Airpods - Should I wait ? vs Audiophile IEM?

[Sovon Halder]

Earpods fit okay in my ear. Four days ago, my earpods broke(some wire connectivity issue in the 3.5mm jack). I'll have to buy something. I'll use it in office and during workout(cardio) to stream apple music.

When are people expecting(if at all) 2nd gen Airpods?

Also, I'm from India. So it'll cost me 15.4K INR ($240) if not more for a pair of Airpods. Should I go for a audiophile(wired) IEM around this price point? (Sennheiser IE80 comes to mind)

Though I'm not an audiophile, I can appreciate a better sound. I don't own an apple watch, so lack of inline controls won't matter for me in this context(airpods vs IEM). Please suggest.

EDIT: Thank you.

 

[bluespark]

For better sound, you'll want to look at wired options (which is one reason some of us will not get over the loss of the headphone jack). That seems especially true in your case, given the premium price you would have to pay for AirPods. AirPods are great for what they are, but they are not "audiophile " devices by any stretch.

 

[Sovon Halder]

Thank you for reply. Appreciate it.
2 days after I posted this thread, I bought a pair of Airpods for 15400 INR (240$). These are pretty little earrings that makes things convenient.

Apart from the slight discomfort caused by the tension that I might lose or misplace these, I'm liking these so far. To my ears sound quality is slightly better than earpods, which is FINE by me.

 

[bluespark]

They certainly are convenient, and if you like the look and sound then it sounds like you're all set!

 

[macrem]

For better sound, you'll want to look at wired options (which is one reason some of us will not get over the loss of the headphone jack). That seems especially true in your case, given the premium price you would have to pay for AirPods. AirPods are great for what they are, but they are not "audiophile " devices by any stretch.

Keep in mind for better sound, decent Lightning headphones will sound better than 3.5 jack headphones. As I understand, this is mainly because Lightening enables headphone manufacturers to integrate a better DAC in the headphones than those integrated in smartphones.

 

[bluespark]

Keep in mind for better sound, decent Lightning headphones will sound better than 3.5 jack headphones. As I understand, this is mainly because Lightening enables headphone manufacturers to integrate a better DAC in the headphones than those integrated in smartphones.

This is true, but this benefit existed before the headphone jack disappeared. And it's problematic in practice because Lightning isn't a standard interface for high-end headphones. USB-C, on the other hand, would have given high-end headphone makers incentive to create the type of devices you describe.

 

[Sovon Halder]

I ran with these in my ears for the first time today. And damn, these are awesome.

My ears are little bit small, a way that can not hold these babies as good as it shows in the marketing images of Apple. While in my ears, they look like they are just fit somehow, but they stay really okay. And I have tried significant amount of shaking(nodding, jumping) my head, but they don't fall.

I've been running with my stock earpods plugged in to my ears(I tuck them under my dri-fit tee), for about 6-7 months now. And almost everyday after about 2-3 kilometers, when the wire become sweaty and slippery, they drag down the earpods, and when I try to pull up the cable & wear the earpods properly, things just don't get much better. It's a hassle nonetheless. And the run I did this evening.. The Airpods didn't even move, I kind of forgot they are even there. I usually run 5.5K on regular days and about 7 on weekends while my average pace is moderately around 5"20'/KM. For me, these are better than I expected.

Also, I do own some high end gears like.. Pico DAC+AMP, ATH M50, Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, Audeze LCD 3 Rev 2 etc. While they are clearly definitely better in terms of sound quality, over the past couple of years, I've come to this conclusion that convenience is sometimes more important than quality. I mean, I do want to listen to my lossless stuff in my iPod Classic + ATH M50, but I can't carry them everywhere(I wish I could). Whatever.

Last night my airpods had 5% left and case had full 100% charge. Boy, these charge really really really fast. In about a hour or so I checked them and found that airpods are fully charged and case is at 85%. In the morning when I woke up, it only dropped to 83%, only 2% standby off-mode charge drop.

I'm happy with my purchase here.