xiaomi pistons

How about a set of ear buds with diy molded ear pieces? Thats what i use for the gym and its by far best.

I went to an audiologist to get molds made for my Etymotic ER4s headphones....best money I've ever spent. I can wear them all day long and not even notice they are in. They also seal your ear from ambient noise much better than any OTS foam/rubber tip.

Took about 3 weeks for the molds to be made, and they needed my headphones during that time to finish it up but now I rarely use my Sony over ear headphones.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442311812

I found some pretty unexpected value from a pair of sennheiser ear buds, rock solid for running in, and an in-line volume control that actually works - 100% of the time. With that said, I realize you aren't looking for an in-the-ear solution, because those generally become painful after extended use. Here's the complete line-up of over-ear headphones from sennheiser, though, with prices ranging from $30 - $400 (and up to $1600 for their top-of-the-line audiophile set)...

Over Ear Headphones - Sennheiser

Headphones
 

Doubling up on the noise reduction seems to really help with fatigue after a long flight.

What did that cost, ballpark? I couldn't afford $300 Etymotic IEM's but I would try the same if it was really that comfortable. I have normal sized ears but narrow ear canals -- any of the IEM's that attempt to jam something into my ear are highly uncomfortable. The only styles I can tolerate for very long are Bose or the standard cheapie iPhone earbuds.

I use the Audio Technica ATH-50 for home use and love it, but I have their CKX9 in ear headphones for travel/work. Don't get the CKX 5 or 7, they have tiny drivers. The 9s are huge. The CKX9 is comfortable and great sounding. It's a slightly bass heavy unit that stays clean throughout the entire range and can be turned up as loud as you want without losing fidelity. Good noise isolation on all the AT stuff as well. I usually listen to them for 10 hours at a time at work and have zero complaints. If it ever sounds shitty, it's a problem with the recording, not the headphones.

Avoid stuff like bose and beats. They are shit quality with tons of bass and weak/tinny/distorted mid and upper frequency range. They sound great in the store because they're always playing samples with a ton of bass. Try to play anything with vocals or any high pitched instruments and it sounds like complete shit. The ironic thing is that the low end audio-technica stuff is like half the price of beats and sounds much better.

Btw, the CKX9s were I think about 70-80 bucks. Don't remember exactly. The ATH-50 were like 120 or something when I got them. I've been using them for a while now.

edit: oh shit, CKX9 can be had for under 50 bucks on amazon if you are willing to with the silver color.

For sure, you don't need that expensive of an IEM to get good sound. I had the Shure SE215k before the Etymotics and loved them. Lost them at one point and decided to upgrade. The ER4s is so neutral and the vocals just kick your ass they are so good.

I paid out the door $130 for the mold, appointment, and getting them sent off to get them slip fitted around my tips.

I had the EXACT same issue you have. In order to get a seal I had to really burrow the bastards in my ear, and it felt like my ear canals were bruised after a long day of wearing them.

These are so comfortable I'll forget I only took the tips out, not the molded portion, until someone says something to me.

They are a little more difficult to get in your ear until you find the knack for it.

They'll ask you what colors you want. If the audiologist doesn't say anything, mind said get two different color so it is easy to know which goes in each ear. Mine said he always does black and white...."white is right" as the saying goes...

That's going to drive me nuts now.

In the world of telephony, when dealing with CAT-rated twisted pairs, the common standard is that the white (or white / stripe) wire of a pair is Tip, and the colored (or colored / white) wire is Ring.

When translating this into 1/4" and 1/8" TRS plugs in an unbalanced application (eg: headphones), this means that the white conductor, on the tip terminal, will be the left-side signal, and the colored conductor, on the ring terminal, will be the right-side signal.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1442335638

Thats what i made. On thing i'd like is if i could paint them in something more durable. Something like plastidip but i'm guessing plastidip would cause irritation.

DIY Custom-Molded In-Ear Headphones

Plastidip in a can is far more smooth rubbery than the coarse spray plastidip.

How about silicone? Is there a very soft and watery silicone out there that you can dip stuff in and then have it dry?

Welp, this is what I ended up getting:




They're Bluetooth and active noise cancelling but you can also use a cable if the battery dies.


I was worried about the 10 hour flight and running out of battery on my phone, tablet and headphones so I also got one of these:




This thing is freaking awesome. I've already charged my iphone 6 3xs on it before the battery ran down. You can basically charge anything that charges via Bluetooth.


I think I'm ready for this looooong flight.