I'm on the quest for the perfect wireless noise canceling earbuds or headphones to use in the shop and/or for job-site work. I'm a music lover, audiophile (or is it audiophool?) and professional woodworker / carpenter and have tried many different approaches over the years for listening to tunes or podcasts whilst working and have yet to arrive at the ideal solution. I've had a Makita 18V radio for many years that I've used with an iPod/iPhone with downloaded music and that's all fine and well for quieter environs or if you just want some background music, but isn't what I'd call a pleasurable listening experience except in the most quiet of tasks.

Over the past year or so I've tried the original Apple Airpods (a gift from family) as well as a few pairs of the Isotunes Free earbuds. The Airpods were not the noise canceling Pro models and really were no different in terms of sound isolation or quality than normal wired earbuds. I ended up accidentally loosing one of them and never was able to find it despite a couple of exhaustive searches. They aren't ideal for loud environments anyway and are more of a casual listening device.

The Isotunes Free offer some sound reduction (I think up to 27 dB reduction) via replaceable foam pads attached to the ends of the buds. They are decent in that regard, but the sound quality is absolutely terrible. I got a pair and the right ear bud made this very annoying buzzing / vibrating sound at nearly any volume with any amount of bass, even speech audio. Complained to Isotunes and was sent a brand new pair and the left ear bud in the new pair did the exact same thing! The max volume level is also intentionally set pretty low, which makes some sense from a protection point of view, but it really isn't loud enough and I find that to be pretty annoying. These issues, coupled with the fact that they just have poor sound quality in general has had me desperate as of late to find a much better replacement.

I work either on a job-site or in my shop 40+ hours a week and need something that can handle that environment, though I'm not against babying them to make them last if needed. Water / sweat resistance is a requirement I'd say. Excellent sound quality is a must. Noise cancellation / dB reduction is a concern but not quite as high as sound quality. Price is kind of a concern, but you know what they say about the bitter taste of poor quality...

I've heard good things about the Apple Airpod Pros, but don't know if the sound quality will be up to my standards and while I do like some Apple products, I don't feel like I need to support them if there are better options for me out there. They did just go on a big sale, though ($170 compared to normal price of $250.)

After reading some reviews of other options recently, it seems like the other front runners in this category are the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 (~ $250) and the Sony WF-1000XM3 ($170)

I'm trying to stick to earbuds as opposed to over the ear headphones because they are less bulky, don't interfere with safety glasses / respirator quite as much, and aren't as hot and clammy in warm weather.

Anybody have experience with this?