[phaetos42]

I have a set of Shure 440's that I use at my PC, that used to pipe thru an FX-Audio DAC-X6MKII till it fried itself apparently. While I like the Shure's, they hurt the crown of my head and somehow manage to let more sound IN while they are on my head. I also wear glasses, which doesn't help sealing off the sound either.

So my thought is to move to IEM's, which will also be used on my iPhone at times. My problem with deciding on some is that massive unknown for makers, earhole size. I've tried many different earbuds and they all just don't fit right. Every single one I've ever tried falls out when turning my head or other movements. They fit down into the ear canal but the driver portion just doesn't fit into the ear opening well. If I do manage to get a good seat, talking, turning, chewing causes them to unseat and begin to fall out.

What are my options? Every IEM I've looked at seems to have rather large driver pods on them and I'm worried they will not fit correctly.
I want something with clean sound, I'm no bass head anymore, and like everyone else I don't want to spend a ton on them, so let's put a budget at $75.
Also, I plan on getting an Zen Dac V2 pretty soon to replace the fx-audio that died.

Thanks for the help. Looking forward to see what ya'll have to say.

 

[FlowLikeWater]

for IEMs, the best fitment upgrade you can do is to find the right tips.

Right now, I believe the most popular silicone eartips are Spinfits/Azla Sednafits, many people reporting that these stay in the ear quite nicely. Definitely get a variety pack if possible to mix and match.

Also, you may require different sizes for left/right depending on your anatomy.

An alternative is to go for foam eartips such as Comply, but these are less durable and may affect sound clarity adversely.

Eartips will affect fit the most. The IEMs themselves that usually fit best are of the Westone/Shure style (wire goes around the ear), followed by the bullet style (IER-Z1R).

YMMV and GL

 

[Lalapuni]

Forget the DAC and just get better headphones
Aonic 4.

 

[phaetos42]

Forget the DAC and just get better headphones
Aonic 4.

Well, considering the only desktop speakers I got is an old set of Logitech Z*23's .. maybe that plug into the line out on the mobo sound card and has passthru connections on one of the speakers that I plug the Shure's into at the moment, it's not the best sounding thing to start with.

So, now do you have an on-topic response?

 

[phaetos42]

for IEMs, the best fitment upgrade you can do is to find the right tips.

Right now, I believe the most popular silicone eartips are Spinfits/Azla Sednafits, many people reporting that these stay in the ear quite nicely. Definitely get a variety pack if possible to mix and match.

Also, you may require different sizes for left/right depending on your anatomy.

An alternative is to go for foam eartips such as Comply, but these are less durable and may affect sound clarity adversely.

Eartips will affect fit the most. The IEMs themselves that usually fit best are of the Westone/Shure style (wire goes around the ear), followed by the bullet style (IER-Z1R).

YMMV and GL

I found the Comply tips online. My current earbuds I use on my iphone are Soundcore Liberty 2 Air. They use silicone tips and they literally just pop out of my ears without any coercion at all I popped on my other style of tips I had laying around from some old Beats buds from a few years ago and it's better, but still having issues.

As far as some good IEM options go, what would you recommend?

 

[DenverW]

For an iem under $75 that won’t fall out of your ear when doing things I would recommend the Er2xr.

 

[earmonger]

The Etymotics are famously clean sounding. They are thin cylinders that don't hit your outer ears at all. They do need deep insertion, which some people hate--you'd just have to see how they suit you. I find them very comfortable and stable with the gray foam tips, but not with the triple-flange tips shown on the usual photos.

If you are in the USA, Adorama has deep discount email offers for other Etymotics, like these:
https://www.adorama.com/etyer2se.html?emailprice=t
https://www.adorama.com/etyer4sr.html?emailprice=t

Those above are neutral tuned (S is for studio) while the XR (like the 2XR recommended above) models have a bass boost.

I have the ER3XR, which I preferred to the ER4SR--less sterile to me. The sound is very crisp and precise, but more two-dimensional than 3D.

The 2XR and 2SE are dynamic drivers. The 3 and 4 series are balanced armature. If the 2XR ever drops to $49 like the 2SE in the offer, I might grab a pair!

These two offers seem to have disappeared for the moment at Adorama, but they pop up pretty often for $69. As you can see, you just swap in the model number in the URL.
https://www.adorama.com/etyer3se.html?emailprice=t
https://www.adorama.com/etyer3xr.html?emailprice=t

Adorama will do 30-day returns for $11 shipping. Be careful opening their shrink-wrapped mailer so you don't rip the outer sleeve of the Ety package.

 

[phaetos42]

The Etymotics are famously clean sounding. They are thin cylinders that don't hit your outer ears at all. They do need deep insertion, which some people hate--you'd just have to see how they suit you. I find them very comfortable and stable with the gray foam tips, but not with the triple-flange tips shown on the usual photos.

If you are in the USA, Adorama has deep discount email offers for other Etymotics, like these:
https://www.adorama.com/etyer2se.html?emailprice=t
https://www.adorama.com/etyer4sr.html?emailprice=t

Those above are neutral tuned (S is for studio) while the XR (like the 2XR recommended above) models have a bass boost.

I have the ER3XR, which I preferred to the ER4SR--less sterile to me. The sound is very crisp and precise, but more two-dimensional than 3D.

The 2XR and 2SE are dynamic drivers. The 3 and 4 series are balanced armature. If the 2XR ever drops to $49 like the 2SE in the offer, I might grab a pair!

These two offers seem to have disappeared for the moment at Adorama, but they pop up pretty often for $69. As you can see, you just swap in the model number in the URL.
https://www.adorama.com/etyer3se.html?emailprice=t
https://www.adorama.com/etyer3xr.html?emailprice=t

Adorama will do 30-day returns for $11 shipping. Be careful opening their shrink-wrapped mailer so you don't rip the outer sleeve of the Ety package.

What is the difference between dynamic and balanced armature? I tried reading an article on it, but it just went over my head.

 

[phaetos42]

For an iem under $75 that won’t fall out of your ear when doing things I would recommend the Er2xr.

Well it looks like there's 2 votes for these ER2XR or a variation of them. I'll check them out. Thanks.

 

[Achlys]

Well it looks like there's 2 votes for these ER2XR or a variation of them. I'll check them out. Thanks.

Get ER2SE for 49 dollars here
https://www.adorama.com/etyer2se.html?emailprice=t

 

[earmonger]

What is the difference between dynamic and balanced armature? I tried reading an article on it, but it just went over my head.

My very, very rough understanding -- and I hope someone more informed chimes in -- is that dynamics offer punch and naturalness while balanced bring out extra detail. Typical downsides are blurriness (dynamics) and metallic tone (balanced). But everything depends on the quality of the driver and how the designer/manufacturer implements it.

Hybrids (multiple drivers) tend to use dynamic for bass while switching to balanced (or planar or piezo or other fancy stuff) for mids and highs.

I tend to like dynamics but my Etymotic 3XR sound pretty natural to me--and Etymotic has priced the 3SE AND 3XR higher, suggesting they are an upgrade over the 2SE and 2XR. I got the 3XR at $69 with the email price offer, which was $30 cheaper than the 2XR at $99.

I'm curious about how the 2XR might differ from the 3XR, just not curious enough to pull the trigger.

 

[FlowLikeWater]

Well it looks like there's 2 votes for these ER2XR or a variation of them. I'll check them out. Thanks.

+1 Etymotics, they are some of the best performers for their price. Isolation and fit is quite stable too. Recommend ER2XR

 

[ProtegeManiac]

So my thought is to move to IEM's, which will also be used on my iPhone at times. My problem with deciding on some is that massive unknown for makers, earhole size.

If you mean the ear canal size and the IEM bore size, if the manufacturer does not state the latter you can just look at the eartips. Even without exact measurements just looking at what the different eartip sizes look like relative to the bore size (as it fits over the tube on the IEM shell) will tell you if it's huge.

Very generally though Shure and Westone have 2mm bore sizes, IIRC Etymotic isn't that much larger. Your problem are most other brands especially the ChiFi brands as they go for less restrictive 3mm to 4mm bore sizes.

The problem then is if you have a bigger bore you also end up with less padding between the bore and your ears, so if you get one that fits and stays in, chances are you can feel the IEM shell's bore through the eartips as they compress. I have this huge problem with KZ along with "small absolutely loose, medium has one ear painful (ie feeling the bore), large does not fit." I put a third party triple flange on them so I can have a cheap IEM as a beater.

I've tried many different earbuds and they all just don't fit right. Every single one I've ever tried falls out when turning my head or other movements. They fit down into the ear canal but the driver portion just doesn't fit into the ear opening well. If I do manage to get a good seat, talking, turning, chewing causes them to unseat and begin to fall out.

What are my options? Every IEM I've looked at seems to have rather large driver pods on them and I'm worried they will not fit correctly.

What exactly does not fit at all? The bore+tips in your ear canal or the whole shell in your ear conch?

Because even if the IEM shell doesn't fit snugly in your ear conch as long as you can get a good enough grip an seal the worst thing you'll deal with it sticking out a bit, but it shouldn't fall out. For example my KZ ZSN sticks out vs my Westone2 (not busted) and my Aurisonics ASG-1.3, but the triple flange tips keep them on there as securely as the Westone triple flanges do the W2 and Aurisonics tips/Sony Hybrids do the ASG-1.3.

You could try other tips if that's one angle you want to explore otherwise if you just want a tiny shell, SoundMagic used to have a single BA driver IEM that was really tiny. Even smaller than Westones. Barring that, try a Westone. Just make sure you keep a record of where you bought it and make sure that whoever you buy it from is an authorized dealer, not to mention the company name on the receipt needs to be the same as on Westone's list, otherwise return it. I couldn't get a warranty replacement for mine just because I can't even straighten this out with either of them.

Or if you want one that really fits in your ear conch then there's only one option: CIEMs. unfortunately they'll cost a lot more than $75.

I want something with clean sound, I'm no bass head anymore, and like everyone else I don't want to spend a ton on them, so let's put a budget at $75.

Unfortunately if you're after tiny shell IEMs it won't be any of the cheap ones since these use dynamic driver IEMs and produce bass for most people without the complexity of using using three BA drivers to get to the same bass level that would appeal to many buyers.

BLON BL-03 seems to be the closest thing at that price range which has a tiny shell for a DD IEM but note that it's not as widely good fitting as Shure and Westone.

Maybe the Sennheiser IE40? Was browsing through Amazon and saw it going for $75 right now.

Also Etymotic ER2SE.

Well, considering the only desktop speakers I got is an old set of Logitech Z*23's .. maybe that plug into the line out on the mobo sound card and has passthru connections on one of the speakers that I plug the Shure's into at the moment, it's not the best sounding thing to start with.

Make sure you do have a decent DAC though because that speaker isn't going to be a simple pass through. Its output impedance, power, THD+N, etc will be what will matter, not the motherboard's, and I wouldn't really trust those outputs on speakers.

 

[Achlys]

There's no need to sugarcoat it...
Etymotic ER2 is the best IEM at ANY PRICE.

 

[earmonger]

I suspect people would disagree about the ER2 being the GOAT.

The ER3XR is back for $69.
https://www.adorama.com/etyer3xr.html?emailprice=t

Dunno why they don't have a discount on the ER2XR--seems to be $99 at both Adorama and Amazon.

The ER2SE is $49 with the offer, but after you've been listening to your Shures it's probably going to sound bass-deprived.