[citroeniste]

I'm planning to buy my sister a pair of earbuds, but she has small ears. The Apple earbuds that came with my 4G iPod were uncomfortably large for her. She's no audiophile, and the output of her HP laptop isn't exactly PowerBook quality anyway, so while they should sound decent they needn't have Ety/HD580 levels of resolution, or even Koss open earclip resolution.

Are the Sennheiser earbuds smaller in diameter than the Apple ones?

Unfortunately, the smart choice, earclips, are not an option. I've had her try every model of Koss earclip - from the closed KSC-7 which sounds much worse than the open ones but thanks to its larger diameter and thin clip I find the most comfortable of the group - I find more comfortable for long plane rides - to the '35, '50, and '75.

I know nothing about earbuds myself, having found portable music happiness with the Koss earclips.

 

[sc53]

You should consider the Sharp MD33's; not earbuds but they fit small ears really well and sound great for the price. The part that fits in your ears is really soft and doesn't bother me at all (I also have small ears).

 

[hardy74]

Sharp MD33 all the way! Got mine yesterday and they are really amazing (especially considering the price). They also come with 3 changeable sleeves in different sizes (small / medium / large).
Right now I am using the medium ones. I also have small ears but they are just perfect

 

[DigDub]

sharp md33. 3 sizes of sleeves and very good sound.

 

[citroeniste]

Thanks for the replies, but she ended up with Senn MX550's. I couldn't find the Sharps locally, and I didn't think she'd want to bother with carrying an adaptor to use them with normal equipment.

She likes them, which is all that matters. When I "broke them in" the night before I gave them to her - kudos to Senn for not using that awful heat-sealed packaging most inexpensive electronics come in today! - the upper bass was very excessive compared to KSC-35s/55s/75s or Senn 580s. So for the serious small-headed 'phile I recommend learning to love earclips over these things. You'll get better sound and they'll still fit in a shirt pocket.