Which are the best Headphones for Running?

[saltedlolly]

I am just about to start week 9 and, other than having to give up Fridays run halfway through - my heart wasn't in it that day - it has all been a great experience so far. I've completed every other run so far without a problem, and am rapidly approaching my current goal of 5K in 30mins!

That being said, I have had a disaster - sweat (ugh!) has killed my Apple headphones, and I am looking for advice on their replacement! I cannot run without headphones! Since starting, I have found that running with a podcast is the best distraction from the pain!

My main requirements are the following:

- Solid build quality! I don't want them falling apart after a few weeks
- Waterproof / Water resistant. They need to be able to handle sweat and inclement weather
- Decent sound quality. I want decent sound with good bass response.
- Built-in Apple Remote Control + Mic. I want to be able to skip tracks and answer calls without getting out my phone
- Adjustable cable length would be a bonus so it doesn't tangle with my arm band.
- I will consider wireless if sound quality and battery life are good, and a remote is supported. I have an iPhone 4S so if they are wireless then it would be nice if they support Bluetooth Smart technology.

What does everyone recommend?

Price anything up to 120 UKP although I would go a little over if they really offer some significant advantage.

[matt]

My requirements for headphones sound pretty similar to yours, and I've ended up settling on the Sennheiser MM70. Good build quality, great sound, remote including volume, and (good quality) mic. Also, if anything goes wrong with them, Sennheiser honour their guarantees pretty well, in my experience.

(If you want to hear the mic on the Sennheisers, I included a short bit of microphone audio -- recorded while actually running!) from them in the audio bit of this review I did of the not-as-good Jabra Rhythms.)

Cheers,

Matt

[Not a runner-yet!]

I hate to even reply after Matt, he's very smart about these things, but I have a pair of ifrogz. I'm not sure if they do all the things you want, but the best thing about them is there are silicone pieces that slip on the bud. They come with 3 different sizes of silicone bud covers so there is a set to fit most ears. The silicone sort of sticks to your ears and they don't fall out. I'm in week 9 and I haven't had any trouble with them. Good luck with your search!
Sheri

[saltedlolly]

It's probably bad form to reply to my own post but I thought I should provide an update on what I purchased in the end.

I did a LOT of research about this. I'm a terrible geek when it comes to this stuff! For me personally I budgeted around 100 pounds because I wanted durability!

In the end I settled on the Monster iSport immersion can can say that I am very pleased with them but have a few reservations.

Here are my Pros and Cons:

PROS

- Great sound quality
- 100% waterproof and machine washable. I sweat allot and wanted something I can clean easily. I wash these under the tap after use and they work great!
- Tangle resistant cable. It's a small detail but it tends not too get tangled which is great. Plus the headphones come with a nice pouch to store them in.
- iPhone remote and mic. I wanted to have access to Siri as well as being able to pause, skip and adjust the volume.

CONS

- Difficult to get to fit at first. They come with adjustable ear pieces which you need to spend some time with to find the ones that work for you. Once I found the right ones they are great though.
- Occasionally they become loose in my ears when I sweat allot. This is an occasional problem - but a couple of times I have had a problem of having to readjust them in my ears to stop them falling out when I am really sweating.

Here's the link: http://www.monstercable.com/headphones/isport/

My close second was the Yurbuds Ironman which also look great. The reason I didn't buy these is that I couldn't find the ones I wanted in the UK at that moment!

http://www.yurbuds.com/ybcart/ironman-earphones

Hope you guys find this useful!

[matt]

Fab, thanks for the update! It's good to see a few more contenders coming onto the scene with proper remote/volume controls; when I was looking there were hardly any non-Apple headphones with that feature.

The iSport phones look really good. Especially on a day like today, when I want to go and run 10K at some point soon, but it's chucking it down with rain. Waterproofing would be handy... I'm going to put them on my list to buy after I wear out these MM70s...

Cheers,

Matt

[Jenno27]

I saw a review of yurbuds and looked great. I went into Sweat Shop who said they would have them in stock on 17th Sept.
They are getting the personalised series so you get measured in store to make sure you have the right size. just like getting fitted for trainer:)

[Timl2k10]

I am bumping this topic up to give props to Apple's new EarPods. They are simply amazing! At $30 they are a no brainer. They won't fit everyone's ears, but if they do they stay put, have wonderfully balanced highs, mid-range and surprisingly deep lows. They are all plastic so nothing to wear out. I don't know if they are water-proof, but the firmly in-ear design should protect them from the elements. They are also very comfortable. I think they meet all the OP's requirements.