What are in ear earbuds?

There’s one key difference between earbuds and earphones. Earbuds rest on the concha – the opening outside the ear canal. Earphones – also known as in-ear headphones – are inserted in the ear canal. While this may seem like a minor detail, one is better for comfort, durability, and sound quality. Keep reading to find out which one it is, and why and how Klipsch has cornered the market on it.

Earbuds are usually plastic and one-size-fits-all. Depending on the shape of your ears, these features can have an unstable, uncomfortable fit. For this reason, they can fall out frequently, especially during exercise.

Since earbuds rest on the outside of your ear canal, they let in more ambient noise. This can be a pro, depending on your lifestyle. If you commute downtown and walk through the streets, earbuds allow you to be more mindful of your surroundings. However, if sound quality is your priority, earbuds aren’t the best choice because the ambient noise causes weaker bass. You also have to play your music loud enough to overcome the outside noise.

Earphones go past your concha and extend into your ear canal, thanks to silicone tips attached to the earphones themselves. This design creates optimal noise isolation, allowing you to enjoy your music more clearly and at a lower volume. It also makes your earphones less likely to fall out of your ears compared to earbuds. Plus, most earphone packages offer different size tips to ensure you get the best, most comfortable fit possible.

Both earbuds and earphones both have a few of the same advantages. They’re portable, lightweight, and ideal for the gym. Durability is another advantage, as long as you clean them periodically by removing the buildup of earwax and oils. But when it comes to sound quality and comfort, earphones take the cake.

Klipsch has built 75 years of groundbreaking acoustic technology. In 2007, Klipsch engineers saw the potential for making a headphone that offered the same legendary sound as our speakers. The research began by studying, well, ears. Engineers made molds of various ear canals and reached the same conclusion - ear canals are oval-shaped, not round.

Andrew Doerr, Klipsch’s Engineering Program Director, says the evolution of making in-ear headphones more comfortable began back with the X series. “We now had the smallest ear tips, nozzle, and housing in one product,” he says.

Doerr says his team is always hunting for improvements to make sure the comfort increases every time a new iteration of Klipsch earphones comes to life.

Doerr says, for the T5 II True Wireless Sport McLaren Edition, more upgrades are here.

"We are including three more pairs of eartips, for a total of six," he explains. "We are going to offer in-between sizes as a better sizing option for people," Doerr says the commitment to a better fit also includes all-new snap-fit foam eartips and earwings for a better grip in the ear. Here are three components that set Klipsch earphones apart:

The comfort begins on the T5 II True Wireless Sport McLaren Edition headphones with the size of the nozzle. “The T5 II nozzle is actually smaller than our first-generation and our competitors,” Doerr says. "An offset acoustic nozzle for a better fit into the ear also prevents it from sticking out too far as well, as well as a shorter nozzle, smaller housing, and better shape enhances overall fit and comfort."

Doerr says other earphones with larger nozzles create pressure on the inside of the ear canal and cause discomfort.

Klipsch earphone drivers are the smallest in the industry. They’re built in the housing, unlike competitor’s drivers, which are built into the nozzle. Doing this allows Klipsch to keep the housing and nozzle small.

“It allows our patented, oval ear tip to fit just about every ear canal.” - Andrew Doerr

Yes, really – you read that right. Klipsch holds a patent on comfortable ear tips. Klipsch already has several speaker-technology patents, so it’s certainly not a stretch to say we innovate with the customer – and your ears – in mind.

Doerr says ear canals are oval-shaped, not round. Ear canals are not one-size-fits-all either.

Unfortunately, many competitors created round earbuds without giving much thought to the actual shape of the human ear canal. Those become uncomfortable in a hurry and no one wants to interrupt their workout to tinker with their earbuds.

Doerr says the Klipsch oval ear tip design means our earphones won’t fall out the way cheap round earbuds do. Plus, Klipsch offers a variety of sizes to fit virtually every human ear canal on Earth.

Still, many people have questions about earbud safety and if it’s okay to wear them so much. Are wireless earbuds safe? Is noise cancelling bad for your ears? Why do my earbuds hurt my ears?

Read on to learn about popular types of earbuds and how to use earbuds without damaging your ears.

Simply put, earbuds are small headphones that you wear inside your ear. Some, but not all, earbuds include a built-in microphone.

Earbuds are used for audio entertainment and communication. You can use them to listen to music, podcasts and movies. Earbuds with a mic are also helpful for hands-free communication – for example, as gaming earbuds or to take calls from your mobile phone or computer.

Since others cannot hear what you’re listening to when you wear earbuds, you can wear them around others without being disruptive. Earbuds can also cancel out background sounds, so you can hear audio content without being distracted by the people and noises around you.

Wearing earbuds is common during activities such as working, video calls, running, online gaming and swimming.

The sound you hear through your headphones is not the same as the sound produced by your device. One of the main functions of earbuds is to change electrical energy from your listening device into sound waves and to transmit the signals to your ear so you can hear them – usually as vibrations that travel through your ear canal to your eardrum.

There are many types of earbuds, and it seems that there are more options every day. The biggest differences tend to be how the earbuds fit and the technology behind them – and these differences can affect headphone safety (we’ll get to that later in the post).

Wired earbuds plug in directly to your phone, computer, tablet or other device. When you turn on a song or a story, the sound travels through the headphones wire as electrical current. When the electrical current reaches the headphones, it’s turned into sound waves which are responsible for the sounds we hear.

Wireless earbuds do not have a cable leading to your phone or device. But some styles of wireless earbuds have a flexible strap that connects the right earbud to the left earbud. Most wireless earbuds are Bluetooth earbuds, meaning they use short-range microwaves to wirelessly send electrical signals from your device to the headphones.

All earbuds that fit in your ear canal block out some noise since they create a physical barrier between your eardrum and the outside world. But noise-cancelling earbuds do more to block out the noise – they change how your ears hear through inverse audio. Active noise-cancelling earbuds use tiny microphones and complicated circuitry that produce outgoing soundwaves that are opposite of the soundwaves coming in from your environment.

But active cancellation doesn’t work for everyone – some people can still hear background noise. It’s also possible that you may find active noise cancellation uncomfortable or have side effects such as headaches, dizziness and nausea.

Bone conduction earbuds fit differently than other earbuds. Instead of going into your ears, they usually sit on your temples. They also work differently, sending vibrations through the bones of your head and jaw to your inner ear. Some people might find the sensation uncomfortable and have headaches, vertigo or dizziness when using them.

Since the sound doesn’t go through the eardrum, these types of earbuds can work for people with hearing problems. In fact, bone conduction technology has been used in hearing aids for hundreds of years.

The downside is that these types of headphones don’t block as much background noise as in-ear headphones. But the plus side is that you’re more aware of your surroundings – something that’s definitely valuable if you’re using earbuds while doing outside activities like running.

While earbuds make life more interesting and enjoyable, there are some earbuds health risks you should know about.

The biggest potential risk of using earbuds is hearing loss and tinnitus resulting from damage to your inner ear.

In-ear earbuds play music directly into your ear canal. When the soundwave from the music reaches your eardrum, it creates a vibration that’s passed through the tiny bones of your middle ear and then into your inner ear.

Your inner ear is covered with delicate hair cells and the vibrations cause these hairs to move. This movement creates an electrical impulse that’s sent to the brain where it’s interpreted as sound. If your music is too loud, it can permanently damage these hair cells, making it so they don’t send out electrical impulses in response to vibration. And, without these electrical impulses, your brain doesn’t know there’s anything to hear, or what it does hear may sound unclear or distorted.

Here’s a fact that comes as no surprise: earbuds can get very dirty. For starters, there’s earwax, oil from your skin and dried sweat from your ears. Then there’s dirt and grime that collect when the earbuds aren’t being used.

In most cases, dirty earbuds are just gross, but they can also increase your risk of infection. Earbuds can get covered in bacteria, fungus or skin irritants that could get into your ear canal when you insert them – but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get an ear infection.

Usually, your earwax helps protect you from dirt, fungi and bacteria when it gets in your ears. Still, there are a few reasons why earbud users are more likely to get ear infections:

You may wonder, do earbuds emit radiation? The answer is yes. Bluetooth wireless earbuds send out non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation (EMR), mostly as microwaves. And wired earbuds emit extremely low frequency (ELF) radiation.

At this point, there is no conclusive evidence that earbud radiation is harmful. Earbuds are pretty new, and we don’t know if there will be long-term effects from earbud radiation. Still, earbuds are generally considered safe by the scientific community.

Given the earbud health risks, maybe you’re wondering if there are better options to listen to your tunes and podcasts at work or at the mall.

Yes, headphones are somewhat safer than earbuds for a couple of reasons. They don’t go in the ear, so there’s less risk of infections. Plus, your audio content isn’t pumped directly into your ear canal – but you can still get hearing damage with headphones if you listen too loudly.

It’s possible. For one thing, bone conduction earbuds don’t go in the ear canal, so there’s less risk of ear infections. They also won’t cause hearing loss from a ruptured eardrum. But if you misuse bone conduction earbuds, it’s still possible to damage your inner ear, causing hearing loss.

Bone conductions are also newer technology, meaning we don’t yet know the long-term effects of using these types of headphones.

You don’t need to ditch your favorite pair of earbuds or switch to headphones or a bone conduction option. By taking steps to use your earbuds correctly, you can reduce the chance of hurting your ears or hearing.

Your best resource will be the instruction booklet that comes with your earbuds. But here are a few things to keep in mind:

Hearing loss due to earbuds is 100% preventable – you just need to make sure the volume isn’t too loud.

Have you ever wondered, how loud is too loud? To answer that question, we’ll talk briefly about decibels (dB), a measurement used to determine how loud sounds are and if they are safe or could affect your hearing.

Decibels measure the pressure levels created by different volumes of sound. When your ears are exposed to high decibel levels, the resulting pressure can damage your ears. The decibel range goes from 0 dB (sounds so quiet we can’t hear them) to 140 dB (sounds so loud that they cause pain). Listening to anything over 85 dB for a large amount of time can cause permanent hearing loss. To put that in context, a nearby alarm clock is about 80 dB and a blender is 90 dB.

If you’re an adult, try to keep your earbud volume between 60 dB and 85 dB. Kids’ ears are more sensitive and more likely to get damaged. To avoid hearing loss in children, make sure they’re using kids’ headphones that limit the maximum volume to less than 82 dB.

Because here’s the thing: The volume on most listening devices can be cranked up beyond what’s safe for human ears. For example, Apple devices can go over 100 dB. So watch the volume bar and try not to go above 70% of total volume. Also, watch for warnings from your phone or device. If it tells you that your audio volume is too loud, turn down the sound.

Your best bet is to listen at as low a volume as possible. If you’re always cranking up the volume to block out background noise, you may want to give noise-cancelling headphones a try.

It’s best to give your ears a break every couple of hours – even five minutes without tunes can help. This will give your ears a rest from the intense vibrations that come with listening with earbuds.

Since bacteria and fungi like to grow in dark, moist places, pulling out the earbuds also gives your ear canal a chance to air out, reducing your chance of infections.

Plus, removing your earbuds gives you a chance to hear what’s going on in the world and to interact with others.

Clean earbuds are safer, last longer and sound better. But how often should you clean your earbuds? The answer depends on how you use them. If you use your earbuds while doing indoor household chores and you keep them on your desk, you can probably just clean them once every week or two. But if you use them a lot or during sports, you’ll likely need to clean them more often.

If you regularly use your earbuds, try to give them a quick clean every couple of weeks. Here are the steps:

If your earbuds get covered in sweat or water, rinse and dry them as soon as you can. Your earbuds should be completely dry before charging or storage. If you’re at the gym or pool and don’t have time to allow them to dry before storing them, put them in a plastic bag with a silicone gel pack until you get home.

The best way to know if your earbuds need a bigger clean is to look at them. If they are covered in earwax, dust, oil, sweat or sticky fingerprints, they need to be cleaned. Here are the steps:

Always make sure your earbuds are clean and completely dry before storing them in a case. If you don’t have a case, try to store your earbuds in a place where they won’t get dirty. If you’re worried about humidity, it can be helpful to store them in a bag with a silica gel pack.

Earbuds are usually safe when used correctly. Still, it’s possible to damage your ears or hearing. Make an appointment with your primary care doctor or clinician if you notice hearing loss or signs of an ear infection such as redness, itchiness, ear pain, ear discharge, hearing changes or fever.

The difference between in-ear and half-in-ear earbuds is in the part that makes contact with your ear or ear canal.

In-ear earbuds have a silicone ear tip. That part goes into your ear canal. The ear tips of in-ear earbuds are bendable and flexible. In-ear earbuds go deeper into your ear than half in-ear earbuds.

The half in-ear earbuds (also called semi-in ear earphones) are already made in such a way that they fit in your ear. Half in-ear earbuds lie in your ear close to your ear canal. They are therefore harder (almost always plastic) and they do not have an extra silicone attachment that fits in your ear.

Whether in-ear earbuds or half in-ear earbuds suit you has to do with taste and habituation. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages per type. These are a few typical features of in-ear earbuds.

And that makes in-ear earbuds suitable for some and less suitable for others:

The real sound freak often goes for in-ear Bluetooth earphones because they better accompany the low tones. That's because they are deeper in your ears. The ear tip goes deeper into your ear and closes better. The low tones can therefore be transferred much better.

Thus, less sound can 'dissipate' during transfer. The same goes the other way: hardly any sound enters your ears from the outside when you wear in-ear earphones. That is again because the silicone ear tips seal so well.

Not hearing ambient noise while wearing earbuds is called passive noise canceling. This allows you to close properly. In-ear earbuds are therefore useful during moments of concentration.

Do you cycle, walk, or run a lot with earphones? Realize that you do not hear much from your surroundings. That can be dangerous. A sound is often the first indicator of danger.

Also, calling can be more difficult because you cannot hear yourself properly. That makes talking more difficult. It takes some getting used to. Earbuds in higher price ranges (100 euros and higher) often have built-in techniques that allow you to hear your own voice amplified through the microphone. That fixes this problem.

Also, it can help enormously to foam ear tips >to use. These are the attachments of the earbuds that go in your ear only, and these attachments are made of foam. It is extremely comfortable and provides some more ambient noise. That makes calling a lot easier.

With half in-ear earbuds, you can see that the part that goes into your ear is made of hard plastic. The half in-ear earphones hang in your ear, as it were, and do not sit in, but sit against your ear canal while wearing.

Because a silicone funnel does not point into your ear with half-in ears, the sound cannot be guided easily into your ear canal. In particular, low tones disappear as a result. That is the reason that with half in-ears slightly less low tones can be heard.

Because the half in-ears with a hard housing are in your ear cup, there is still room for ambient noise. Ambient noise can be useful in some cases. For example when you are on the phone. In other cases (for example, if you want to concentrate) it is just awkward. So think carefully about what suits you best before buying earphones.

The half in-ear earbuds are in your ear and have a somewhat harder housing. In general, they are less clamped than in-ear earbuds. If you want to do sports while wearing an earbud, it is better to buy in-ear earbuds instead of half-in-ears. Even if you go to the gym (where uplifting music is often played), it is better to take in-ears.

Simply put, earbuds are small headphones that you wear inside your ear. Some, but not all, earbuds include a built-in microphone. Earbuds are used for audio entertainment and communication. You can use them to listen to music, podcasts and movies.