I thought I only liked loudspeakers and only used entry level headphones just for convenience of not disturbing people surrounding me at home.
I was not inclined to use IEM and even less deep insertion IEM but decided to give a chance to a pair of Etymotic ER2SE.
I first tried it after swapping the large 3-flange to the smaller one because the bigger ones looked too big.
I got hooked the very first minute even improperly sealed and got ear canals pain quite quickly later when used with bigger eartips.
I really do not regret to gave it a chance based on reviews and let my ear canals got used to deep insertion IEM.
I only used a few times the cheap IEM delivered with my HTC Ultra and probably never bothered persevering with IEM if the ER2SE hasen’t been a huge improvement to let me realize how good IEM can be sound-quality wise and above all, how good for music enjoyment.
Though, I don’t think that I will go higher than the ER2SE.
Seems to be the trend lately with so many models it’s hard to keep up lol.
When you are ready for suggestions, let me know. I enjoy audio quality but comfort is very close 2nd.
I definitely value my overear phones better.I can never get the darn IEMS to sit right.
I bought about 3 or 4 relatively inexpensive iems from Drop and they do what I need them to do when I’m on the road. That and I use the Creative Gold for wireless which give a good sound. But they will never take the place of my overears.
I have tried and tried. Many TOTL IEMs, hundreds of tips, even had three custom IEMs made; the result were the same: that “underwater” feeling or the “there’s something in my ear feeling” or the right IEM falling out.
I think I am done with iems except for AirPods Pro 2 for the gym and the plane. I wish IEMs would work for me but they dont. I have to face the fact that they dont.
I used to be like you as well. I thought over ear cans were the end all be all of music listening enjoyment. I feel like I get let down A LOT from over ear headphones. Nothing really stands out to me & “my” ears. I’ve had DT1990’s, HD5XX, Dan Clark Aeon (open) which is what I use now & none of these have come close to my pair of MoonDrop Variations. I also own a pair of Campfire Polaris & liked them okay until the Variations came to me. Now I never listen to the Polaris.
I’m really so close to pulling the trigger one last time on pair of over ear headphones in the Arya Stealth but I just feel OE’s will let me down again.
I have to respect an opinion that took 3 years to develop.
Much as I enjoy the Audeze IEMs (that aren’t really because of their form factor), and some others, there is always something annoying about IEMs, I agree. Only a very few can be worn for more than a few hours and/or disappear to the extent that I can just completely enjoy the music.
Doesn’t mean that for me, there aren’t plenty of times I want to use them. But it’s enough that I’m not TOTL curious, or even willing to drop a few C-notes on some random well reviewed pair.
I love really good iems. Having headphones on for long periods can get warm, and having them on head, can be fatiguing. If you get a good fit with iems, i can listen to them for longer periods. The holographic effect of a really good iem, is something i just can’t replicate with headphones.
I love the use case and SQ of IEMs, just not the feeling of “something in my ear”. Just discovered a new offering from Shokz called OpenFit Shokz which don’t actually enter the ear canal. I know they cannot compete with my U12T for SQ, but may be just fine for the gym.
I recently received these xelastic tips with my Unique melody mkii, they really help with fit. They are slightly sticky so you get excellent fit. They wouldn’t help your issue, for they still go inside ear canal.
Have been using the Xelastec tips for six months or so. They are the best I have tried, but don’t solve the underlying problem.
The more I’ve been using IEMs, the more I feel like they’re not optimal for long-term listening in general (>1.5 hours). All the IEMs I’ve tried for long periods of time give that inner-ear fatigue and discomfort.
With that being said, I do still love using IEMs. I think it’s just a crux of the method.
It’s probably just that your ears don’t like having stuff stuck in them, but I wanted to mention a possible alternative reason: IEM “cabin pressure”
I sometimes use my openback IEMs (raptgo hookx) because they don’t seal off my ear canal. This is more comfortable to me because they don’t build up pressure over time the way that closed-back IEMs do.
Thats a good point… I dont own any open back IEMs, but I’ll look into it!