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HELP!!! I need Etymotic ER-20 (same fit as ER4S) fit advice!!

post #1 of 13
3/7/02 at 9:09pm
Thread Starter 
Hiya! So, I recently bought the ER-20's, in hopes of figuring out the Etymotic fit... Well, I gotta tell yas.. it's tough, real tough, to get these suckers to fit right in my ears. Does anyone have any advice towards this end? I need all of the help I can get! How about links to threads that discuss many, MANY different ways of wearing etymotic headphones? Cause I need about two dozen strategies to try to get these suckers to fit right, alright? Thanks!!
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post #2 of 13
3/8/02 at 1:09am
Just try over and over. Eventually you'll go "aha" and get it. What worked for me was to tilt the part you hang on to down, so that the tip is pointed more upwards and towards the back of your head.

Be warned, though, that the ER-20 fits quite a bit differently than the ER-4. I tried doing this same thing and even after I was used to the 20s, it took me about three weeks to get a good fit with my ER-4s.

Good luck though.
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post #3 of 13
3/8/02 at 1:26am
Thread Starter 
What about pain? should there be any pain in inserting these suckers? How about depth? I seem to have two depths that work, "deep" and "really deep". with the first one, the third, uhhh, flang? is just touching my ear canal, with the second, it's almost completely in.....

How do I know when to give my ears a rest? when they start hurting??

My left ear kinda hurts pretty bad now--like i'm at the end 'almost gone' part of an ear infection; it hurts to do the thing where you hold your nose and blow.. grrr....
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post #4 of 13
3/8/02 at 1:34am
I was in a significant amount of pain for quite awhile before I got used to these things. I think part of why it doesn't hurt anymore is that I'm used to it, part is that the eartips get softer and more flexible, and part is that I figured out how to put them in correctly. They don't need to go in super-deep. With my ER-20s, they're just about right when i can just barely put my hand flat against my ear, so the little handles are right about even with the outermost part of the ear.

If you put them in and take them out several times, your ears will definitely hurt. This is the only big disadvantage of Etys for me...I can really only insert them two or three times a day before my ears are killing me. I can leave them in for a long time, though, so it's not so much of an issue since I usually only listen at bedtime anyway (the isolation is too much for any other time).
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post #5 of 13
3/8/02 at 3:27am
Wet the tip -- spit is fine, no one has to see you do it. Grab the top of your ear and pull up like Skipper would fondly due to Gilligan then insert with a downward motion. When you let go it should be fairly "sealed." At this point you may want to back them out just a little and that should be easier to do.
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post #6 of 13
3/8/02 at 4:00am
heh...that's funny...the way I put my Etys in is to grab the ear just above the earlobe and pull down and away. Oh well. I think it depends a lot on your ear too...I can see straight into my wife's ear canal if I look directly into it, but mine is almost totally closed off when looking straight at it because my outer ear structure is a lot more complex than hers.
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post #7 of 13
3/8/02 at 8:48am
I use the ER-20's when I'm doing sound. Wet the tips with water before insertion. You can use spit but it may make your ear canal itch. If you want you can use vaseline or A & D ointment. I used a tiny film of A & D ointment on my ETY4S tips before I got the custom molds and they were much more comfortable.
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post #8 of 13
3/8/02 at 11:33am
Gluegun: you should feel some mild pressure, but certainly not intense pain! Definitely do not hurt your ear canals this way. If worse comes to worse, you can always get custom ear-molds done.

However: one thing to keep in mind (if I remember correctly from what Don said?) is that the ER-4S/4Ps use the same tips as the ER-20s, but have about 1/4 of an inch cut off at the back end. If you can get most of the plugs in, you're okay if they stick out a whole bunch (the ER-20s, that is).

Personally, even using the ER-4S, I never ever have my tips stuck in all the way. I can always see the 3rd last flange around the entrance of my ear, and this is for the shorter white tips used with the canalphones, not the earplugs!

Also, as I understand it, the tips *do* get more soft and flexible with use. One thing that I've not had time to experiment with, is perhaps heating them before use. Obviously not to hundreds of degrees, but maybe to ~40 degrees or so? I'd think that starting them out at body temperature will already have them softening up a bit to facilitate your insertion.

-Alleria
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post #9 of 13
3/8/02 at 11:48am
Thanks for the thread!!!

I just received confirmation that after several days of being backordered, Headroom has sent off a set of Ety ER4P....

Ohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboy!!!!! !

Bruce
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post #10 of 13
3/8/02 at 12:00pm
I've been using the white tips with the 4S for the past few weeks, and have got rather used to the feeling of them in my ear. Problem is, I think my ear may be bit big. While reading a couple of these comments, and quickly inserted and removed the one in my left ear about 20 times. Didn't feel any pain or anything. They've always been loose when inserted in my ears.

So, I moving over to the foam tips that came with them for a couple weeks, to give them a shot. They definitely feel much more secure in my ear. I'll need a bit of time to get accustomed to them before I can compare their sound to the sound of the white tips.
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post #11 of 13
3/8/02 at 1:01pm
I lucked out on the ER20, because I have zero discomfort and can insert/remove all day long with no problems. The longest I've had them in was for about 2.5 hr. The ER4, oth, felt akward and uncomfortable.

The ER6 was a great fit.

Persiflage,

Comfort and isolation should be your criteria. If you are getting the proper level of isolation then consider yourself fortunate!
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post #12 of 13
3/8/02 at 2:01pm
Pigmode seems to be lucky with the ety's.

I have the ER-20's. I can only get most of the third flange into my ear. However, its really easy to accidentally poke the end of your ear with them because they are long (ouch!). Be careful. Some people can only get 2 of the flanges in. Everyone's ears are different, so the fit will be different for you.

I also noticed that the rubber tips get softer over time (and become an icky color too).

Getting a good seal is hard to tell because they only block out some noises. You can hear everything, but its quieter. If you are use to using like 30db rated foam ear plugs, its not the same feel at all. I kept on pushing my ER-20 in until I thought I had a seal. I usually ended up hurting my ears. I finally realized that it didn't take much for me to get a good seal.
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post #13 of 13
3/8/02 at 2:23pm
That's the other thing too - you'll still be able to hear soft sounds. My wife could speak in a normal voice next to me and I could hear her perfectly. The thing that the earplug does is to greatly lower the sound volume of loud sounds. It basically compresses the dynamic range that you hear, but you can still hear very soft sounds, which is an odd feeling if you're used to regular earplugs.
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