Earphones for little ears?

December 28, 2008 12:56 PM

Can you recommend some ear/headphones for someone with small ears? The ones that came with my old ipod always fall out because the earbuds are a bit too big. I read some previous threads here that recommended the kind that loop over your ear, but I wear glasses, so those never fit properly and fall off. I'd prefer some cheapies, as I'm not looking for superior sound quality; I just like to listen to pop music when I jog.
posted by bluefly to Technology (12 answers total)

Best answer: I had the same problem and found a brand at Target - something with Candy in the name - that comes with three different sizes of plastic covers for the earbuds. $15 well spent and fun color choices too.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 1:23 PM on December 28, 2008

Yeah,the SkullCandy $10ish range is cheap and decent. Belkin made little snap-on adapters for the old generation of iPod headphones, but I'm not sure that they're still around, since they don't fit the newer ones, and they cost as much as a new set of low-end earbuds.
posted by holgate at 1:38 PM on December 28, 2008

I think Sweetie Darling is talking about Skull Candy earphones, which are quite popular.

You'll want to look at in-ear models with interchangeable earbuds. Here is a rundown of good-sounding ones at different price points at the Head-Fi forums.
posted by roomwithaview at 1:42 PM on December 28, 2008

Best answer: My original ones finally died, so I took my daughter's recommendation and got these Sony earbuds. They are around $10 at a lot of places, and come in various colors. I got mine at Toys R Us of all places. My daughter's ears are tiny, and mine are pretty small as well (genetics yay!!!!!) and they are very comfortable. Sound quality is pretty good, not fantastic, but on par with the original earbuds. Also, I noticed that I could run my iPod at much lower volume and get the same sound in my ears. I also like the shape, since I can tell which side is which by feel.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 1:56 PM on December 28, 2008

Best answer: I like these from Sony. They are earbuds and come with three sizes of cushion thingies, the smallest are just right.
posted by cestmoi15 at 2:20 PM on December 28, 2008

The ones that come with the iPod are terrible. Get some decent in-ear earphones, preferably with multiple cushion sizes. It's hard to spend more than $20 on these at Target, but there are more expensive audiophile versions (etymotics) if that's the direction you want to go in. I like Sony if you want a brand name.
posted by rhizome at 2:54 PM on December 28, 2008

Best answer: I have the same problem, standard earbuds never stay in for me.

I used to have the Sony EX71s which were great and sounded loads better than any stock headphones, and weren't that expensive (currently at about $25 on Amazon, which isn't a bad investment in my book). They also stayed in whilst jogging.

Since then I have upgraded to Etymotics which are like having your own personal orchestra playing in your head.

Generally though, any 'earbud' headphones as mentioned above (you may also wish to try the Sennheiser CX300s) will all come with varying sizes of buds for you to try.
posted by gkhewitt at 3:29 PM on December 28, 2008

Many canalphones have exchangeable tips, made from silicone rubber or that squish-then-it-expands foam stuff that's used in earplugs. The tips come in various sizes; the foam type, you could even cut down yourself.

Canalphones used to all be really expensive, but now there are many cheap models. The really cheap ones don't have exchangeable tips, but you can get something that sounds very good - WAY better than normal earbuds - and has swappable tips for about $US50. I think you'd probably be quite pleased with the Sennheiser CX300s, which come with three sizes of tip.

Apparently the CX300s don't, um, penetrate your ear canal as far as normal canalphones, which is likely to make the CX300s more comfortable to wear when you're jogging. Just loop the cable forward, over the top of your ear and then down the back of your neck, and the wires won't tug on the earpieces.

(Here, in case you're interested, are the rest of the canalphones that HeadRoom sell. HeadRoom send me free stuff for review, but I genuinely think they're an excellent place to buy headphones, and I don't get kickbacks if you buy stuff.)
posted by dansdata at 8:18 PM on December 28, 2008

Finally someone asked this!

I too need more tips (Bluetooth headsets are also hard to fit for me). I've found the Shure ones to fit well when I tried them but they're too pricey for me. I picked up some V-Moda Vibes that just barely work and are a bit cheaper.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 10:07 PM on December 28, 2008

Response by poster: Hey thanks for all the responses. I had no idea that there were those squishy earbuds that come in different sizes (searching amazon for headphones results in a dazzling array too numerous to parse). I'll try the cheaper Skullcandy or Sony ones first, and work up from there. Happy New Year!!
posted by bluefly at 4:29 AM on December 29, 2008

I swear by these by Creative. They come with three different sizes of soft in-ear pieces...and sound great should you feel the need for an upgrade!

I've had them for a year now...after repeatedly buying cheaper versions that would come apart or stop working after a few months.
posted by pearl228 at 4:02 PM on December 29, 2008

Yes! As I mentioned before, I've been wanting to know the answer to this question for a long time. I finally found this page which lists in-ear headphones (or in ear monitors--IEM's) by the size of their, er, "nozzle". Presumably this is the inner canal of the thing.

Hopefully putting this link here will save someone some time in the future.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 12:47 PM on August 3, 2009