I got Sennheiser 300 S earphones at least a year and a half ago and they don't show any signs of deteriorating. They cost 50 euro, double what standard throwaway earphones cost here from any old shop. Yes they're not an audiophile's wet dream or anything, but they sound way better than the throwaways. Great amount of bass and top end, with a little more top end than bass but not at all tinny or noticeable in any way. To buy anything good to last nowadays you have to go a bit higher than the standard. That's just the world we live in, and wired are the same.

Not new ones, but I have a pair of original Sony Fontopias that came with a high end walkman around 20 years ago. They're built to last and incredibly comfortable with good audio quality. Unfortunately I dont think they made them that well for long. The equivalent headphones from only 5 years later were terrible in comparison.

Edit: I just looked them up. MDR-E484. They seem to be classics that sell for hundreds of dollars used! I never realised they were so sought after!

I find it's always the cables that go. Thus buying a set with a removable cable sent me from 6 months to 5 years with a pair of Shure se215's. There's many more options today, as (removable)wired IEM's seem to be abit of a growing niche.

Back in HS I would go through Skullcandy headphones like candy, I would find a place that had them on sale and buy 5-10 pairs at once. Average lifespan with a high school kid taking care of them was like 2-4 weeks.

Many of my friends had their parents get them really nice headphones (Bose, Beats by Dre, etc), I always stuck to the cheap ones because I never had to think about taking care of them. They all broke, I'd toss them out and open up a new pair.

Great tip! It is hard to find removable wired IEM around here, but just found a local e-commerce representative for Shure so just bought exactly a Shire SE 215!

Sennheiser HD 650 has user replaceable cord. The Sennheisers I have has lasted two decades.

They're not in-ear though.