Earbuds/Sports headphones with durable cords

I'm looking for a good pair of in-ear, clip, or sports headphones with a durable cord that will stand up to some pulling and possibly my cats' claws - they're horrible about tearing up cords and I can't always remember to put the phones away. In-ear is preferred, but clip or sports would be acceptable if the sound's good - I'll be wearing these with a bike helmet regularly and powering them primarily with a Philips GoGear Spark, so an overhead band is out of the question and top-quality sound reproduction is overkill.

I'd definitely prefer something in the lower price ranges - sub-$50 would be great. I'm not opposed to buying a nice, expensive pair of earbuds in principle, but in practice I'm pretty sure I'd either break the cord or lose them before I got my money's worth out of them. For that reason, Beats and Shure are potential options for pretty good sound and thick cords, but the price causes me to balk a bit.

Oh, and I live in China most of the year, so US-based sales won't do me any good - a $200 pair of Bose headphones on sale on Amazon.com for $100 is still generally going to cost the equivalent of $200 or more here, after all.

 

Ok, first thing I have to tell you, is that I know nothing about headphones and whatnots. So I can offer you no help on that area.

With that out of the way. Since you mention you live in China most of the year and don't want to pay outrageous international shipping fees, I see three options for you.

1. If you have relatives living in the states. Purchase whatever you want and have them ship the item for you with some local carrier that charge less for international shipping. I'm Chinese, and I found a local carrier at the Chinatown to ship my package. I paid around 11 bucks for what USPS would charge for $30 minimum. With this option however, is whether you can find reliable service around your area.

2. You mentioned you live in China most of the year. Meaning there are still times when you will visit the States. You could of course, buy the headphone when you are in USA.

3. For the last option, I really hope you have some understanding of Chinese. If you live in China most of the time, I suggest you to post your question on a Chinese forum. They will tell you the make/manufacturer in Chinese, so it'll be easier for you to find a vendor in China. It's also better to buy in China because of warranty/sales issues that might arise, just make sure you buy from credible sources and keep your receipts.

Side note:

1. I don't think any headphone will have cords strong enough to withstand constant cat claws, though I might be wrong.

2. If the manufacturer is big enough, they might have international retail stores available in China. So I hope you'll get a few recommendations from people in this forum as well! Good Luck!

 

Thanks, these are all things I've considered, though. Between the local computer markets, taobao, 360buy, Amazon.cn, and other retailers I think I've got a good chance of getting just about anything in-country, though ordering something via a US-based relative or direct international shipping are potential alternatives that I've used once or twice in the past.

Right now I'm really just looking for what I should get, rather than how I can get it. The cats' claws thing is probably asking too much, but I'd at least like something that will hold up better than your typical $20-$40 Sony/Philips canal buds that break if you look at them funny.

 

While you wait for other people more in the know to answer your question...

I am reading this post. It's not really dead center on what you are looking for, but it does mention a few clip-on that you might want to read over if you have some free time. The one about Yuin G2A and Audio-Technica ATH-EM7 GM seem to have decent reviews on build and sound quality.

 

(2C26) MEElectronics A151

Multi-IEM Review - 208 IEMs compared (Clear Tune Monitors CTM-200 added 12/10/11)

I recently purchased a pair and they're great. I previously had the Head-Direct RE0 but build quality was not as my current ones. Very detailed and exact sound, not very bass heavy. This review is pretty good and I would definitely agree with him based off of these two models.

 

That list of 208 IEM reviews, like the portable headphones list, is a lot to dig through, so I definitely appreciate a little help with specific models to look at. How sturdy would you say the cables feel? Would you be comfortable putting them in situations in which they were likely to be pulled on fairly often, or do you think that would be too much for them?

On the downside, that pair is definitely out of my preferred price range - the only pair I can find in China via a quick search is the equivalent of about $85. I'm definitely crossing my fingers for something in the $50 range if that can be managed.

 

You're definitely going to want to check out Sports Headphones.

They've done some good reviews, here's a couple I would personally check into:

Bose IE2
Yurbuds
Monster iSport

I think those are the 3 on their Best Workout Headphones of 2011, which you can find at : Best Overall Workout Headphones of 2011

Hope that helps.

 

i picked up a set of sony mdr-ex71 earphones in nanjing years back for about £10, still going strong now it was from a random department store, god knows where as i was only passing through on my travels!

got a set of seinheiser cx-300 II now as well but they were a bit more expensive

both are in ear, sound deadening type, perfect for biking

although if i'm honest i prefer the sony on the bike, sound reproduction isnt as good but buffeting from the wind is no where near as noticeable as it is with the seinheisers

 

I'm not an audiophile or anything, but I have used various cheap headphones and just like you, the cord tends to get pulled quite often. Most of those headphones broke after a few times it got pulled or the earpiece itself got damaged and gets destroyed. And lots of times either the bass goes out or the speaker is blown out.

So I went and bought myself these from a local electronic store.

Muzx® Core - MZX206 - Headphones at Altec Lansing

Got it for $30 about a year ago. It's got nice base and sound. The noise cancellation is a plus as I do a lot of farm work and driving on tractors tends to be loud.

It's very sturdy. I couldn't believe that I still have these headphones. The cheap ones (around $15) I bought lasted me maybe a month, two if I'm lucky.

I've had it snagged on a lot of things and surprisingly they still work. One very nice feature about these headphones is that located around the earpiece, you'll notice they put a little bracket to protect the wire from being pulled out easily. It works very well. Although one of those brackets broke on my earpiece, but it still works till now.

The cord itself is very durable. Even after being pulled many times, the inside wire is not damaged. Sound quality is still great. I also use this for my phone as it has a mic and call button.

 

I don't know why; but I have 3 sets of the Skull Candy ear buds in different flavors. Never had a problem with any of them and they get tossed around quite a bit while traveling.

 

Just going to give a shout out for all MEElectronics products. I own several of their headphones and the bang for the buck factor can not be beat. They blow away any of the silly trendy brands. They do ship international but if it is not worth it keep them in mind when your in the states.

 

on high end stuff the cable is often user replaceable, may want to look into this route

 

That's the brand I'm looking into right now - I can't recall exactly what model I saw on that thread that I was particularly interested in, but it wasn't available in China as far as I could find. However, they've got a bunch of different models available here online, so there's a good chance I'll be going that route.

That's worth considering - what sort of price range does that capability start at? If I'm buying a $250 pair of earbuds for my $45 mp3 player it doesn't seem like it's worth it, but if I can get a good replaceable-cable IEM in the $100 range that might be worth considering, since the MEElectrics ones I'm looking at come out in the $50-85 range here in China, and I assume if the cable craps out on them I'm stuck buying a new pair.

 

Not sure "where it starts" just know its an option. The Tripe.Fi 10's that I use have a replaceable cable.

I actually bought a replacement cable for them w/ inline mic so that I could use it with my phone as a communication headset and not just for music.