How To Find The Perfect Pair Of Ear Tips: An Easy Ear Tip Guide

Have you used any pair of In-Ear Monitors yourself? Obviously, you must have. Then you must also be aware of how important it is to get a comfortable and firm fit with them. Not just fit, we need to have proper isolation from the surrounding noise in order to enjoy them at their full potential. For this “Ear Tips” play a major role in the HiFi audio world. An ear tip can easily make or break the sound of an IEM, even a small size mismatch might cause issues such as channel imbalance. So Eartips for IEMs is like oxygen for humans, you need them to be fully compatible. Not only with IEMs, but they should also be appropriate for your ear size too. That’s the reason why all IEMs come packed with multiple sets of ear tips in different sizes. This is done to ensure everyone gets a comfy fit even with the stock ear tips. But the world of Ear Tips is huge, we have got different types of ear tip material, different nozzle sizes, different mouth sizes, and all this just makes things really confusing. Don’t you worry when we have got you covered, We have arranged this blog as a guide for most of the commonly asked questions related to ear tips, basically how to choose the perfect ear tips for yourself? So without wasting any more time, let us begin!!

In order to understand this blog easily, we have divided it into multiple sections. We will first start with Part 1: Types of ear tip materials.

Part 1: Different Types Of Ear Tip Materials:-

There are three types of ear tip materials that are being used widely today, Silicone, Memory Foam, and Hybrid. Each of these has their own benefits and cons, so we will start with Silicone first.

Silicone Ear Tips:-

These tips are made up of high-quality skin-friendly silicone material. They come in different shapes and sizes, the primary benefit of Silicone ear tips is their easy and comfortable wearing experience. They are highly durable, one can wash them to clean and use them again and again. There are multiple brands that make high-quality silicone ear tips including SpinFits, Azla Sednafit, and more. Silicone Ear Tips are made available in multi-flange options that include single-flange, double-flange, and triple-flange. Silicone while being comfortable might give some people issues who are sensitive to silicone as a material. These are also not as isolating as the Foam Ear Tips.

Benefits Of Silicone Ear Tips:-

>Better durability than other ear tip types.

>Can be cleaned easily, simply wash them.

>Multi-Flange options available.

>Bundled with almost all IEMs out there, we are yet to see any IEM to not come packed with Silicone ear tips.

Cons Of Silicone Ear Tips:-

>Not the most isolating type of Ear Tip material out there.

>Some people are not comfortable by wearing Silicone material(Skin Sensitivity).

Some Must-Try Aftermarket Silicone Ear Tips:-

>SpinFit CP100.

>SpinFit CP145.

>Azla SednaEarfit Xelastec.

>Moondrop Spring Tips.

>Final Audio Type E series.

>Whizzer ET-100.

>JVC Spiral Dots.

Memory Foam Ear Tips:-

These are high-quality foam ear tips that promise an ultimate fit and comfortable wearing experience for most users out there. They kind of take a while to get used to and are not the most durable kind of ear tips but Memory Foam ear tips provide complete isolation from the outside background sounds. These ear tips take up the shape of the ear canal, providing excellent seal and isolation for the users. The biggest issue with Foam Ear Tips is their durability, they wear off quickly and have to be replaced quite often. But once you go the Memory Foam way, there’s no going back from this world. On the plus side, we get to explore our IEMs fully with proper seal and isolation.

How To Wear Memory Foam Ear Tips:-

Unlike silicone ear tips, Memory Foam ear tips have a different way to wearing them. Once applied on the in-ear monitors, completely squeeze the entire ear tip with your thumb. After this just wear your in-ear monitors as you would normally do. The Memory foam will slowly expand and reform to the shape of your ear canal, it would reform like it’s a custom-designed ear tip for your precious IEMs. This makes sure the ear tips cover the entire ear canals providing proper seal and isolation for the user.

Benefits Of Using Memory Foam Ear Tips:-

>First and foremost, the seal and isolation we get with Memory Foam ear tips are excellent.

>With a proper seal, IEMs produce a better-pronounced bass response, they feel punchy and more impactful.

>Extremely comfy wearing experience once you get used to them.

>With good isolation we don’t have to increase the volume much.

Cons Of Memory Foam Ear Tips:-

>Complete isolation is not safe to use especially while using outdoors.

>Durability of Memory Foam ear tips is a concern.

>They are not good for use during workouts as Sweat will make them wet and wear off quickly.

Some Must-Try After Market Memory Foam Ear Tips:-

>Comply Isolation Plus Memory Foam.

>Tin HiFi Memory Foam.

>NICEHCK T400 Memory Foam.

>Moondrop MIS-Tip Sponge Ear Tips.

Hybrid Ear Tips:-

Bringing us the best of both worlds, Hybrid Ear Tips are made of both silicone as well as Memory Foam materials. The outer layer is made of high-quality skin-friendly silicone material, the area between the outer silicone layer and the inner tube nozzle is filled with Memory Foam material. This helps the user by providing the perfect seal of foam while being durable and super comfy on the ears. Symbio W series of ear tips are the prime example of Hybrid Ear Tips.

Pros of Hybrid Ear Tips:-

>Comfortable and firm fit.

>Perfect seal and in-ear isolation.

>Better durability than Foam ear tips.

Cons of Hybrid Ear Tips:-

>Limited availability, very few brands make Hybrid Ear Tips as of now.

Must-Try Aftermarket Hybrid Ear Tips:-

>Symbio W series.

Part 2: How To Choose Which Ear Tip Will Fit Your IEMs?

For this, you have to measure the diameter of the ear nozzle of your IEMs. This is usually available online for most IEMs too. We at HiFiGo have uploaded an image of the ear nozzle being measured with its diameter in the product images catalog for most of our IEMs. While going in the market for Ear Tips, you can check each pair of ear tips have mentioned supported nozzle diameters. You can choose the ones based on your IEMs accordingly. For most universal IEMs, Comply Isolation Plus Memory Foam, SpinFit CP100/145 Silicone Tips, Moondrop Spring Silicone Tips, and Azla Sedna Xelastec Silicone tips fit perfectly. Below, we have included some samples of nozzle size measurement as we have uploaded with our products. We hope this helps you in measuring or knowing the nozzle size of your IEMs.

Part 3: How Does An Ear Tip Affect The Sound Of Your In-Ear Monitors?

Different models of Ear tips have different build structures like the Nozzle bore diameter and the outer silicone shape. The outer silicone shape here affects the fit while the nozzle bore width(Eartip opening) affects the sound with the connected in-ear monitors. It’s mainly the width that affects the sound output, Narrow bore Ear tips tend to increase the lower end presence, producing a powerful bass response. They bring a slight cut down on treble extensions too. When you use Wide Bore Ear Tips, they bring out the treble energy of the IEMs, the soundstage is also wider and spacious. The wide bore Ear Tips also add a bit of brightness to the IEMs.

Narrow Bore:- Better Bass, Immersive presentation. Final Audio Type-E, SpinFit CP100 are prime examples of Ear Tips with a narrow bore.

Wide Bore:- Flatter Bass But detailed treble improves spaciousness and airiness on the stage too. JVC Spiral Dots, Azla Sedna Xelastec are prime examples of wide-bore ear tips.

Memory Foam Ear tips are like narrow bore IEMs in bringing changes to the sound. They improve the bass response of the connected in-ear monitors but at the same time, it also kills some extensions in the treble region. The primary reason behind this is that with Memory Foam tips the seal and isolation make the lower-end more pronounced. With Memory Foam ear tips, the soundstage also gets a bit immersive in comparison to the Silicone Ear Tips.

A point to add here, different ear tips don’t affect the frequency curve for an IEM, It’s just the seal and nozzle bore size that affects the sound frequencies we perceive with our ears.

Final Conclusion:-

Finding the perfect pair of ear tips is not an easy game, it needs experience and exploration. One needs to explore different types of ear tips based on their personal preferences and liking. Some might find silicone ear tips to be comfortable while others prefer the Foam for their perfect isolation. Both of them are correct at their own point, There is nothing between these two that can be said better than the other as both of them have their own characteristics which some may prefer some may not. We have tried to explain to you the basics of ear tips like their material types and their effect on sound with your IEMs, this guide will help you get a head start on your search for the perfect ear tips for your IEMs. Also, it doesn’t mean one pair of ear tips will suit all of your IEMs, so never stop exploring!! We sincerely hope you liked this guide of ours to find your perfect pair of ear tips, if you have any questions or queries, feel free to write to us at support@hifigo.com.