Editorial policy

Who writes and publishes

Every page is written by Mike M. and published by Iron Mako Media. The byline on every article, review and this page is the same person, and the author page lists exactly what we claim about him, which is what the publisher has provided and nothing more.

How products are chosen

A product is eligible for the registry if it is currently sold, has a product page on its maker's own website, and that page publishes an IP rating. The shortlist comes from the models that recur across the independent reviewers we read (SoundGuys, RTINGS, Tom's Guide, TechRadar, The Run Testers, NBC Select and others), the makers' own lineups, and reader questions. We exclude products with no maker website, because we can't verify their specs or warranty, and products whose maker page can't be reached and for which no named review publishes a spec sheet (the fetch log names them).

How facts are sourced

• Specs (IP rating, weight, battery, charging, Bluetooth, mics, controls, codecs) come from the maker's product page, read on the date shown on the card, and each value links to it.
• Where a maker page can't be read (script-rendered, or blocking fetches), we cite a named independent review for the figures and say so on the card.
• Where a maker contradicts itself (two ratings on one page), we print both and score the lower.
• Independent findings are attributed in the sentence that uses them (“SoundGuys measured 7 hours 10 minutes”), never absorbed as ours.
• Standards (IEC 60529) are cited to the standard via a published test-lab summary. Health facts are cited to NIDCD and WHO and limited to what those sources say.
• Prices are never printed. Amazon prices change daily; a “Check price” button is the only price on the site. Under-$100 lists use the maker's list price on the day checked, stated as such.
• Where a figure isn't published, the table shows a dash. We do not fill gaps from memory.

What we don't claim

We haven't worn the pairs on this site and we don't say we have. We don't list credentials, awards, testimonials or testing facilities, because there are none to list. Sound scores are a reading of the design and of cited reviews, labeled as such. Hearing-safety pages make no medical claims and direct readers with symptoms to an audiologist. Every product carries a “skip this if” line; a recommendation with no downside is an advertisement.

Commissions

The site is funded by affiliate commissions, mostly as an Amazon Associate. Commissions never set a score or decide a pick; the rubric is public and computed from the metric scores on the card. No brand pays for placement, sends free units, or reviews copy before publication. Every outbound money link is marked sponsored and disclosed above the fold. Full terms in the affiliate disclosure.

Corrections and updates

Reported errors are checked against the source, fixed, and logged in the page's “Corrections & updates” entry. If the source changed (a spec revision, a discontinued model), we update the page and its date. Flagship roundups are rechecked every 60 days, other roundups and comparisons every 90, guides every 180 or when a standard changes. A discontinued product is removed, not left with a dead link. Report an error via the contact form or mike@blackironathletics.com.

Style

US English, plain punctuation, no exclamation points. Written for the person whose earbuds fall out or die from sweat; pages lead with that problem and get to the fix. First person singular for the author's decisions, second person for the reader.

Imagery

The site runs without product photography from the retailer at launch. Every image is licensed stock, labeled as such on product cards, with alt text that describes the scene and never names a product the photo doesn't show. Credits are kept in the site's repository.