I’m hoping to get some recommendations for relatively lightweight headphones for exercising. They need to be powered off a mobile device, because carrying around an amp at the gym is too much of a hassle. I’ve had various IEMs over the years, but the sound quality changes too dramatically depending on how far I jam them into my ear. I’m looking for some on-ear or even over-the-ear headphones that could be suffice for workout headphones. I have the Sennheiser HD650s, but they are just too big to wear to the gym or on a run, and they work best with an amplifier anyways.
It’s been several years since I looked closely at the high end headphone market, and I’m curious if there are any high quality bluetooth options? Those were notably absent several years ago, but I’m optimistic things have progressed. All suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you!
This is a tough area. I still haven’t found anything that I would actually recommend. Really curious if anyone has had a good experience with over-ears at the gym.
Has anyone tried LIVV Headphones? Apart from trying them on once, I don’t have a personal experience point but I know they’re built specifically for exercising.
I think Bluetooth is still sketchy plus you add another battery powered device. No easy answer.
I use Sennheiser Momentum 2.0’s, primarily for walking and use my iPhone as a player. Not high end but
sounds really great to me. Probably not what you need since the cord is always an issue but if you can deal
with it, great phones and good noise isolation.
Unfortunately the concept of a high-quality, high-end headphone for working out just doesn’t exist yet. There are certainly wireless headphones that do a decent job but they aren’t built for working out.
No sweat resistance, durability, etc…
There is a pretty big market gap for good, wireless workout headphones but the focus for wireless headphone manufacturers seems to be on ramming as many features as they can into a headphone rather than improving the one thing a headphone should do, which is produce good sound.
Thanks for all the great feedback. I guess it’s still pretty tough to find high quality bluetooth headphones. I’ll take a look at the Sennheiser Momentum’s, I’ve been very happy with my other Sennheiser’s. The Momentum’s look really good for air travel too, since they have noise cancelation.
Only issue with the Momentum 2.0 with noise cancelling is that they cost more than double the price of
the regular 2.0 model. That may or may not be an issue for you.
These don’t necessarily have the best sound, but I use the JBL Reflex buds. I’ve used them for close to 3.5 years now and no problems. They stay in the whole time, and are sweat resistant.