No Stupid Questions

Yep, I massively prefer the soft silicone ones over the hard ones. The harder ones fall out of my ears constantly, any slight tug on the cable and they're gone. They form a better seal so I can hear what I'm listening to more clearly which I prefer as well

I accidentally put my earbuds though a wash cycle and borrowed some airpods for the gym while waiting for replacements. I don't understand how a solid one-size-fits all approach can be so popular. With silicone tips you can have different sizes. I actually use a different size for each ear.

Yes, I mean who doesn't?

Holy shit I didnt think it was biologically possible to not hate hard plastic earbuds like they raped your mother infront of you.

Does anyone actually like those silicone tips vs a solid body?

I am sure it is the other way. Hard body is fucking terrible at everything. Many report it struggling to hold in the ear canal. They do not have any good noise blocking abilities besides ANC. They hurt some people.

I have not heard from anyone that rubber/foam tips hurt, or have poor noise isolation, or barely hold in ear canal.

I physically cannot wear the hard plastic ones. I can tilt my head to one side and they will fall out immediately.

That said, i also have super waxy ears as well so any ear tips (silicone or foam) get disgusting quickly, and its also wet wax so they degrade and also fall out (much slower than the plastic though).

I also struggle with over-ears being too clampy because giant head, so im kinda just fucked on the entire non-speaker audio front. I've found sennheisers to be fairly comfy. Beyerdynamic DT-770 are waaaay too clampy and slide around a lot.

I do. The soft silicone ones are much more comfortable in the long run, provided you're using a size that is right for you.

I prefer anything that doesn't go in my ear first, so over the ear or bone conduction style. But after that I prefer the soft silicone in ear buds because both styles hurt my ears but those I can wear for a longer period before they start hurting.

I like to run and the plastic only ones fly out of my ears. Why would one shape fit in every person's ear? Engineers are designing for the average person. Silicone and elastics can better fit to an ear and hold. That's why metal tubes are connected with elastic gaskets and clamps. The silicone or whatever elastomer helps seal.

Silicone tipped are so much better. They're easier to clean, they're more comfortable, and they block out outside noise much better.

Silicone, 100%.

I have met a single digit number of people who prefer hard plastic earbuds over the soft tips. There's a reason why they're pretty much the only thing you see in "nice" earbuds.

Have you tried different tips? Apple offers like 5 different sizes because it's so important to have the right fit. Initially they didn't fit my ear well, but after a while of trying my ear adapted and now they fit perfectly. Foam is also worth a shot, but they get gross fast.

I have never found an in-ear style design that both fits and is comfortable. I have, however, found what works perfectly for me. It stays outside the canal, but remains in the ear because of a slight pressure caused by the silicone wing tips. The brand I buy is “Bose Soundsport Wired”. Cheap, sound fine, never fall out.

I can't stand the solid ones and highly prefer the silicone tipped. The amount of low frequencies and all around sound fidelity lost when using solids makes them a non starter for me.

I didn't know they still made the hard plastic ones! They always make my ears hurt within like 20 minutes. The silicone ones aren't perfect by any means but I've never had any major problems with them.

One of the best investments I ever made was replacing the silicone with memory foam tips. Highly recommend trying it.

Comfy and excellent sound isolation.

I like IEMs with a wrap around design like KZ EDX pro

I don't understand how the silicone ones can stay in the ear but apparently they do for most people. The top example from the left side in the silicone photo is the only one I can actually wear. Maybe our ears just have a weird shape.

I think it’s 50/50. Reading the comments pretty much confirms this. Interesting question!

I don't really wear earbuds because I don't actually like either style. The hard plastic ones are uncomfortable after 10-20 minutes for me and don't stay in my ears. The soft tip ones get really gross and are difficult to clean well, but a decent pair comes with different sizes of tips to better fit my ears.

I have over-ear headphones that I like, but many of them tend to be uncomfortable after a few hours. I've actually come to really like my bone conduction earbuds for general listening because it just rests on my temples with minimal pressure and there's nothing in my ears. They have pretty solid quality, but not audiophile-grade or anything like that.

Edit: I a word

I'm with you, I despise the silicon ones

The hard plastic ones tend to hurt my ears

I only like the old style earphones that sit in the ear. Those bottom ones look way too bulky to be comfortable or not fall out, and the silicone tip ones - sod stuffing something like that in my ear.

I currently own the Sennheiser MX365 (looks like the MX375 is the updated and still available version) and they are great!

I too have issues with silicone earbuds, and also with them falling out. Which is why I was over the moon when I discovered wireless clip-on earbuds. They meet my criteria of being convenient (because wireless) while also not falling off (because clip-on). The specific ones I bought (Anker Soundcore c30i) are not noise-cancelling, but I found that I can adjust their position up or down my ears to meet conditions. For example, I wear them high up when out in public, to hear wayward automobiles that might run me down.

I find foam ones preferable over the silicone ones

I détest the silicone ones. They're uncomfortable and I always lose the tip. I only use the hard plastic ones

I did a diy cast of my ear canal using diy silicone... Which I fo not recommend, but look for sugru. It's silicone type I mixed with talcum powder to expose the water trapped in talcum to the silicone over a large volume in a controlled way... Then I scanned the casts and I used a DSLR to take photos of the parts at various angles and used an open source app to get 3D models from the images. Then I used freecad to cut the models with areas to mount the tiny speakers and such. Finally printed them in SLA resin. I made earplugs, IEMS and headphone adapters using the same geometry. They are very comfortable. The plugs are great for swimming.

ear clips are better than both

I like the silicone ones when they fit. I have some round the ear ones for jogging and they’re great. Never budge.

I have the opposite problem. I have a little fold in my ear that pops up like a cartridge eject, rubber molds to it while hard just pops out. Literally unusable