Fixing fit problems: pain, falling out, one side quieter

After a few minutes you should barely notice an IEM that fits well. It seals without pressing, stays put when you turn your head and sounds equally loud left and right. If one of those three isn't true, find your problem below. The fix almost always starts with the tip, and that's good news: tips cost a few euros.

This is almost always air leaking past the tip. The driver can't build up pressure in your ear canal, and you hear that first in the bass. The treble then sounds sharper, simply because there's less underneath it.

1. Press the IEM in gently with a finger. If the bass gets fuller, the tip leaks. Go one size up.
2. Could it be sitting too shallow? Pull your ear up and back while you put it in. That straightens your ear canal and lets the tip slide further in.
3. Still thin? Try foam or another kind of silicone. Foam expands until it fills your ear canal.

Sounds fine until you talk or chew? Your ear canal changes shape a little when you move your jaw. A tip that's just too small loses its seal for a moment. One size up, or a SpinFit CP100 with its flexible core, helps against that.

Often it's simply the seal on that side. Many people's left and right ear canals differ a little, so the same tip size seals on one side and not the other. Work through the steps from top to bottom and you'll find the cause without guessing.

• The balance on your phone: on an iPhone under Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual, on Android usually somewhere under Accessibility. It should be in the middle, and sometimes it isn't by accident.
• Does one side sound not quieter but odd, hollow and without bass, as if the sound comes from outside your head? Then a flat 2-pin plug may be the wrong way round in the IEM. Turn it around. More in our guide to cables and connectors.
• Clean earwax out of the nozzle with a dry brush, never with water or a needle. Our cleaning guide shows how.

An IEM shouldn't hurt, not even after a few hours. Pain usually has one of these causes:

• The tip is too big. It pushes against the wall of your ear canal all the time. That feels like a dull pressure that starts to ache after a while. Go one size down. If that no longer seals, try foam: it adapts to your ear canal instead of pushing against it.
• It sits too deep. Don't push an IEM further in than it takes to seal. A double-flange tip goes deeper than a normal tip, so it isn't for everyone.
• The shell presses. If it hurts in one spot, such as the small flap in front of your ear canal or the rim of the bowl of your ear, the shell touches you there. Turn the IEM a little or try a tip that lets it sit less deep. If that doesn't help, read the last part of this guide.

Give your ears a break now and then, especially at first. That's good for your hearing too: our safe listening guide explains why how long matters as much as how loud.

An IEM that slips out when you walk or work out usually has a tip that's too small, or a cable pulling on it. The tapping and rubbing you hear when the cable brushes your collar is called microphonics. The sound travels through the cable and the shell into your ear, and because your ear canal is sealed, you hear it all the more. Both have the same fix: the cable over your ear.

• Go one size up or try foam. Foam expands and stays in better when you move.
• After putting it in, turn the IEM a little backwards so the shell locks into the bowl of your ear.
• Run the cable under your shirt or jacket. A tug on the cable then won't pull the IEMs straight out.
• If your cable has pre-shaped ear hooks, don't bend them straight. They're meant to follow the curve of your ear.

Do you hear a click or a crackle when you put an IEM in or press it, and then it's gone? That's called driver flex. Putting the IEM in compresses the air in your sealed ear canal. That pressure briefly pushes the diaphragm of a dynamic driver out of shape, and you hear it as a click. It happens more with IEMs that have little venting, and on its own it doesn't mean anything is broken.

• Put the IEM in slowly, so the air has time to escape.
• Pull your ear up and back while you put it in.
• Turn the IEM into place instead of pushing it in.
• A tip with a different shape, or foam, can reduce it.

Does it also crackle while you listen, without touching the IEM? Then something else is going on. Email us and we'll look into it with you.

We compare silicone, foam and SpinFit in detail in our ear tips guide. Here's just what to try for each problem:

Also look at the nozzle, the little tube the tip sits on. Its thickness differs per IEM. A tip should click on firmly. If it slides on too easily, it can stay behind in your ear when you take the IEM out. If the opening is too narrow, you'll barely get it on. The product pages say what fits: the HS18 is for nozzles from 5.0 to 6.5 mm, the Dekoni Bulletz Mercury has a 4.9 mm core.

The hole in the tip plays a part too. A wide bore usually lets more treble through, a narrow one softens the treble a little. If your IEM sounds sharp to you, a tip with a narrower bore or foam is worth a try.

Sometimes an IEM just doesn't suit your ear, and that's not your fault. Ears vary hugely in shape. You can tell like this:

• It only seals when you press it in, with every tip. The shell stops it before the tip is deep enough.
• You feel pressure in the same spot, whichever tip you try.
• The shell sticks far out of your ear and wobbles when you move your head.

Then a different shape helps. The KZ EDS has a small shell and sits comfortably in smaller ears. The FiiO FP3 weighs about 6.5 g per side, and FiiO shaped it to touch less of your ear. If you can't stand a sealed ear canal at all, an earbud such as the FiiO FF3S might suit you. It rests in your outer ear without sealing, with less bass and less isolation as a result.

If an IEM from us really doesn't fit, you can send it back within 30 days. Opened and tried is fine, just include all the ear tips. And if no universal IEM gives you a good fit, a hearing care professional can have an IEM made to an impression of your ear. We don't sell those, but they're the answer for ears that nothing stays in.