Ears with different canal sizes

Submitted by SlavJerry t3_11cfpfk in headphones

So my left ear canals is smaller than my right ear. When I put IEM on my right ear it just pops into place perfectly. But when I put it in the left ear it just won't go in enough and it feels like it gonna fall off, and oftenly things sound unbalanced and I need to adjust them all the time. I tried to use smaller tip for left ear but the sound is unbalanced. Tried to use small tips for both ears and my right ear feels super uncomfortable like some itchy thing in my ear.

Any suggestion please?

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ahmadove t1_ja2t0fi wrote

I have the same problem. Eventually I chose tips that seal perfectly yet only sit at the entrance of the canal. Worked for me. Alternatively you can get customs, custom IEMs or just custom ear tip molds (those exist and aren't expensive).

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SlavJerry OP t1_ja2y8kw wrote

$150 is pretty expensive though, or am I missing something?

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rhalf t1_ja36jv9 wrote

It's a good price for an eartip that's molded after your ear. You need to get your molds first, then they make positives that fit your earphone. You can also order entirely custom earphones, but they're pricier especially if you want full sound.

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rhalf t1_ja36864 wrote

CIEM

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be_as_u_wish_2_seem t1_ja2u3pj wrote

It might be that your left ear canal has a weird shape, I think that’s my problem. How I fixed it is by getting triple flange ear tips from Amazon. They are super cheap and work very well. If you use the wireless ones that go in a case this won’t work though

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thms0 t1_ja32emu wrote

There are also the other tips from Etymotic that expand in your ear canal.
I have the same problem and those are the one that provide the best "fit" but I loose some "seal".

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be_as_u_wish_2_seem t1_ja333y1 wrote

Yeah, do you mean the foam ones? They were amazing for seal I found, but they were too much effort to take out and put in. I guess if this is for home listening this might be fine though

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Individual-Ride-2496 t1_ja2uhw7 wrote

I have the same problem but moondrop's spring tips did it for me. They are comfortable and I don't feel pain or itch and they also stay in position and the medium size fits both of my ears

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SlavJerry OP t1_ja2xzj4 wrote

I also use moondrop spring tips medium size, they can make my left side go in little further though but when my face got some tension it just slides out

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blorg t1_ja3id9p wrote

I like Moondrop Spring Tips as well but often use different sizes, for me, L on the right, M on the left. Depending on the IEM, some IEMs I do L both sides, some M both sides. I don't get unbalanced sound from using different size tips, the most important thing is to get a seal for consistent sound and if it takes different size tips that should be fine.

Seal test here to check if you have a seal, try to make sure you pass that with an even ear to ear 50Hz tone and then see if they are still unbalanced.

Secondary consideration would be to get similar insertion depth as that affects the upper frequencies, but this is much less audible anyway.

It's also possible Spring Tips just aren't for you, maybe you need to try something else. They work for me for most IEMs but I have some that they just don't work well with, I also like Azla Crystal, Xelastec (these mould to your ears with body heat, may help), and SpinFit, primarily CP100/+.

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SlavJerry OP t1_ja572j6 wrote

yeah I also considered getting a spinfit

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Someguy14201 t1_ja4r1ut wrote

Same problem, and my right ear has killed 2 IEMs so far due to some pressure thing apparently, where it leads to driver flex. My left ear has been fine with IEMs. I hate it so much because most of my IEMs develop channel imbalance within the first 3 days I buy them. Happened with my Titan S, now with my new S12 Pros.. It's infuriating.

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Guiczar t1_ja570ly wrote

Foam tips. You squeeze them and they will adjust to your ear canals as they expand.

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dan1son t1_ja5xo21 wrote

Same here. I have custom tips for my etymotic IEMs. Fantastic upgrade if you have this problem.

For the rest I just use different sized tips in each ear. Whatever works... no hesitation to find the best fit even if it's different in each ear.

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TagalogON t1_ja603x5 wrote

Try Spinfit CP100+, W1, CP145, etc. Those have a rotation gimmick that actually kinda works.

For the CP100+ and W1, those also have medical grade silicone material that should help with the itching/uncomfortableness/allergies/etc. A lot of new silicone ear tips these days basically have that medical grade silicone material now, but in the future, always make sure to get that so that your ears don't itch/etc.

Yes, you can use different-sized ear tips to have a better fit/seal, but for me the sound can change drastically as the bass/treble/etc. shift to one side and so on due to the mismatched dimensions/sizing/etc. of the ear tips.

Try Spinfit W1, FiiO HS18, AZLA SednaEarfit XELASTEC, Dunu S&S, etc. ear tips for possibly better fit/seal, noise reduction/isolation, and comfort.

The dimensions/sizing/measurements/etc. for most ear tips these days will be on Amazon/AliExpress/HiFiGo/etc. Unfortunately you have to blind buy the ear tips in order to get a feel for the dimensions/measurement/etc. that you like for your ears. Remember, this will also change with different IEMs as they'll have different nozzle length, nozzle angle, and so on.

For Spinfits, usually some AliExpress storefronts or like say MTMTaudio/etc. will allow people to only get 2 pieces of 1 size for cheaper or half price of the usual price. Like some Spinfits models are often $10 with 4 pieces of 1 size and so they sell it for $5 for 2 pieces.

Cheap ear tips (basically FiiO HS18, Spinfit from some AliExpress storefronts, Chinese websites like MTMTaudio/et cetera, and so on) and possibly better soundstage: https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/1157giz/upgrade_imaging_with_balanced_cable_iem_or/j90a003/

Same info about different ear canals size: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/11a5sle/any_tips_to_make_my_moondrop_katos_not_fall_out/j9r2tjz/

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