[MatsudaMan]

My girlfriend is looking for some good IEM's or earbud's, but she's got really small ear canals and my ety's won't seal and just end up falling out. Anyone ever run into this problem? BTW she's listening through a new Toshiba Gibabeat S that I got her for Christmas - It's pretty sweet! (kind of want it for my self)

 

[zombieDave]

Did she try them with the tri-flanges? Did she moisten them before insertion? Is she pulling up & out on her ear to open up the ear canal? I'm sorry if I sound patronizing with these questions, it's just that I've been told by ENT doctors that I have the smallest ear canals they've ever seen, and my Etys with the tri-flanges fit very well when inserted when using the above method. Sorry if I wasn't very helpful, but Merry Christmas, anyway.

 

[MatsudaMan]

Thanks a lot for the advise. However, she might be grossed out by the licking aspect of insertion, so I'm thinking ety triflanges might not be the way to go. but that is good advise and might work if she's up to it.

 

[PiccoloNamek]

Trys Etys with Comply foam tips.

Edit: Hey, 1,000 posts! W007. Only 500 more to go!

 

[Oddball]

I have pretty small ears and ear canals (Grados are circumaural for me), and I found the Shure e2 with small clear sleeves to be too big, but the Westone um2 with short complys are really working well for me. Never tried the Etys though.

 

[micaela]

I have pretty small ear canals also. I use Shure E4c's with no problem. I used the e2c's but the e3's & 4's have been much much better. I haven't tried any other IEMs so I can't comment on other brands.

 

[warrior05]

i noticed that the smallest ear tip for the vibes are much smaller than the smallest ear tip for shure's IEMs. that coupled with how small the vibes are might be a good match for her.

 

[parrot5]

I cut the E4c's tri-flange into bi-flange (throw away the biggest flange, of course). I have no problem inserting them (pull away/up the back of the ear and etc), but after some time, my ears would hurt quite a bit and feels like it's swollen a bit around the bi-flange (and can feel my ears squeezing the bi-flange in the same rthym as my heartbeat). I also have quite hard a time taking the earphones out... need to work millimeter by millimeter. So far, I can see no long term damange (the swollen effect goes away almost immediately). But it's just something you want to be aware of if you have really small ear canals and want some IEMs.

 

[LaBreaHead]

Just a thought -- if the Etys are falling out, it could be that the earpiece isn't large enough or being inserted properly... also, the tri-flange is a bit intimidating looking, and I've noticed that more than a few posters here have been a little unduly worried that they had freakishly small ear canals, or something like that.

A short Comply foamie (vs. the regular size) should work and be more comfortable. If it's any consolation, I tried the tri-flanges (after having used bi-flanges and Etymotics brown foamies), and didn't like them ... for me, anyway, the Comply shorts were just the ticket -- I love my ER6i's with them. There's some debate regarding whether flanges or foamies isolate better and provide better sound, but foamies (certainly the Complys) tend not to move/shift around, so whatever seal is obtained should be consistent ... and in my opinion, the comfort factor will be increased, which seems to be the issue here.

 

[Mrvile]

I would imagine that foamies will conform to almost any canal shape or size, so I would give those a try asap.

 

[MatsudaMan]

Thanks a lot for all the great advise. I think I'll see if the comply foamies will work for her. Also interesting to hear that the vibes have smaller options than others. As far as the triple flanges - her canals are just too small for them and can't be inserted even when lubed. She's also squeamish and doesn't like the feeling of anything wet in the ear (who can blame her). Anyway, thanks again for the advise guys, and Merry Christmas!

 

[khbaur330162]

I have a sort of "hooked" ear canal on my right side which makes it difficult to insert IEM's too far in there. This may be her problem as well. IEM's that have short tips work out a lot better for me, although I've never tried the Etymotics. Customs have fit the best so far, but the E2c's weren't bad. Idk if I would suggest wetting down the tips before insertion. I'm sure saliva would be okay, but I would think plain old water would have a high potential to harbor bacteria which could cause an ear infection, right?

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatsudaMan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks a lot for all the great advise. I think I'll see if the comply foamies will work for her. Also interesting to hear that the vibes have smaller options than others. As far as the triple flanges - her canals are just too small for them and can't be inserted even when lubed. She's also squeamish and doesn't like the feeling of anything wet in the ear (who can blame her). Anyway, thanks again for the advise guys, and Merry Christmas!

you might consider the sony ex71 or ex81. they come with a very small tip and are not bad looking.

 

[bellsprout]

it's really the tips not the actual iem, since iem's usually have a wide selection of tips for various sized ears, as well as tips from different manufacturers which inter-fit, and u can make ur own custom tips easily.

do u want an iem or canalphone? iem's are isolating, go deeper inside the ear and canalphones don't go as deep and require letting outside noise in to work properly

 

[EFN]

I think the best option would be ER-4P with Shure E4C Flexi tips - they looked easy enough to wear and should stay put too. Triflanges are for huge ear canals.