Sweat and IEMs

[ibu]

I'm absolutely unexperienced with IEMs. My decision for a model has to ripe some days. That's in advance

I want to buy one pair of earphones, not an extra one for sports.

So I'm curious about facts about "sweat and IEMs".

1 Foamies
Sometimes I could read in posts, that they will not slip as fast as silicon tips while sweating.
But Foamies soak with sweat, don't they?

If so: isn't it a big risk to transport the sweat to the opening of the phone?
Could the moisture of a soaked foamy harm the phone?

2 Cable
If you wear the cable around the ear, the sweat will run from the head along the cable - over the phone, into your ear, isn't it?
When the cable hangs down, as alternative, I assume, that less sweat runs into the ear.
Are my thoughts wrong?

Nice regards, Andreas

 

[Dobber65]

Sweat may get into the driver assembly and potentially harm the driver. Most drivers are well-made, but repeated exposure may begin to degrade them. Drivers also can be dried out, but sweat could damage them over time. Foamies will probably need to be replaced much more often due to the sweat from working out compared to general listening use.

Cables are another story. Shure had a well-documented problem with their cables in that they hardened over time due to sweat exposure (not in all cases, I have some Shures that are three years old and have not hardened, it depends on the person). Again, it depends on the cable material. My wife's Apple earbuds have been used for three years in the gym without any problems.

I know you only want one pair, but I recommend a very cheap second pair for working out. Given that you will be moving around and could potentially snag the cable, sweat, etc., why risk a pricy IEM? Get a cheap pair and replace as necessary without worrying about it, or use the earbuds you got with your DAP or mobile phone.

 

[ibu]

@Dobber65

Thanks for your answer.

It does not surprise that sweat could harm a driver.
My main interest in my question was to compare the risk of harm:
with the use of foamies or the use of silicon

I know that a cable could be harmed by sweat. But my main interest was the influence of the "wearing style" for the amount of sweat which could enter into the ear.

Sorry for my poor English. I hope you will understand better now, what I meant.

 

[shigzeo]

i see this same thread about once per month now. oh well, yeah: sweat can kill a driver.

 

[ibu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif i see this same thread about once per month now. oh well, yeah: sweat can kill a driver.

Sorry, that's not my question.

If my question is answered in older threads and I missed that, I'm glad about a hint.
Thanks.

 

[Spyro]

I use IEM's almost exclusively with working out (W3's, TFPro's, SE530's, ER4's) and have never had a problem. Keep in mins musicians are using IEM's under hot lights in warm settings for hours at a time.

Whether foamies or silicone it should not matter. A good seal is a good seal, but yes, foamies will not last quite as long. I wouldn't worry about sweat dripping FROM the cords onto the housing into your ears...that's kind of a reach.

The key things to remember are always wear a good sweat headband to catch most of the sweat and also (probably most important) avoid taking them in and out while working out. That's how you will get sweat into the nozzles more than anything.