Meb Headphones? (Read 611 times)

I know nothing about them except that they 'hawk' the hell out of them at running expos.  And it helps that Meb trots around the expo wearing them, even when he stops to talk to people, which makes me wonder if he even turns the tunes down or just shakes his head pretending to hear what people are saying.

I know, pretty useless post.

Well at least you bumped it

 

 

I missed my window for asking for them for Christmas but my birthday is in January so maybe I can get some info before then.  

 

I really want to ditch my iphone and go with a garmin and these but I'm looking for reviews from actual marathoners who have trained and/or raced with these.  

 

I may just suck it up and buy them, the 4GB version is $70 on amazon and I have a $50 gift card.  

Meh, $20 out of pocket...go for it.  I prefer a Garmin "hands down" over a phone of any kind.  For personal safety reasons I don't train any distances w/ headphones, but that's just me.  Good luck in your purchase.

The Meb headphones interested me, but if I read the specs correctly, it doesn't work with Macs?

Got a pair of the Meb editions for Christmas.  I like them.  Probably be more helpful for you if I just went right to...

Pros:

• they are indeed lightweight, and I love not having to mess with routing headphone cords when I use them*
• they do stay in my ears - mostly** - on the run, which was one of my concerns
• you can drag-and-drop playlists from iTunes, also just files from your desktop (I'm pretty sure - never actually tried that latter method). The proprietary software you use to interface with them seems very unobtrusive and utilitarian, a good thing IMO.
• water-resistant!  Tested that one out on my very first run with them (light-to-moderate rain), they held up like a champ.  Didn't slip out, either.
• sound isolation is very poor, which I list as a "pro" of course because we need to hear outside noise while running

Cons:

• controls give me most of what I want on the run, except a) it's kind of tough to use them while running without wiggling them around in your ear canal, and b) as far as I can tell, there's no way to scan forward or backward.  The "forward/back" control only lets you skip forward one track, or one playlist if you hold it down
• very little low end to the sound, but I've said it before and I'll say it again: we shouldn't be worried about robust sound quality while running (see last "pro" above)
• one thing I do wish you could do with the software is edit the tracks in playlists already on the device.  As it is, you have to delete the playlist (which leaves the tracks on the device), then edit the playlist in iTunes (or wherever), then copy it back to the device.
• does not hold your place in playlists if you turn off the power or listen to another playlist for a bit

By the way, I too used to use my iPhone + RunKeeper, and have since switched to Garmin + separate device.  I still use RunKeeper, mainly for the live tracking (safety), but the Garmin is much more accurate and I've decided having physical buttons on the mp3 player is easier to mess with on the run.  The iPhone stays tucked away in a SpiBelt.

Hope this helps!

* to "That Guy:" Yes, I know you avoid this by simply not running with music, and thus you are superior to us.  May I politely suggest this entire thread isn't really for you?

** they stay in enough for me to hear them, which is enough for me.  On my long run today, though, the right one kept tilting down at a weird angle - still in my ear, but enough that the sound was a little uneven.  Kind of annoying, but not enough to quit using them, or to dampen my enthusiasm for them.  I may experiment with some of the included bud sizes to see if this fixes it.

I've decided having physical buttons on the mp3 player is easier to mess with on the run.  The iPhone stays tucked away in a SpiBelt.

Ahhh...I have the Sennheiser headphones with the controls on the cord.  Love that.  I start my music and then can control volume, pause, fwd/back all with buttons on the cord.  No way do I want to mess with the touchscreen while running.  Especially not while wearing gloves.

 

I had a pair like that, from Creative Labs...stopped working after a couple of months.  Warranty replaced them (process took about a month), then the second pair had the same issue.  Probably not fair to assume that would happen with other brands (and if you've had yours for awhile, it probably wouldn't), but I'm no longer trusting of headphone controls.

I've had mine for a while.  Sennheisers are bombproof and the sport models can withstand full submersion and lots of sweat.

MAB

Thanks for the Pros and cons list.  That is very helpful.

I think I am going to pick up a pair for races.  I like making a new playlist for each race so I can just drag that to the headphones from my Mac and I should be good to go.  My wife got me a Garmin 610 for Christmas so I will use that for my GPS from now on and and give up on runkeeper.

I will probably stick with my current set up of my Jaybird Bluetooth headphones and my Iphone while training so that I have lots of music to choose from and also have a cellphone on me in case of emergency.  Which goes both ways with a pregnant wife at home.

For those looking for headphones with controls on the them the Jaybirds are great I have no complaints about those.  My reason to switch is to get rid of the Iphone while racing.