Comfortable Earbuds
Tom Martin -- Wed, 04/23/2008 - 21:20
Chris Martens has a bunch of earbuds in the office on test for Playback. He let me try the Klipsch Image earbuds, and I have to say they are the most comfortable earbuds I've every used. I generally think earbuds are mildly annoying, but these are really different. What are other very comfortable earbuds that sound good?
I have trouble using the words "comfortable" and "earbuds" next to each other. Not sure if I'm in the minority here, but I have trouble keeping earbuds in my ears.
I've tried the top of the line Shures along with a Ray Samuels miniature amp (can't remember the model #) and they sounded very good together, but even with their three different ear canal sizes, I couldn't get them to really stay in.
I would check out firms that measure your ears (like for hearing aids) and make custom buds based on your ears. Ultimate Ears does this and has a top of the line unit, the UE 10 Pro, that might be both comfortable and good sounding. It is pricey at $900 a set.
I believe a few other companies do this too, and may offer custom "tips" or "buds" for some standard chassis?
Happy Hunting,
Wolfi
Westone and Ultimate Ears both have programs with audiologists to make custom molds. And, in talking with an audiologist, I believe they can make custom molds for just about any standard phone as well. In the latter case, I suppose you're rolling the dice a bit more about how the actual driver housing will fit with your ear.
In your case, I don't think the Klipsches would work at all since the seal is rather less strong than with, say, the Shures.
Also, have you tried phones where the wire wraps over the ear?
I have tried phones (not buds) where the wire wraps around the ear.
Much better experience than with the buds. Guess I need the open air pads around my ears. (To give you some idea, I have trouble keeping the wax that swimmers use to keep water from getting into the ear canal from popping out during the course of a swim)
Do you know whether Westone offers "soft" custom buds?
UE only offers the hard type (to my knowledge).
Thanks!
Wolfi
I don't know, but that may be a function of the audiologist?
I used the top-of-the-line Shure ear buds for quite some time, but have switched to the new Sony MDR-NC500 conventional headphones for airplane travel. They are less convenient, but sound terrific and use a new noise-cancelling technology that is extremely effective. It digitizes the input signal and perfoms DSP to cancel the background noise.
Also, I've found that the Ray Samuels miniature headphone amplifiers are outstanding. I listen to the Ray Samuels Predator with my iPod four-to-five days a week. It greatly improves the iPod, whether using the Shure earbuds or a pair of Grado SR80s.
Robert Harley
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