I got a great gift for Christmas - some Bose In-Ear Stereo Headphones. I've talked before about having little ears (I do; they're tiny), and how ear bud-type headphones don't work well for me because of it. The problem is that both the holes that go into my inner ears and the bowls of my ears are small. Usually the problem is with the bowls though; the buds are just too huge.
I've been running for about three years with on-ear headsets. And, while they're pretty comfortable, when I run they get sweaty. Really sweaty. And then the foam starts to deteriorate. Oh, yeah, and they start to smell pretty funky too.
So, I asked for a pair of the Bose thingies to try them out. I figured that if they didn't work well for me, I could always give them to Dave and let him have them. They're too expensive to just throw away.
Let me tell you, if you have little ears, you need to invest in a pair of these puppies. As you would expect from Bose, the sound quality is superb. I'm half-deaf, but even I can hear the difference in the sound quality between these and other headphones.
The phones come with three different sized silicone fittings so you can get the fit just right - even wear different sizes on each ear if you need to. And, they color-coded the pieces so you can tell the sizes apart (I was concerned about mixing them up). This silicone is super-soft and easy to wear.
The weird thing about these headphones is that at first glance (and even when you read the directions), they appear to be huge. As in, the part that goes in the bowl of your ears looked rather large to me. I thought, "How the hell am I going to wear these in my ears? What's the point in having sized inner-ear pieces if the outer portion is still just as huge?" I even tried sticking them in there all kinds of ways before I actually figured it out.
Instead of putting that big, gigantic piece in your ear, there is a little bulb (the silicone fits around it) that rests in the bowl of your ear. And, it's tiny. As in, if you have large ears, you'd sure better use the large adapters because they are going to fall out. Once I figured out this little tidbit, the phones fit quite nicely and comfortably.
So far I've worn them around the house, at work, and of course running. They are great for all three. The longest I've worn them is about two hours, but my ears didn't hurt afterward, and usually they do (a lot) within about 20 minutes of wearing buds. The instructions suggest that for exercising one might need to change out the size (all that jumping around) but I've not had any problems with them falling out.
All in all, I would say that these headphones are a must-have for people with little ears. Maybe even for teens or tweens, who are still growing (but love their music). They go for about $100, but they are well worth it, trust me.
