sports ear buds

I went through a number of earbuds trying to find a pair to run with. I hated the feel of over the ear buds, but non over the ear buds kept falling out of my ears and I had to keep putting them back in, until I found the Sol Republic Relays Sport. Not expensive, decent sound, and they don't fall out of my ears. At all. I never have to adjust them once I've secured them and start running. Volume control on the cord (as well as music control – pause, forward, back).

I hesitate to mention them as wearing anything "Bose" to me is a proclamation to the world that the wearer is willing to overpay for headphones of mediocre quality to pay their advertising campaign but in the case of their sport headphones, they have been a really good fit for me and I don't have issues with them falling out of my ears.

I haven't found a pair of earbuds yet that I'd say have excellent sound quality but the Bose earbuds are as good, if not slightly better than the other ones I've owned.

I'm not an audiophile so I can't really comment on the sound quality, plenty good enough for me. I've had mine a little over two years and ~ 4000 miles of trail running and they are still going. These things are tough!

I'm pretty sure they are available with different size rubber pieces that go in your ear. I don't recall the exact model I have (they probably changed it by now anyways), but they are behind the ear and they were reasonably priced ~ $30-ish if I remember correctly.

Diane,

I've been very happy with these:
http://www.meelec.com/Sport_Fi_M6_s/436.htm

They stay secure over my ears hiking, running & biking, have plenty of replaceable plugs to fit into anyone's ear canal, audio quality is decent (I _AM_ an audiophile) however not great, the wiring components are sized as to last long time, there is no "wire rub" noise. Inexpensive too.

I don't use them often outdoors, as I prefer to listen and hear my surroundings, but do use them during the entire flight when air travel – they isolate ambient noise (babies crying…) and jet engine noise pretty well, and allow me to hear the audio on plane's entertainment system without the need of cranking up the volume. Great for sleeping on the plane and elsewhere too.
I've been using a pair for perhaps 6 years now, still going strong.

If you dig a bit on the web site, they also make them now with a microphone as well, and offer a bunch of other models; the company has a solid reputation.
Sometimes Amazon has better pricing on these.

"I'm looking for ear buds with over-the-ear pieces so that I don't have to keep putting them back in my ears and a volume control on the cord."

This is *exactly* what I like too, with the addition of "not too expensive". For some reason this combination seems about as common as feathers on a fish (hen's teeth? whatever …).

What I've done most recently is do a lot of internet searching, and if I find this magic troika (over-the-ear, volume control, inexpensive), I buy several pairs. So just now I'm coasting on my last several-pair purchase.

Best wishes, and while I can't point to anything specific that's available today, know that you're not alone! :-)

I lucked into my favorite earbuds when I bought a waterproof iPod Shuffle from Audioflood to use while swimming. It came with short-cord buds so I could attach the Shuffle to my goggles and not have to worry about a wire getting in my way (it also comes with a longer cord extension to use with a phone or whatever you use). They're not over-the-ear, but they rarely pop out. I use them for every activity now and don't have to worry about then getting wet with sweat or in the rain. I even accidentally put them through the washer once. Didn't affect them at all.

I really like this stereo to mono single earbud with a 15" cord. I occasionally like to listen to music or podcasts while on really long climbs. I carry a tiny, cheap Sandisk mp3 player with an integrated clip and can put it on my sternum strap or baseball hat and then pop this into one ear. I don't like having both ears blocked when on the trail. The audio quality is less than ideal but I'm totally sold on these for hiking. They never pop out of my ear.

http://amzn.to/1KIm1Ki

Quasi-audiophile here.
Earbuds are all about a proper fit and ear shapes vary tremendously, so unfortunately you might have to try several pairs to find one that does not fall out and that sounds good. It can help if the buds are small or lightweight. I recommend two pairs. The Panasonic RPTCM125W earbuds have a remarkably good sound for $10, they come with two sizes of ear inserts, are very lightweight, they have no cable noise, and the cables hang directly off the ear. The VSONIC GR07 is an audiophile-on-the-cheap favorite, comes in regular and bass editions, comes with a wide variety of shapes and sizes of ear inserts, and they cost $100. and $128. respectively. The cables hook over the ear, they are lightweight, and have no cable noise. I have several pairs of earbuds that cost much more, but often reach for the GR07 bass edition. You can buy an inline separate volume control / microphone that can work with any earbuds.

The audiophile pursuit of headphones and earbuds is a bottomless pit of incremental subtleties and differences. You really are best off avoiding those waters, but if you really want to take the dive, this is the place to go: http://theheadphonelist.com/headphone-list/