Does anyone actually like those silicone tips vs a solid body?
I personally cannot wear the silicone ones. they either fallout, or don’t fit/hurt my ears.
it’s just a royal pain finding the non silicone ones for cheap. it’s just for dog walking. I also don’t do wireless because well… they fall out.
photo examples.


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 have a very strong preference to the silicone triple-flange ear tips. They help block outside noise and fit comfortably. Unfortunately, they also don’t work with many ear buds. Shure is one of the few brands that they work with for certain.
I would recommend you try actual good In-Ear Monitors, something like the 7hz Zero 2 to name a cheap and popular option. Feel free to do your research of course, but generally I’d point you in the direction of IEMs. Get something where the cable rolls over the ear. If you get the right ones for your ears they will never fall off. And these come with a variety of silicone or foam eartips for you to choose from. Not to mention that what is called Chi-fi has far surpassed everything else in quality of sound compared to price. For $30 you get the kind of sound you’d have to pay hundreds for. Other popular alternatives:
Moondrop Chu 2: $
Kiwi Ears Cadenza: $$
Truthear Pure: $$$
While I’m lucky that the Apple earpods fit my ears so well that I’d say it’s the best earphones for me to sleep on my side (don’t sleep with wired earphones it’s a choking hazard), it’s only Apple’s.
I prefer in ear silicone tips. There are plenty of shapes and brands to find one that fits
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.
I like the ones with memory foam tips. The rubber mushroom tip ones make distracting noises when you move around while wearing them. They amplify noise from the cable rubbing on stuff so they’re really only good when you’re sitting still.
But if im sitting still I’d rather wear over the ear headphones
There was a company that did hybrid tips. Memory foam but with silicone outer shell. This made them stay clean, while also blocking sound and great fit. But the ones I bought are no longer available and I have not yet found a replacement.
I second this hard but actually prefer a kind of hybrid type. just looked at the one’s I’m using now and they are by diofit. They make a silicone foam option that’s literally like it sounds and mixes the benefits of each type together. (The pure memory foam can be a little too form fitting so they are hard to remove and over-isolating)
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.
What do you mean you didn’t know they still make them. Apple airpods are like version 4, still hard plastic. And I hate apple products, but they fit well, just dangle there and work decent enough for their size.
With the exception of a few shows on Apple TV I try to mostly ignore whatever Apple is doing these days
I guess I’m in the minority. The in ear buds hurt my ear. Idk how the hell y’all are jamming that shit in your ear for longer than 5 minutes. The plastic ones feel great. They stay in the ear much better than the silicon tips.
The hard plastic ones tend to hurt my ears
Holy shit I didnt think it was biologically possible to not hate hard plastic earbuds like they raped your mother infront of you.
Yea, those fuckers have always hurt my ears. I didn’t think it was possible for someone to find them more comfortable somehow.
I have a pair of backup headphones like that that I keep for emergencies that I have literally never used for like the 10 years I have had them. Because even when I lose my good headphones, I would rather go without headphones than wear the plastic ones or just not listen to anything at all.
Yes, I mean who doesn’t?
clearly me. lol
they don’t fit, get extra dirty, the tips get lost making you pay more later.
I was just curious about the general consensus and it feels like it’s near 40/40/10. with the 10 being those that detest all earbuds
I was on your side for a long time until I found awesome fitting and sounding ones.
And… the other 10?
Clearly deaf.
You should try a type called silicone foam ear tips. They are like a hybrid of memory foam and silicone. They seal way better but not too much and are more comfortable than either option to me. I used a brand called diofit, but I would guess more brands make them. I ended up using every size in the set just to avoid going back to regular silicone and they all worked pretty well. I should just buy a new set, but I kept thinking these headphones would die soon with how much I use them.
Interesting to hear (hehe).
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
The silicone jackets that lock them inside your ear are far superior for them not falling out. Locking in the sound for quality is also much better with silicone plugs.
I thought silicon was best until I got some with foam pads. They were the best sound I ever had, but the pad need replacing much more often.
I actually used basic AirPods now and the sounds is great in quiet environments. I also don’t have to remove them to converse.
I have a set of ear defenders for working with loud equipment that fit over the AirPods. The biggest hassle is when removing the ear defenders, it’s easy to knock out an AirPod.
I’d sooner have someone piss in my ear than wear solid ones. They hurt and don’t stay in.
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.
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.





