I know it’s probably been covered before, but when I tried to search it threw out ‘ear’, ‘bud’, and ‘fit’. Abd it’s probably a stupid question anyway, but believe it or not, I’ve never owned a device with ear bud-style headphones before.
Are the little dinguses supposed to slip INTO your ear canals? Because if so, my ears are too small: no matter how I twist and push and shove, the best I can do is get the very tip wedged about 1/8" in, and as soon as I yawn or speak or even just turn my head they get shoved back out. (Not to mention hurting during even the very short time they are in.)
Are they supposed to just rest OVER the opening? If so, my out ears must be too large, because there are no folds or ridges or whatever close enough together to keep the damn things securely trapped. In fact, they fall off as soon as I let go.
I know other people wear them securely, hell, half the joggers I see are pounding along with earphones of this type.
They’re supposed to cover the opening. They can not be inserted into the ear canal as the buds are way too big! My ear has ridges and flaps that hold them quite securely. If you still can’t do it I’d suggest buying larger over the ear headphones, wrap around behind the head headphones, ear clip headphones or a pair of in-ear canal headphones such as the shure e3c’s and etymonics headphones(these in-ears provide lots of sound isolation, so don’t plan on listening to anyone else while wearing them.
I use the Koss Earbud Headphones. The black part squishifies like earplugs, and gets right in there. Blocks outside noise, and keeps others around you from being disturbed. Loves 'em to death, I does.
StarvingButStrong, I thought I was the only one with this problem! I can get the things into my ears, but then if I move my jaw at all (such as singing along with the song playing and annoying everyone in the room)or turn my head they fall right out of my ears!!
I can’t figure out how the people in those i-Pod commercials can dance around and
be all spastic when I can’t even lean over without the buds falling out.
Yeah, ear buds don’t fit my ears either. They just are not comfortable and are always being ripped out by the cord when I turn my head. Also, they give me a headache for some reason, and not because of the sound volume. Just having them in my ears gives me a headache after about 30 minutes.
If they don’t fit in your ears, you can buy earbuds that have over-ear clips. Seems like those clips would provide the superior sound quality of earbuds (they really do sound better than the big poofy kind IMO) but would stay affixed to your ear better. Here’s an example of what I mean.
I’d really recommend in-ear headphones (the kind with silicone tips that go in your ear canal); they provide very good sound isolation and generally good quality. You can’t hear other people talking, so it’s good not to use them if someone might need to talk to you or if you should be paying attention to your surroundings. (You can also hear yourself breathing, which some people might find annoying.) There’s a specific way to insert them in your ears, and if you don’t do it right you won’t get good sound quality, and you won’t be able to hear yourself breathe. There are instructions on Apple’s website somewhere; I’d provide a link but I couldn’t find it before the barrage of reasons why their new products are vastly superior to last month’s got annoying.
Earbuds (the kind with foam padding) are meant to rest just in front of your ear canal, in the concha with one edge against the tragus and usually with the part of the earbud with the connector to the audio device resting on the anti-tragus (outer ear anatomy).
wow, all these years I thought I was the only one!
I’ve found some success with different brands, the cheaper ones fall out more easily.
At the end of the day though, ear bud headphones are ALWAYS crap, they aren’t made for quality, they’re made so that discplayer companies can put “free earphones included” on the box.
I swear by my pair of Pioneer HDJ-1000s (partially b/c I’m a dj, and partially because they’re shiny & and fun).
I’ve never been able to get “ear buds” to fit, either - I guess I have weirdly shaped mutant ears, too.
So I use over-the-ear headphones and don’t find them much a bother. Compared to what I wear in airplanes, the little jobs for discmans and such are weightless anyhow, so it’s not like I notice them much.
Oooooh! Get down and dirty with me! Explicit anatomical details with graphics, even! Hmmmmmmmm… Now, stop that!
Seriously, thank you for the link and detailed explanation. I’ve just spent some time experimenting with the aid of a mirror, and my concha is clearly not the right size for this: too shallow, I think, which means it doesn’t sit ‘deep’ enough for the outer edges to be trapped ‘beneath’ the tragus & antitragus. Instead those two flaps are actively being ‘pushed’ further from each other by the lower edge of the body of the bud, and sooner or later (very sooner) the tension from their ‘pushing back’ pops the bud right out.
To the rest of you:
A) Thanks for confirming that yet again “one size fits all” is a LIE
B) Thanks for the recommendations on styles and products. I will definitely be checking into them.
Sony makes a pretty cheap pair of the in-ear types: Sony MDR-EX71SL Fontopia. They come with a couple different sized earpieces so they should fit anyone.
Hunh. Are you saying that you have an iPod but the ear buds don’t stay in your ears? Because I’ve found that iPod buds stay in my ears quite firmly even though the slightest movement knocks any other kind of ear bud right out, and I’ve heard a couple people say the same thing.
I should compare them to others to see exactly what the difference is…
Abd it’s probably a stupid question anyway, but believe it or not, I’ve never owned a device with ear bud-style headphones before.