Earphones, earbuds recommendation?

I use these in bed (Amazon sells them, but sometimes their sellers will substitute different variants on the model). They’re very comfortable for me, but one of the things I’ve learned while shopping for earphones is that the shapes of people’s ears can greatly affect what they find comfortable. I can’t wear earbuds at all, for example, yet they seem to have almost taken over the market for cheap earphones.

I am a fan of the Koss Plug. Great noise isolation, good frequency response from thumping bass to dog whistle and every pitch in between, and yet cheap enough that if you break them you won’t cry. Seriously, they sound better than many buds I’ve tried at 5 times the price.

Note that these do go in your ear, not over. That is how they get the sound they do, and why they have that name. But the foam is soft enough that they are comfortable for extended wear, and since they don’t stick out, they don’t get knocked like many earbuds do.

I recently bought a pair of $10 Skullcandy earbuds and I’ve had no complaints. It’s the first pair I’ve had success with. I thought I’d never find a comfortable pair that didn’t constantly slip out of my ears.

Are you looking for something to wear all night? I don’t know that there’s anything that fits in your ear that’s going to comfortable for that long or with you laying on it. At the end of the day, they’re all rigid plastic, right?

That said, The Wirecutter has never steered me wrong and has 3 recommendations in different price ranges for in ear headphones (earbuds) and tons of over ear if you decide to go that way instead.

@funkdaddy Not so. The ones that “kinda sorta” fit in your ear are uncomfortable and prone to falling out. Personally, I can’t wear them for more than about 30 seconds. But the ones that go IN the ear are generally foam or silicone; quite soft actually.

@jonsblond The only Skullcandy buds I’ve tried were… lacking. Maybe it’s our ears are different, or it might be that you listen to different music, but they just don’t sound right when I crank this or this. But they were pretty comfortable, I’ll give them that, and they probably sound better when you don’t have the sort of tone sweeps and/or bass that my music-of-choice tends to have. I guess earbuds reallly are a “your mileage may vary” thing.

Over-the-ear and in-the-ear headphones are uncomfortable for me for long periods.

On-the-ear is better for me. When I had to be talk on the phone I lot, I bought the Plantronics Audio DSP .400 headset.

They have other models, too.

With on-the-ear models the foam wears out eventually. It’s best to buy spare foam sets (they’re cheap on eBay) to be prepared.

@jerv – come on man

@jerv My problem with the in-ear earbuds are the tips. I’m ALWAYS losing them, so I’ve been forced to go back to the Apple branded earbuds.

I wouldn’t recommend any in-the-ear option if you’re planning to wear the thing all night while sleeping. The reason for that is hygiene. With a plug in your ear and no fresh air circulation, you’re very liable to set up ideal conditions for bacterial infection and wax buildup, even if those things are not current problems for you.

I also wouldn’t recommend an over-the-ear headphone if you’re going to be lying on your side. It’s going to be knocked off and disruptive to your sleep (and enjoyment of whatever you’re listening to while you’re awake). For the same reason, even if you were to sleep on your back, a close-fitting high quality headphone can do the same thing health-wise that an ear plug will do in setting up potential health problems.

Does it absolutely have to be a ‘personal’ device that no one else will hear? The reason I ask is since I’ve learned about Slacker Radio on my smartphone and tablet I have also acquired a Bluetooth battery-powered remote speaker that I simply set on the bed. It puts out great sound at a wide range of volumes, and I can control it with the phone or tablet as well as the simple touch controls on the speaker itself. Highly recommended!

@CWOTUS “I also wouldn’t recommend an over-the-ear headphone if you’re going to be lying on your side. It’s going to be knocked off and disruptive to your sleep (and enjoyment of whatever you’re listening to while you’re awake)”

This depends on the design. I wear earclips, and some models do fall off easily. The ones I linked to earlier don’t fall off, and are well padded, so don’t cause discomfort.

I agree with your comment on earbuds and hygiene, although I wouldn’t be able to wear them anyway.