[Chivalry]

struggling to find any headphones that fit in my ear without either falling strait out (to big to fit in my canal) or fit with alot of force and are very sore .. admittedly ive only tried some sony ones.. some CX300 sens and some shure e2c... none fit.....
Anyone else got small ear canals?? i cant believe im the only 1 .... lol what would u reccomend?

many thanks

 

[Sonata Arctica]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chivalry /img/forum/go_quote.gif struggling to find any headphones that fit in my ear without either falling strait out (to big to fit in my canal) or fit with alot of force and are very sore .. admittedly ive only tried some sony ones.. some CX300 sens and some shure e2c... none fit..... Anyone else got small ear canals?? i cant believe im the only 1 .... lol what would u reccomend? many thanks

You tried using foam tips?

 

[Chivalry]

yup.... with my shure e2c i tried but even fully compressed they were still apinfully tight when inserting... and them had no room to expand so were rock hard and just hurt ;0(

 

[artleaf2]

Try some other foam tips for shure earphones.

http://www.complyintheear.com/

They have really good tips for shure earphones.

 

[Chivalry]

hmm.. i was just reading on the shure website that the e2c does have a larger "nozzle" than there e3c version. and says that people with smaller canals find the e3c a much more comfortable fit... anyone know if its a very notible differnce or just a minute ammount? the e3c is on sale here atm and i can get for £49 deliverd... worth a go maybe?

would they also sound better than the e2c ( i expect? )

thnx

 

[PopArtist]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chivalry /img/forum/go_quote.gif struggling to find any headphones that fit in my ear without either falling strait out (to big to fit in my canal) or fit with alot of force and are very sore .. admittedly ive only tried some sony ones.. some CX300 sens and some shure e2c... none fit..... Anyone else got small ear canals?? i cant believe im the only 1 .... lol what would u reccomend? many thanks

My left ear canal is quite small (with the added dimension of my right canal being more normal sized), and I have had problems getting a decent fit as well, even had problems getting a foam tip in. But, I just got Ultimate Ears metro.fi 2s and the small tip fits great in my left ear (I use the medium tip for the right). Not sure how easy they are to get in the UK, or the pricing there...in the U.S. you could usually find them at around $62-65 but recently there's been a number of sales on them at online sites for $49.99 (full retail US$79.99). I believe the tips are the same with the super.fi 3s as well, although I'm not 100% sure on that.

 

[artears]

Depending on your budget, you can try custom IEMs or custom tips for your existing ones. You will surely get a perfect fit... It won't be very cheap though...

 

[lac29]

Yeah, I seem to have small ear canals as well. Customs would be a good idea if you have the money to spend on them.

 

[norseman8485]

My left canal is smaller than my right. I found that IEMs with large barrels like the UE and crossroads ones are hard to get a good fit and seal in my left ear, and I've tried countless tip combinations.
My um1 with the smaller barrel fits well though, whether I'm using complys or modded bi-flanges.

 

[tbonner1]

The small complys from Westone are very small. Most newbies get used to them after a while. If not, Westone has a custom mold you may consider.

 

[Kabeer]

The e3c's are much smaller than the e2c for fit in your ear canal. (The stalk that you attach the tips to is much narrower). e4c would be an even better option.

 

[micaela]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chivalry /img/forum/go_quote.gif hmm.. i was just reading on the shure website that the e2c does have a larger "nozzle" than there e3c version. and says that people with smaller canals find the e3c a much more comfortable fit... anyone know if its a very notible differnce or just a minute ammount? the e3c is on sale here atm and i can get for £49 deliverd... worth a go maybe? would they also sound better than the e2c ( i expect? ) thnx

Being female, I have pretty small ear canals & can't wear any bud type earphones. The Shure E2c's were too large - but the e3c's & e4c's work just fine. I think you'd find them much better than the E2c's -- I know I did.

 

[Gatekreeper]

The E2cs, the UE line, and all canalphones (such as the Sony Fontopias, CX300s, Vibes, X3s, etc) use larger nozzles that also limit how small the tips can be.

If you want smaller tips, go with IEMs that use the standard smaller nozzles. Go with Etymotics, the d-Jays, any Shure IEM other than the E2c, Westones and I'm sure you're have a much better time fitting IEMs in your ears. Also consider using triple-flanges or foamies on those IEMs to make the fit perfect.

 

[AnGeLiCbOrIs]

I just saw someone on the Long Island Rail Road using ER4Ps. He told me he got them cuz they were the only thing that would fit into his ear canals, but he was by no means an audiophile.

Just letting ya know.

 

[Nickarus]

Dated thread, but I'm signing up to ring in on the same topic.
 
Presently auditioning two great sets of new IEM's based on some great black friday deals (thought I'd gift one, but now wanting to keep both!):  MEElectronics CC51P and A151.
 
Previously, I've run through a variety of sony offerings (including ex51, ex90 and some earlier variants of what we call the ex51 today purchased in Japan/Beijing) and a pair of "in a pinch" cheapo koss inner ear buds found at a radioshack or something similar.  In each of those cases, the smallest tip offered (sony's are the flexible silicone and the koss was a foamy variant) was adequately small and were very comfy for extended listening.
 
Between the two MEElectonic offerings, I'm finding the smallest tip offering for both is unfortunately a bit too large, so I've got a similar dilemma.  The "nozzle" portion of each is a different diameter than the tips used for sony variants I've saved, so it will take some creativity to make one or both work for me.  I want to make these work - outside of the physical pain they sound sooooo good!
 
In particular (joker's review mentions this but I glossed over it), the CC51 series has a 6mm driver that actually goes in your ear: this leaves very little diameter left over for the tip.  I find with no tip the driver itself easily fits in and falls out again, but with the smallest tip it'll slide in with some moisture, but I get an immediate burning sensation as it's stretching my canal walls.
 
The A151's by contrast have a smaller diameter tube that the tip attaches to - so the smallest tip at least can flex to fit my ear.  Still, smallest tip size is uncomfy and must be built for larger canals.  Maybe these tips will wear softer over time, or again the CC51's will just stretch my body geometry to fit?  Trying to be optimistic...
 
Not sure whether I can expect this sort of pain to go away with time/stretching - I suppose I've been lucky to choose relatively smaller options up to this point.
 
I've yet to figure out whether either of these MEElectronic options are compatible with 3rd party replacement tips beyond the Sony options I've collected.  That may be a better avenue...