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Ear Canal Headphones

Do NOT confuse Ear Canal Headphones with cheap ear buds! Ear canal headphones seal within your ear canal utilizing little rubber tips, coating your eardrum with precisely-rendered music. Not only do ear canal headphones sound amazingly good, they also provide the best seal from external sound of any other headphone type ---much better than those big-name "noise canceling" headsets! The least expensive of these ear canal headphones is well under $100; the most expensive are custom-fitted by an audiologist, cost well over $1000 and are among the very best-sounding audio drivers in existence; they’ll set you back some major bucks by the time you add getting customized ear molds made---but, wow, are they ever impressive.

The audio image from ear canal headphones is more compact and a bit more “inside your head’ than regular headphones due, we suspect, mostly to the fact that you are totally bypassing the outer ear and all its psycho-acoustic position sensing cues. On the other hand, the sound from this type of headphone is truly crystal clear and what is lost in image size is largely gained back in image clarity and audio detail resolution. For most people, the listening experience is akin to having your ears plugged and hearing the musical soundstage appearing, in miniaturized form, perfectly formed within your sound mind.

Some folks worry about fit and comfort issues with these in-ear designs, and rightly so. We might suggest when you buy your ear canal headphones that you try a couple of them to see what works best for you. Usually, most people can find a reasonably comfortable eartip sleeve size & material to suit their needs. Of course, the highly specialized audiologist-customized ear canal headphone ear molds fit perfectly and feel very comfortable in your ears. You could easily wear them on an entire 14-hr flight! Audiologist-customized earphone ear molds are highly recommended for ECH listeners with particularly sensitive, small, or odd-sized ear canals.

At the lower end of the ear canal headphone cost spectrum is the Shure SE110. The SE110 is more like an upscale 'earbud' design: it’s quite easy to get in and out of your ears and a good choice for undemanding listening perhaps or for use with iPhones and PDA devices. We recommend moving up to slightly more upscale entry-level ECHs like the Jays D-Jays which are a tiny bit cleaner in the bass versus the Shure SE110 or the Shure SE210 which sound quite good for the pricepoint and are solidly designed ear canal headphones. All these inexpensive ECHs get it close to 'right between your ears', and perfectly right in your wallet too!

Another hundred dollars up and we begin to stand amidst a variety of very good ear canal headphones. We’ve been steady fans of the recent Shure products and the Shure SE310 is a very neutral, accurate-sounding earphone although perhaps slightly rolled off in the upper treble ranges compared to more correct-sounding (in our opinion) and more expensive dual-microdriver SE420 model. The Shure SE420 is definitely a 'real-deal' audiophile earphone and it is slightly brighter, fuller-sounding, and significantly better-detailed accross the audio spectrum compared to the SE310, although it begs for a nice dedicated amp for maximized sound quality especially for ultra-picky, demanding audiophilic listeners; However, the extraordinarily punchy & well-balanced bass response of the SE420 makes it something special in this price class category. The (also) dual-microdriver Ultimate Ears 5Pro are in this nice mid-price range too and feature an articulate sound signature and a shallower (albeit much bulkier) in-ear fit that occasionally tends to be more comfortable for ear canal headphone newcomers. In the end, we typically suggest the UE 5Pro for folks who like things smooth, dry, and evenly-toned, and the Shure SE420 for those who want a punchy, slightly warmer presentation with a tiny touch more bass presence. Finally, the Etymotic ER6i "entry-level" ECH and the audiophile-grade Etymotic ER4P and the superb audiophile-with-amp-oriented ER4S models likely offer the very best clarity in the upper mids/treble ranges but are considered a bit weak-kneed in the bottom-end for lovers of big bass. These comments are very finely nuanced sonic distinctions though, and all these mid-level ECHs are truly capable-sounding, neutral-response earphones at fair prices.

Now for the really expensive stuff: top-shelf audiophile-grade ear canal headphones. Generally, the two top universal-fit [no audiologist needed] earphones in the audio industry we like to steer people towards are the UE Triple.Fi and the Shure SE530.

This type of ear canal headphone is sometimes tweaked in sound perspective (for pro drummers/bassists or vocalists, for example), but when adjusted for high fidelity audio reproduction, they are simply spectacular. Three tiny balanced-armature microdrivers are discretely molded into each earpiece; small tubes from each join together to drive the acoustic volume of your ear canal for stunningly accurate sound. The superb, fairly pricey Shure SE530 are perhaps the flagship universal-fit ear canal headphone on the market today and are a "can't-miss" choice for music lovers & die-hard audiophiles always on the fly. The top-of-the-line Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi ear canal headphones are also rather expensive ECHs and sound equally stunning with a treble range transparency/extension that is second to none. Both these earphones will provide a comfortable fit with a varying selection of disposable eartip sleeves, nearly total isolation from outside noise, and reference quality (assuming a reference source!) audio reproduction. The UE Triple.Fi is a highly 'neutral' sounding earphone with tremendous depth of musical detail while the Shure SE530's accurate, dynamic sound offers extraordinary resolving power and a full, lush bottom-end; Both headphones remain very well-extended both high & low. We'd say the Shure maybe has a slight edge in comfort over the Triple.Fi due to the fact that it is made from a slimmer-profile armature that is not quite as bulky as the Ultimate Ears.... To be perfectly clear about this: both earphones are AMAZING, and certainly well worth the big bucks if you are an oft-traveling audiophile who loves superbly accurate music reproduction!

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