I basically listen to music constantly, and when I’m on holiday or riding my bike I generally use USB-C earbuds. I’ve had way too many wireless buds break and I’m sick of them, but these aren’t fairing much better tbh.
Problem is that the cables always eventually stop working, often from my phone being in my pocket while I’m walking or cycling. I’ve been able to partly extend their life by keeping my phone in the thigh pocket on my cargo pants but it often just falls over and bends the cable more sharply than my hip pocket.
I’m looking for either a pair of highly durable earbuds either USB-C or 3.5mm with a USB-C DAC recommendation, or even better a DSP cable that I could use with IEMs with a 0.78mm connector.
I’m also open to any other suggestions at all.
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Fairphone has repairable Bluetooth earbuds. Well. The battery can be replaced, so I’m assuming they’re repairable.
For repairable you only have 2 options. The fairphone wireless buds or AIAIAI which is what I believe you are looking for: https://aiaiai.audio/headphones/tracks
the only cable lasted on me is trn 8 core cable, i have them now for like 6 years, not sure with the quality of their current cables tho because a lot of things happened and shrinkflation does also affect cheap stuff too
ps: i rarely go out so im not sure if they would also last with being sun blasted and i use but not abuse my cables(ie: pulling them via the connector and not the cable, etc).
Also avoid those super cheap “8 cores” like jcally or qkz, they’re literally trash and would last only for a several months.
Moondrop makes quality portable audio gear for very reasonable prices.
And a variety of IEMs at different price points.
I use the CHU IIs which are their entry level option and I’m more than satisfied.
I’ve been looking at moondrop for a while and I’m probably going to end up getting something from them. Thanks for the suggestion, I hadn’t seen anyone discussing the CHUs!
Many brands offer IEMs that have detachable cables, so this is a non-issue. I’ve got a pair of fairly high-end Shure earbuds/IEMs that use options for USB-C, Bluetooth, 3.5mm and more… just be swapping the cable out directly from the back of the earbud.
Granted, I would STRONGLY suggest using bone conductive headphones if you want to listen to music while bike riding, but that’s another topic.
I have bone conduction for riding when needed, not every situation requires them.
It’s not a non-issue because I don’t want the cables to become a consumable, I want a tough cable I can rely on for as long as physically possible. My main interest in BIFL is to reduce my waste tbh.
I would consider cables for IEMs to be consumable, because they are a high-wear item. That’s one reason why they make them to be replaceable, just like ear tips, or foam padding on larger headphones.
How long they last will depend entirely on how you use them, how many bends they take, temperature extremes, are they exposed to sunlight, how many times are they plugged in, do they ever get yanked, etc.
Not that I go through a ton of cables, but they can be recycled (through an electronics recycling place) since the wiring is metal that can be reclaimed. That might be worth keeping in mind.
That’s pretty fair. I’m not expecting the cable to literally last forever but the longer it lasts then the less waste I can produce. Recycling is awesome but I honestly don’t have much faith in it, so trying to reduce what I send there too.
I’m considering getting into making my own cables tbh, maybe I’ll be able to work out how to make them durable as hell and share the designs with people who struggle with this too. That said I know IEM cables tend to be pretty heavily shielded and that seems like more trouble than its worth, but who knows.
KZ ES4 were recommended by DankPods as great cheap wired headphones, in the UK they’re £20 and a replacement cable is £10. They’re 3.5mm so you’d also need a USB-C dongle. Not exactly BIFL but I liked them, although I daily drive AirPods now because the convenience factor is just so much higher.
Beyerdynamic Free Byrd true wireless earbids
True wireless will never ever be BIFL because it has a battery and requires software and thus periodic updates and bugs.
Use wired earbuds and a player with a 3.5mm jack. BIFL for that stuff is kind of difficult though. Just buy cheap and replace now and then.
