i IEMs for several years while exercising. Changeable filters help this out.

Might be a few dollars out of your price range though, they used to be $150ish, buy worth listening to before you make your decision.

 

[Dorfmeister]

Just got the Westone UM-1's. These look like great inexpensive iem's. More comfortable than the Shure E2c's.

Can't say much about the sound yet as I have only listened to spoken word materials so far but I am eagerly awaiting a test with music.

 

[babya]

Sony's MDR-EX85/90-have the former and it's not broken even after heavy usuage.