[arvbuddy]

I've been looking through a lot of the threads and I'm just not finding the answers to what I want.
 
I want to begin walking, but I have turned to the audiophile ways. I obviously can't be wearing my full size, over the ear head phones when I'm trying to go out walking or working out, so I'm looking at IEMs.
 
These will mainly be used while working out/going on walks every day. So it CANNOT have that loud noise with the cord whenever you touch it. 
 
My budget is about $400-500, but if I have to I can go higher.
 
I listen to all kinds of music. Classic, rock, metal, trance, dubstep, worship, etc. So when giving recommendations try to mention what it works well with.
 
Remember I'm looking for IEMs, not little ear buds that sit on the end of the ear barely protruding. I want good isolation, I'm not worried about getting hit by a car as I am walking or working out in the gym,, not riding a bike, driving a car or running. 
 
If you have any other questions let me know, thanks! 

 

[Spyro]

Braided type cable like Westone will have most minimal microphonics.  At $200-250 range I love UM2.  Very engaging experience, nice lush, full sound.  Perhaps best vocals among any IEM's I have heard except for Grado GR10.

 

[Riggaberto]

My advice is get them molded to your ears, can't beat that comfort & fit.  I found it more enjoyable for working out...something about plugging my ears with flanges wasn't pleasant.  

 

[arvbuddy]

Quote:

My advice is get them molded to your ears, can't beat that comfort & fit.  I found it more enjoyable for working out...something about plugging my ears with flanges wasn't pleasant.  

Well then what would you suggest I get? Custom iems seem to be expensive!!

 

[arvbuddy]

Quote:

Braided type cable like Westone will have most minimal microphonics.  At $200-250 range I love UM2.  Very engaging experience, nice lush, full sound.  Perhaps best vocals among any IEM's I have heard except for Grado GR10.

What would you suggest at the $400-$500 range?

 

[Spyro]

W3 is still my favorite universal

 

[proedros]

why would you buy a 400-500$ iem for the gym ?
 
chances are it's gonna break and it will be a waste of money and you'll feel sorry  - i had such an accident with my re-262 in the gym and i felt like a jerk - i now use a 50% sony iems i got some years ago
 
buy sth cheap/convenient for the gym - pity your money my friend

 

[Leynar]

Quote:

why would you buy a 400-500$ iem for the gym ?
 
chances are it's gonna break and it will be a waste of money and you'll feel sorry  - i had such an accident with my re-262 in the gym and i felt like a jerk - i now use a 50% sony iems i got some years ago
 
buy sth cheap/convenient for the gym - pity your money my friend

Each time I feel like using my IEMs in the gym, I always have a mental image of weights crushing the IEMs in slow-mo. After which i scurry back to my bag to keep them

 

[arvbuddy]

I'm not just using them for the gym. I want to use them for about 9-10 hours a day at LEAST.

 

[Rayfabolous]

I wear my Shure SE 535 LTD-J to the gym all the time. You just have to be careful with them.

 

[vinnievidi]

Quote:

Braided type cable like Westone will have most minimal microphonics.  At $200-250 range I love UM2.  Very engaging experience, nice lush, full sound.  Perhaps best vocals among any IEM's I have heard except for Grado GR10.

Hear, Hear.  The GR10 is fantastic--I don't think that I would wear mine in the gym though.  I personally like the Apple Dual IEM for the gym and commuting.  They don't sound that lousy and i don't care too much if the cable gets snagged (which they do pretty often).  I do agree with people who say that the braided cables of the Westone models are the quietest cables when running or moving a lot. 

 

[tekdemon]

Whatever you wear to the gym is going to get trashed after a while.  I do occasionally wear my more expensive IEMs to the gym but I know it's a lousy idea since the cheapo set I brought to the gym previously annihilated itself within a few months.  And why would you even worry about audio quality if you're seriously working out?  There's going to be a ton of microphonics no matter what if you're really running around, and you're gonna be hearing your own breath, heartbeat, and the noise of your own body moving-it's way far from an optimal listening environment.  Also if you're actually working out you're gonna be focused on working out and not the quality of your music-it'd be dangerous to run on a treadmill and not pay attention to the running.
 
Every pair of headphones I've brought to the gym has ended up flying some direction or another when I pulled on the cord by accident or whatnot so I would strongly recommend against something you'd consider precious.  Now if you're very well off then yeah I guess you can go shop for something in the $400-500 range for the gym but it's bizarre to purposely seek out a high end IEM for the gym.  Honestly I'd look more for durability as well as cord length in a gym IEM (some IEMs have fairly short cords which you'll find pretty damned obnoxious if you've plugged it into a treadmill or your mp3 player is sitting on the treadmill shelf, etc.)  Something that's durable with a long cord that you won't mind having to throw out in 4 months is the best IEM for the gym.
 
Buy a nice pair of IEMs if you're gonna listen to them 9-10 hours a day but I would buy another pair for the gym unless you don't care about having to buy another pair in a few months.  I do run with my image x10's but I bought them pretty cheap and even then it's probably stupid idea since you honestly can't hear the difference between that and a $10 pair of JVC Marshmallows when you're running and the only reason I bring the Klipschs to the gym is because the cord is nice and long while the Marshmallows have a pretty short cord.  

 

[Craigster75]

I use B&W C5s for walking and love them.  They have an ear loop so they are secure, have great bass and very good SQ.  Also, Denon just came out with a C300 "Urban Raver" in-ear with a secure inner ear hook and several sizes for an excellent fit.
 

 

[Spyro]

Quote:

Whatever you wear to the gym is going to get trashed after a while.  I do occasionally wear my more expensive IEMs to the gym but I know it's a lousy idea since the cheapo set I brought to the gym previously annihilated itself within a few months.  And why would you even worry about audio quality if you're seriously working out?  There's going to be a ton of microphonics no matter what if you're really running around, and you're gonna be hearing your own breath, heartbeat, and the noise of your own body moving-it's way far from an optimal listening environment.  Also if you're actually working out you're gonna be focused on working out and not the quality of your music-it'd be dangerous to run on a treadmill and not pay attention to the running.
 
Every pair of headphones I've brought to the gym has ended up flying some direction or another when I pulled on the cord by accident or whatnot so I would strongly recommend against something you'd consider precious.  Now if you're very well off then yeah I guess you can go shop for something in the $400-500 range for the gym but it's bizarre to purposely seek out a high end IEM for the gym.  Honestly I'd look more for durability as well as cord length in a gym IEM (some IEMs have fairly short cords which you'll find pretty damned obnoxious if you've plugged it into a treadmill or your mp3 player is sitting on the treadmill shelf, etc.)  Something that's durable with a long cord that you won't mind having to throw out in 4 months is the best IEM for the gym.
 
Buy a nice pair of IEMs if you're gonna listen to them 9-10 hours a day but I would buy another pair for the gym unless you don't care about having to buy another pair in a few months.  I do run with my image x10's but I bought them pretty cheap and even then it's probably stupid idea since you honestly can't hear the difference between that and a $10 pair of JVC Marshmallows when you're running and the only reason I bring the Klipschs to the gym is because the cord is nice and long while the Marshmallows have a pretty short cord.  

Depends.  If you are careful and take care, it shouldn't be an issue.  Been doing it 10 + years on a daily basis.  But I workout alone in my basement strictly using free weights a Stairmaster and a Bike, the later two which are very controlled and low impact so the sound comes through top notch.  Every couple weeks I may get an inadvertent tug on a cable but that's about it.
 
For many people, the ONLY portable listening they do is for exercising or working out so it's silly to question why someone does it or uses nice IEM's.  Why drive a $25,000 car in the midwest where you get rain, snow and salt?
 
Many that advise to never workout with nice IEM's are the same ones that roll their cords up tightly around their player and shove it in their pockets causing far more wear and tear.  Go figure...

 

[Codefox]

I would never use my nice IEMs at the gym.  I have a pair of W2s that I have for when I want to listen to music.  I understand not wanting to have total crap earphones but when I'm out for a run, music becomes true background sound.  I'm barely aware of it.  I recently picked up some Monster iSport Immersions.  I wouldn't confuse them with anything really nice and their sound isn't worth the $100 you can get them for on Amazon but that said they're not too bad.  And they are designed for sport usage so they are completely water proof.  They're well built.  I'd suggest getting something like that and then treat yourself to something good for when you actually are listening to music!