quote:

Originally posted by dry-fly:
Westone. Someone here turned me on to them years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I use exclusively around-the neck bluetooth ear buds.

I have the Phiathon BT-100 NC. I bought them at the airport last year when I forgot to pack my Walker's Razor XV BT ear plugs/buds. I was headed to Singapore and I wasn't about to be gone three weeks without my ear buds. I use ear buds every day at work, all day.



Both models are bluetooth and you wear them around the neck. Both models can be used for phone calls. Both models are good for jogging and gym work but both models will fall off the neck if you're laying on your back (bench press, stretching, etc...).

The Walker's are good for airline travel and loud machinery work to keep noise out. They're not noise cancelling; they are supposed to be electronic hearing protection for the range but they don't work well at all for that purpose. If you use the volume on either the phone or the ear buds, the volume resolution is the same; it's like pushing the same button. The battery only lasts about 4 hours and it takes nearly as long to recharge them. The charge lasts just enough to get me through listening to Brian Kilmeade and maybe half of Rush Limbaugh. By the time Hannity comes on, I'm burnt out on talk radio and its on to iHeart or iTunes.

The Phiathon's are my favorite. They actually are noise cancelling, but since they are ear buds and not full-coverage earphones, they can only cancel out so much. They are not meant to be used as hearing protection. I work on machines with constant noise and they muffle most of the humm but the big noise makers, like debris removal vacuum, can't be cancelled out. You have the option of turning the noise cancelling on or off. Turning it on burns more battery but I do turn it on if I decide to go to the break room and take a short nap.

The battery life on the Phiathon's is awesome! I can probably listen to 8 hours of talk radio and music before the battery runs low. Maybe 6 hours if I turn on noise cancelling. They charge really quickly, like in an hour or an hour and a half. The volume buttons on the Phiathon's works independently from the button on my iPhone. When I take a mid-day nap I turn on iHeart radio and tune to an easy-listening channel and have the resolution to turn my volume down to a whisper so I can sleep. I turn the volume on my phone to one click above mute and from there, I can use the volume control on the Phiathon's to turn the volume down even more.

With the Razor's, the lowest volume setting can sometimes be too loud to sleep with. In that case, I just turn it off but still wear them as ear plugs.

The bluetooth range on the Phiathons is better. The Walker's can cut in and out if you're outside and around power lines or if the phone is in your back pocket. I don't see that as much or at all with the Phiathon's.

Both models cost around $100. I've had the Walker's for maybe a year and a half or 2 years. I've had the Phiathon's since last October. Both have held up great with every day use.

Tony.