re: Wireless earbuds recs

AirPod pro

I thought that said ‘visit the Butthole store’

Piqued my interest as to what type of ear buds they were - but I probably just need reading glasses

I have a cheap pair of soundmates from HD. Sounds ok for the price. I don’t even stand over the toilet with them in though! Things fall out like crazy. I’ll break down and get some ear hooks at some point I guess.

Walmart
ONN True Wireless Earbuds, White
$19.88

LINK

I grabbed a pair of these at Walmart out of a hopper thinking they were trash, since I paid $165.00 for my son to have apple, I use them every day and they work fine.

They last about 1 1/2 hours before needing a charge

Jabra Elite 75t I use them to workout, it's like they screw into your ear and are very secure. Good sound and won't break the bank.

i’ve been happy with airpods (*not the first generation) and beats workout buds. people i know rave about the bose buds though. i’m considering getting the new, obnoxiously over-priced apple headphones. kinda hard to justify but i miss over the head headphones.

JLAB

I bought these as an alternative to $200+ Airpods and they have been great. Has all the features like answering calls, changing volume, change song by touch (except Siri). Good quality sound and volume is loud enough for me. It has a bass boost mode as well.

LINK $70

I have a set of the new Galaxy Buds Pro. They're perfect for this since they have the active noise canceling. I dont think I would've paid full price for them. They came free with my S21. I love the fact that I can play/pause and enable/disable the active noise canceling by just touching them (long press vs short press).

Etymotic is one of the best brands for what you’re looking for. ETA: if you consider Bluetooth with a wire between the buds to be “wireless”
The tips can be changed from deep-insert triple flange to soft foamies. They are going to offer super clear audio and, instead of being super loud, they drown out the world around you pretty tremendously, something that your ears in twenty years will thank you for.


If you want to go full crazy, their lab will accept impressions made by an audiologist and get you a custom in-ear fit. The isolation of these is slightly less than the triple flange, but the comfort is significantly better. When I have mine in on an airplane, it’s difficult to hear the announcements even without audio playin. When I’m listening to music, my wife has to be in my visual field or yell to get my attention. I typically am able to stay between 30 and 50% volume pretty comfortably. They tout something near 40dB noise reduction. They do have cheaper models, but the Bluetooth cable that works with them is fairly expensive. And the ER3 series is one-off their top-of-the-line model (the ER4). They basically all offer SR (standard or studio response. I forget) and XR (extended bass range).many reviews suggest even the XR are “bass light,” but having blindly bought them without hearing and only reading reviews, I do notice a bump in bass frequencies that I’m not the biggest fan of. I don’t dislike it, but I probably would have been happy with or even preferred the SR (said without, still, having heard the ER4SR IEMs). If you love bass, get XR. If you don’t think about it, probably get XR. If you intentionally listen with a fairly flat EQ, read more or find a way to get your hands on them.

I've had Airpods for a while and love them. My only complaint is the lack of noise cancelling for when I'm flying. I have a set of Airpod Pros showing up today and will be trying them out.

ETA. I don't use my Airpods for anything active because I'm pretty sure they would fall out. For cycling, snowboarding or working out I use AfterShokz bone conduction headphones. I like having my ears open so I can hear the car right before it hits me.