All earbuds seem to hurt my ears

[raidbossreid]

It seem like any earbuds I use start to hurt my ears pretty quickly.

I need something to I can put in, use for music, phone calls, etc. while working.

Even tried the AirPods pro since they are supposedly top of the line in the consumer market and they caused pain pretty quickly.

Any recommendations are welcome.

 

 

[johnt]

The AirPod Pros are the only earbuds I've ever found comfortable. Are you opposed to trying wireless headsets?

[_Omega_]

Maybe try some aftermarket foam or memory foam eartips on normal IEMs

[TylerD321]

Do you have to use earbuds? I am thinking that if on average they hurt your ears and you are allowed, headphones may actually be the best option for you. At my work, we use lenovo headphones which we can get directly through the company.

[OddOod]

Earbuds are non viable for some people. It sucks but it happens. If you're dead set on them and have the spare cash, you could try custom earbud tips, but they are spendy and I have rarely met people who have found them to reduce pain enough for long term use.

I'd advise going with cans potentially with aftermarket ear cups. I love the AT m50x's for wired and WH-1000XM4s for wireless

[raidbossreid]

1 hour ago, johnt said:

The AirPod Pros are the only earbuds I've ever found comfortable. Are you opposed to trying wireless headsets?

I currently use some Bose QuietComfort over the ears and they're great.  Just looking for something additional to add with a smaller form factor. Plus if I use them in the gym they make my ears very hot.

 

[raidbossreid]

43 minutes ago, _Omega_ said:

Maybe try some aftermarket foam or memory foam eartips on normal IEMs

I haven't tried aftermarket foam tips yet.  I'm considering finding a retailer that has a good return policy in case they don't work out.

[raidbossreid]

39 minutes ago, TylerD321 said:

Do you have to use earbuds? I am thinking that if on average they hurt your ears and you are allowed, headphones may actually be the best option for you. At my work, we use lenovo headphones which we can get directly through the company.

I have been using Bose QuietComfort over the ears for about 4 years and really like them. Just looking for ear buds to expand my use cases.

[_Omega_]

4 minutes ago, raidbossreid said:

I haven't tried aftermarket foam tips yet.  I'm considering finding a retailer that has a good return policy in case they don't work out.

I just buy them from AliExpress, so if den don't work you just wasted like 5 bucks 

[Kilrah]

Earbuds also generally don't work for me, but my Sony WF-X1000M3's are fine. 

[An0maly_76]

14 hours ago, johnt said:

The AirPod Pros are the only earbuds I've ever found comfortable. Are you opposed to trying wireless headsets?

I second this. I have a Harman Kardon Bluetooth headset that has been great.

[Stahlmann]

So far i haven't found wireless earphones that are actually comfortable for multiple hours of wear.

 

But my Moondrop Kato's are very comfortable. With the cable going over the ear there is practically no weight pulling down and i forget they're there after a minute or so.

[venomtail]

I find Sony WI-XB400's to be comfortable as they have no weight to them. All the weight is in the batteries which stays on your neck.

 

That being said they're not ideal for the gym. I have to hook them around my tank top holes if I am every lying down to do sets and cable could be far softer. It's hard so often the seal opens up and can hear background noise. Worse when cycling in the winter as the cable can go really hard and won't bent.

[NinJake]

I'm a big fan of the Jabra 75t. Owned them well over a year now and use them at work. Sometimes up to 3 to 4 hours a go at a time. There's an app you can put on your phone to tweak the EQ settings, as they have a fairly big bump in the bass response with stock settings. This may or may not suit your listening preference but I have not considered comfort to be an issue.

[Guest]

Earbuds suck for me...
The original airpods shape would probably be the only earbud shape I'd say is comfortable.

[Guest]

Relevant video:

 

[Shinon214]

have you tried soft silicon eartips that fits to your size?
like spinfit 100 *IEM* in general, 360 for common TWS, and 1025 for TWS like apple airpods pro or similar type of TWS.

there's also moondrop springtips

these are the eartips that I recommend for long term usage and comfort.

but then again you might be allergic to some.

[Stahlmann]

17 hours ago, Shinon214 said:

there's also moondrop springtips

these are the eartips that I recommend for long term usage and comfort.

The Moondrop spring tips are magic in terms of comfort. Sadly for me the discomfort rarely comes from inside the ear canal.

[Nuzicx]

On 8/4/2022 at 11:39 PM, raidbossreid said:

I haven't tried aftermarket foam tips yet.  I'm considering finding a retailer that has a good return policy in case they don't work out.

I doubt any retailer will let you return an open package of foam tips as its a hygiene and safety issue.

 

earbuds and IEM (in ear monitors)  are two differnt things, earbuds being the cheaper and what i would not recomend using.

IEM's are inserted into the ear canal, while earbuds rest on the outer ear.

Audio companies will do custom IEM ear molds for the best comfit but these arn't cheap, most IEM's will ship with a range of sizes of rubber or foam tips, do some research on the different types of foam tips available as they are worth the investment.

[Shinon214]

On 8/8/2022 at 2:46 PM, Stahlmann said:

The Moondrop spring tips are magic in terms of comfort. Sadly for me the discomfort rarely comes from inside the ear canal.

aw too bad.

 

try foam tips, for me this is the one with discomfort for long listing, but better sound overall. might be opposite for you.

[Stahlmann]

42 minutes ago, Shinon214 said:

aw too bad.

 

try foam tips, for me this is the one with discomfort for long listing, but better sound overall. might be opposite for you.

Sorry that was bad wording. I meant that the discomfort mostly comes from the outer ear in my case. Around where the arrow is pointing.