So this past christmas, I got a waterproof headset that uses in-ear earbuds. The portion that is supposed to go in the ear canal, to block water, looks like the yellow portions of the ear plugs here. I’ve always had problems with these kinds of in-ear thingies because they never go far enough into my ear, and therefore do not fit securely.
So, on a recommendation, I go to the drug store and pick up soft silicone ear plugs that are completely moldable, and apply some to the head set ear buds so that a custom-to-my-ear fit can be made. Problem should be solved. However, I notice that on another set of ear plugs, the directions say that the plugs should be inserted far enough so that the last flange is even with the opening of the ear canal.
Who the hell has these cavernous ear canals that these things are supposed to fit in to anyway? WHY can’t the manufacturers make them smaller?
I know that some headphones come with differently sized plugs - I have a noise cancelling pair of head phones with large, medium and small plugs - but even the small ones are too big. I can accept that perhaps my ear canals are atypically small - but upon reflection - it seems that most people I know have problems with these types of ear plugs.
How’d you apply them to the end of your buds? I tried modifying mine with some moldable silicon earplugs for riding my motorcycle, and the earplugs worked too good and I couldn’t hear the buds.
I took a small amount of the silicone, rolled it into a small (maybe 1/8" wide by 1" long) roll, and wrapped it around and in between the smallest and middle flange. In my case, the ear buds have external pressure exerted on them from either the headset or the swimming goggles (depending on configuration) - so they would physically stay in place. The fact that there was some external mechanism to keep them in place is the only reason I had hope they would ultimately work out.
So with the silicone, a water proof barrier could be made, and the external pressure from the headset or goggle band would keep them in place. However it would still be nice if the manufacturer made accomodations for an apparently large portion of the population.
Also, I’ve considered snipping the flanges off, leaving a hollow tube of plastic, followed by putting some silicone around it. The hollow tube would simply be for support at that point, to make sure there would be a channel for audio to traverse through. But the silicone outside of the tube would perfectly mold to my ear. Maybe something like that would work for you.