I must disagree with anyone finding the flanged tips superior to the foam tips. Here’s why.
I cannot find a way (and believe me I’ve tried), to insert the flanged tips into my ears without creating an above ambient pressure condition in the trapped air space between the tip and my eardrum. I find that this negatively affects sound quality.
The outer and middle sections of the ear are separated by the tympanic membrane (eardrum), which is elastic. Any difference in pressure between the outer ear and inner ear is normally allowed to equalize by the Eustachian tube that connects the middle ear to the throat, (i.e., when the outer ear pressure is ambient, and the pressure at the openings for the Eustachian tubes (in your throat) is ambient, the two sections of the ear have equalized pressure. The Eustachian tubes allow air to leave the middle ear easier than it allows air to go in, because the tubes can be pinched shut due to increasing ambient air pressure, (have you ever noticed how your inner ear pressure automatically equalized while driving up into the mountains but you had a difficult time equalizing on the way down out of the mountains?).
By inserting the flanged tip into the ear canal, you create a higher-than-ambient pressure condition in the outer ear. And what will the inner ear pressure be? Ambient. Congratulations. You’ve just created a difference in pressure. Is there any way to fix it? (besides taking the flanged tip out of your ear canal)? NOPE. You can’t raise the middle ear pressure (by doing the Valsalva maneuver), to above ambient for more than a few seconds, because the Eustachian tube will allow the air to vent out of the middle ear until the pressure is back down to ambient.
This difference in pressure between the outer and middle ear causes the eardrum (because it is elastic), to distort in shape and bulge towards the middle ear.
Do you think that would have an affect on the sound? I do. How much better could you hear after clearing your ears when driving down out of the mountains?
I’ve read posts here where people pull the flanged tip back out just a bite in the ear canal to remedy the above ambient pressure condition. Ok. How far? Until the pressure is below ambient and I bulge the eardrum towards the outer ear (resulting in the same problem)?
Flanged earplugs were originally designed to block noise, where most folks are not concerned with sound quality (other than the level of sound).
I find foam tips superior because I can roll them to a small diameter, insert them in my ear canal, and allow them to slowly expand without a noticeable pressure change. I posted a thread about them here about a week ago:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...&threadid=8787
If you would like to read more about the ear you can start here:
www.augie.edu/perry/ear/hearmech.htm
Do a comparison between the flanged tips and whatever foam tips you have available. Let me know if you hear a difference too.
