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In-ears headphones fit matters a lot

soundguys.com

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Re: In-ears headphones fit matters a lot

#91

Post by xnyan »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #80
infogulch wrote: post #73

I gave up on both in-ear and over-ear headphones, everything I tried would either fall out or become uncomfortable after enough time and I hated having to constantly fiddle with it. I finally broke down and dropped $160 on the "bone conduction" AfterShoks Aeropex that doesn't cover the ear canal, but pushes against and conducts sound through the bone right in front of your ear. It's been my favorite personal audio pu…

I have mild tinnitus. Most of the time I don't notice it. It becomes wildly apparent when I'm wearing in-ear headphones. I've always assumed this was because outside sounds are blocked by in-ear headphones and I get to "hear" my tinnitus more effectively. I get the same effect walking down the "foam" aisle at a local fabric store where ambient sounds are dampened. (That aisle is spooky, makes my entire head feel stra…

I’ve had tinnitus for ~20 years. I’ve tried everything (as far as I can tell), and by far sound therapy has been the most effective. It’s basically the same techniques used to manage chronic pain, but used to teach you how to minimize and even ignore the perception of tinnitus. It’s not a quick fix, but I went from being constantly consumed by my symptoms to not realizing I have a constant ringing in my left hear almost all of the time, and being ok with the ringing when I do notice it.

The other thing that had worked has been tinnitus masking hearing aids. It’s basically noise cancellation for tinnitus. It’s not perfect and I don’t use it anymore, but when I was learning how to deal with tinnitus it was valuable in giving me temporary symptom relief.

Re: In-ears headphones fit matters a lot

#92

Post by wintermutestwin »

ghostly_s wrote: post #81
wintermutestwin wrote: post #17

I have Air Pods Pro and I bought an aftermarket silicone ear tip that was slightly smaller than Apple's small. The damn things still fall out, albeit after a longer time. They are always uncomfortable and I am constantly having to shove them in. I tried foam and they didn't fit either. I must have freakishly small ear canals. I wish I could find something that works for me. The article linked in the original article…

I've just, I hope, arrived at the end-point of a similarly frustrating adventure into wireless earbuds that don't fit in my ears. I tried the Airpod Pros first, and like you the only way I got them to stay in for longer than a full minute was by jamming them in so hard it was painful to wear. After trying several alternatives with similarly unworkable results, I just recently picked up the Anker Soundcore Life A2 NC…

Ordered. Fingers crossed that they fit.

Re: In-ears headphones fit matters a lot

#93

Post by y4mi »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #80
infogulch wrote: post #73

I gave up on both in-ear and over-ear headphones, everything I tried would either fall out or become uncomfortable after enough time and I hated having to constantly fiddle with it. I finally broke down and dropped $160 on the "bone conduction" AfterShoks Aeropex that doesn't cover the ear canal, but pushes against and conducts sound through the bone right in front of your ear. It's been my favorite personal audio pu…

I have mild tinnitus. Most of the time I don't notice it. It becomes wildly apparent when I'm wearing in-ear headphones. I've always assumed this was because outside sounds are blocked by in-ear headphones and I get to "hear" my tinnitus more effectively. I get the same effect walking down the "foam" aisle at a local fabric store where ambient sounds are dampened. (That aisle is spooky, makes my entire head feel stra…

I cannot say anything wrt tinnitus, but I do own some aftershockz headphones as well.

They're extremely interesting, mainly because they're so different but there are a few caveats... The sound quality is pretty lack lustre if you don't plug your ears somehow, especially the base is very shallow otherwise. It's a very entertaining experience when you literally plug you ears with your fingers and the sound quality as well as loudness increases, because the sound waves get reflected back by whatever you plugged your ears with. I generally use significantly more expensive headphones though, so maybe I'm just spoiled.

It really doesn't cut through ambient noise in my experience, it's more like background sound unless your ears are plugged, so noisy surroundings will make it impossible to listen to the headphones as well.

Re: In-ears headphones fit matters a lot

#94

Post by ThePadawan »

rectang wrote: post #89
ThePadawan wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jostling how? I have been wearing in-ears for years, running the wire down my spine and into my pants pockets. That limits the parts of the cable that can still move to between the device and my beltline, which doesn't cause any noise whatsoever.

> Jostling how? I've already explained this multiple times elsethread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28738098 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28738221 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28738280

Just making sure I understand you! (I genuinely don't think I encounter this noise, but that's alright)

Re: In-ears headphones fit matters a lot

#95

Post by senorsmile »

willis936 wrote: post #41

I'm glad to see attention drawn here. The only way to get any reasonable sub 500 Hz response out of tiny in-ear transducers is to have a good seal. The standing waves go a long way. Molded in-ear monitors are best, but they're speciality items. It would be cool to see a modern true wireless earbud you can order and ship them your ear molds.

I have sensaphonics custom sleeves for Shure universals (specifically the se-535's, but fit the 215's just fine). I've used them with Shure bluetooth wireless adapters for a few years. Now with Shure's new Aonic TWS adapter, I can pop them on my 535's with my custom sleeves and voila!

Re: In-ears headphones fit matters a lot

#96

Post by bradknowles »

bryan0 wrote: post #33
camgunz wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have Etymotic ER4SRs which came with this clip [1]. It broke, and I soon found out the microphonics (sound traveling through the cable) were strong, and the extra weight the cable put on the drivers in my ears was surprisingly distracting. I bought a new one and, even though it's super nerdy, wear it. There are cables that are less microphonic, and I think it might be possible that if you wrap the cable around your…

I also loved my Etys. Problem for me is that they would only last a year before failing. I’ve since switch over to RHAs which are not quite as good but they have a 3 year warranty.

I loved my Etys, too. But they were very fragile.

I’ve ended up switching to Shure IEMs, but I use the Etymotic triple-flange silicone ear tips. I’ve tried everything else I can find, and nothing else works as well to keep them in my ears.

Comply foam ear tips are a good idea, but don’t work nearly so well as my 32dB NRR earplugs at staying in my ears. And the triple flange silicone tips actually let me hear something instead of just blocking out noise.

I’ve recently discovered that Shure now has a couple of different “totally wireless” devices that you can plug into whatever modern Shure IEMs you have, so I’m trying those out now, both as a way to actively block out the sound of my wife snoring with white noise from my iPhone, and I’m also going to try them in combination with a Røde Wireless Go II lavalier mic setup for Zoom and Chime teleconferences.

Re: In-ears headphones fit matters a lot

#97

Post by audron »

willis936 wrote: post #41

I'm glad to see attention drawn here. The only way to get any reasonable sub 500 Hz response out of tiny in-ear transducers is to have a good seal. The standing waves go a long way. Molded in-ear monitors are best, but they're speciality items. It would be cool to see a modern true wireless earbud you can order and ship them your ear molds.

I've been using my CIEMs with Fiio's UTWS3[0] and it's been great, pretty decent sound quality with APT-X tho sadly no LDAC. Also no ANC but imo the isolation of customs is good enough already. The software is also a joke, but basicly nothing has a proper parametric EQ anyways.

Also recently learned about UE FITS[1] which are TWS and mold to your ears at home.

[0] https://www.fiio.com/utws3 [1] https://custom.ultimateears.com/products/ue-fits

Re: In-ears headphones fit matters a lot

#98

Post by willis936 »

senorsmile wrote: post #95
willis936 wrote: post #41

I'm glad to see attention drawn here. The only way to get any reasonable sub 500 Hz response out of tiny in-ear transducers is to have a good seal. The standing waves go a long way. Molded in-ear monitors are best, but they're speciality items. It would be cool to see a modern true wireless earbud you can order and ship them your ear molds.

I have sensaphonics custom sleeves for Shure universals (specifically the se-535's, but fit the 215's just fine). I've used them with Shure bluetooth wireless adapters for a few years. Now with Shure's new Aonic TWS adapter, I can pop them on my 535's with my custom sleeves and voila!

That Aonic TWS is pretty interesring! It's almost exactly what I'm looking for. It'd be nice to also have the mic used for calls also be able to pump in sound from the outside. I like IEMs, but I don't want to wear something at work that I have to pull out all of the time.

Re: In-ears headphones fit matters a lot

#99

Post by camgunz »

rectang wrote: post #26
camgunz wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have Etymotic ER4SRs which came with this clip [1]. It broke, and I soon found out the microphonics (sound traveling through the cable) were strong, and the extra weight the cable put on the drivers in my ears was surprisingly distracting. I bought a new one and, even though it's super nerdy, wear it. There are cables that are less microphonic, and I think it might be possible that if you wrap the cable around your…

The effect isn't produced by wire microphonics, but instead by movement of the sealed headphone in the ear canal causing air pressure changes which are large compared to typical sound vibrations in air. The solution is to ensure that they are never jostled, which I achieved by staying still. Probably going wireless would also eliminate the issue.

Well, yeah I guess that's an absolute solution. But the clip more or less makes it such that any jostling below it is muted, so you only have to worry about the individual wires going to each driver. I find those don't get touched that often. That said, my use is practically always sitting in front of a computer. If I were doing other physical activity I'd probably get the cheapest Airpods and forget about it.

Re: In-ears headphones fit matters a lot

#100

Post by camgunz »

the_only_law wrote: post #47
aalam wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar problem, and the solution was to change out the filter in the non-functioning earpiece [0] with the tool and replacement filters that came with the device. I also bought a replacement cable, which didn't work, then contacted support for a replacement. Their suggested fix of changing the filter worked. I suspect the reason may have been moisture; I washed the silicon tip with soap and water, then put i…

Ah damn, I immediately recognized the bag containing the tool and filter replacements. Now I have to see if I can find it.

They sell replacements for cheap; I had basically the same experience as you and had a very sad moment, then yeah, (re)discovered filters and everything worked again. They also come in different tunings if you want to try and tweak things.
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