[geeked]

How do I put this? First of all hello. Now that I'm done sounding like a dork... it's time for me to sound like I don't know what I'm talking about (there's a very good reason for that). I like putting a pair of cans on my head. They're generally comfortable, and sound good. They are however not very portable.. Now that I have told you what I like. Here's what I want... Simply speaking. I want some earbuds. Hopefully that's the correct term here. Not IEMs, but the style (not how they look) of Apple buds. I can't wear IEMs... they're just too uncomfortable for me. I have unusually small ears.. and that includes the canals. Not only that, but by design, they just block out too much noise from the world around me. I need a little sound to leak into my ears.
 
I don't know squat about this stuff. I don't want to spend an arm and leg for something. I just want something that I can pop into my ears and listen for an extended period of time.
 
Keep in mind, I have small ears. I am an adult, and those ears aren't growing anymore. Some people are going to laugh at this, so take it however you want. I'm just hoping to get a little advice.
 
I'd like:
 
- To not have to deal with those silly foam pads. They're PITA to get on, and just make things more complicated.
- Something that has halfway decent build-quality. I tend to abuse the stuff I put into my pockets.
- Something that has good bass, treble... Lows, mids. (I don't know what I'm talking about)
- Something that will actually likely be comfortable (I can't be the only one with this problem here) <- Most important
- Something <$40 <- I just broke this post right here...
 
Also, I'm not an audio engineer, but I CAN tell when something sounds bad.
 
Any help would be appreciated.
 
I really like the graphic here that shows basically how it feels.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/308531/my-yuin-pk3-hurts#post_3970503
 
Thanks
 
Edit: Also, I should note that I've seen the roundup threads... but they mean hardly anything to me. Since they more-so go into detail about sound, I'm looking for comfort.

 

[glac1er]

This is one of the most comfy earbuds I've come across and is smaller than most:
http://blueeverblue.com/product-black.php
 
As for the review, I think there are already lots of them in this forum.

 

[rickdohc]

Seems like the new Apple Earbud is your tiket,   reviews and comments are good and you won need foam pads.
 

 

[geeked]

Quote:

This is one of the most comfy earbuds I've come across and is smaller than most:
http://blueeverblue.com/product-black.php
 
As for the review, I think there are already lots of them in this forum.

 
Thanks glac1er. I'll take a look at them. I definitely want to get a few more opinions on other options as well.
 
Quote:

Seems like the new Apple Earbud is your tiket,   reviews and comments are good and you won need foam pads.
 

 
Thank you as well rickdohc. I think I'd prefer to avoid anything Apple. Long story. Thank you though.

 

[rickdohc]

The Mx580 are fantastic, only $30 or less, problem is the Foam pads
 

 

[ZARIM]

The Sennheiser MX sereis earbuds are great sounding for the price and others like Philips jells, Sony earbuds also great buy.

 

[Nochaunceinell]

for small ears I just bought AirBuds. They are made completely from memory foam for the tips so they fit any size ear.
 
Also, they run for 39.99 (www.air-buds.com). I would highly recommend them for odd shaped ears
 
I also really like the small sized tips that come with skull candy ink'd earbuds or the new apple ones are OK too. My money is still with airbuds though

 

[geeked]

Quote:

The Mx580 are fantastic, only $30 or less, problem is the Foam pads
 

Thank you again richdohc. Interesting. I know that I probably shouldn't be limiting my search to just Amazon, but I'm seeing them for roughly $50.
Quote:

The Sennheiser MX sereis earbuds are great sounding for the price and others like Philips jells, Sony earbuds also great buy.

Another vote for something from the MX series.
 
I'm not sure which Philips earbuds your talking about exactly. There seems to be a ton of different models. Thanks ZARIM.
 
__
 
The thing I'm fearing most is the fit. Too big and they really hurt the ears. Other sizes, and they just fall out of my ears. Ears unfortunately are way different from person-to-person, so I can see this being a difficult request to make. 

 

[geeked]

Quote:

for small ears I just bought AirBuds. They are made completely from memory foam for the tips so they fit any size ear.
 
Also, they run for 39.99 (www.air-buds.com). I would highly recommend them for odd shaped ears
 
I also really like the small sized tips that come with skull candy ink'd earbuds or the new apple ones are OK too. My money is still with airbuds though

 
Whoops. Just caught your post Nochaunceinell. Definitely will check them out. Thank you.

 

[JK1]

Instead of the MX580, for small ears there is the MX581. All the Sennheiser earbud models ending with 1 are for small ears.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/511784/review-sennheiser-mx580-mx581-fraternal-twins-equally-fabulous

 

[Nochaunceinell]

No problem, if you like them as much as I do, you will thank me immensely

. FYI when I bought them they were running a promotion for 20% off. I think the code was FamilyFriends123 but they had it on their facebook page.
 
cheers

 

[rickdohc]

Quote:

Instead of the MX580, for small ears there is the MX581. All the Sennheiser earbud models ending with 1 are for small ears.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/511784/review-sennheiser-mx580-mx581-fraternal-twins-equally-fabulous

 
 
Nice info there!! thanks!

 

[geeked]

Quote:

Instead of the MX580, for small ears there is the MX581. All the Sennheiser earbud models ending with 1 are for small ears.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/511784/review-sennheiser-mx580-mx581-fraternal-twins-equally-fabulous

 
Quote:

No problem, if you like them as much as I do, you will thank me immensely

. FYI when I bought them they were running a promotion for 20% off. I think the code was FamilyFriends123 but they had it on their facebook page.
 
cheers

 
Quote:

 
 
Nice info there!! thanks!

 
Thanks. This is one of those things where I just don't want to get it wrong. So forgive my silly indecisiveness. It's like those riddles:
I don't feel like blowing too much money on them
I want them to be comfortable
I want them to be durable
I want them to sound alright
 
... Pick three. 
 
____
 
 
The Air-Buds look good, but there are almost no reviews on them (I understand that they just launched the product two weeks ago though). Also, they're in-canal, and somewhat noise blocking. It's not something I like the idea of while out in the city.
 
The Sennheiser's look good (I'm not talking about aesthetics.), but... I don't know.
 
I'm just hoping to see something that will blow me away.. Of course, that's relatively speaking. I know that I'm not going to find something that's "amazing" for the price point I'm looking at. I have seen some pretty impressive threads here where people have reviewed ten sets of "sound-listening devices" for under $20 (I'm making up that number), showing that you can find something tolerable when you're on a budget. And honestly, that's what I'm looking for. I don't need anything too fancy. Sure, I would hastily pay a little more for something I knew was going to last.
 
If it wasn't an ear size issue... this would probably be a lot easier. 
 
I'm sorry. At least I'm not being the typical new-comer, that says "I want the world. Whats the best????" if that counts for anything. 

 

[geeked]

I hate to do a bump back up to the top, but I've been looking at some of the choices.
 
I am particularly intrigued by the Blue Ever Blue "the Black" that was first mentioned. Does anybody know how durable these buds would be? From what I have read, that makes me a little nervous.
 
Any recommendations on something a little more durable. Again, I don't mind paying a little more (not much more) if I know they'll last (but would prefer to stay within my budget).
 
Thanks.

 

[JK1]

I though the main problem is that your ears are small. If so,  average sized earbuds may not fit you. Why not get the MX581? It isn't that cheap, but isn't that expensive. I have the MX580 and really like it, although some IEMs I have at around the same price or even cheaper do sound better. For open earbuds though, the Sennheiser MX580 and MX581 seem like good values. What is your objection to IEMs? When walking around I use open earbuds since I feel using an IEM then would be dangerous. When I don't need to hear my surroundings though, I use an IEM or closed headphone.
 
There are some very inexpensive very compact portable headphones such as JVC HA-S160 that are closed, but don't isolate so well due to their small size. There is also the Sennheiser PX100II which is open. Imo these sound  better than the MX580(and probably the MX581 as well?) they aren't as portable as earbuds or IEMs(they won't fit in your shirt pocket with the player) however the PX100Ii folded up will probably fit in your jacket pocket. You can get the PX100II for $50 with free US shipping at J&R. Let me know if you see it cheaper somewhere else.