When you get a new pair of earbuds, the package will often include a wide array of eartips, but you’ll likely only find one pair that fits perfectly into your ears. Eventually, even the best ear tips will wear out or loosen due to repeated use. Earwax and dirt wear on your earbud tips and make them less hygienic.
While there are a few ways you can clean your earbuds, at some point, the eartips will need to be replaced. Many high-quality replacement tips are even more comfortable and durable than the standard tips.
Here are five things you should know about eartips before shopping for new ones.
Continue reading below to find the best replacement eartips that are compatible with specific models from major manufacturers.
If you are looking for a quick recommendation, you can’t go wrong with this variety pack of replacement tips from Comply.
The pack includes replacements that work with most major brands, including 1More, AKG, Audio-Technica, B&O Play, Beats, Denon, Jabra, Jaybird, LG, MEE Audio, Philips, RHA, Samsung, Sennheiser, Skullcandy, Sony, and many others.
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Earbud Compatibility
Quickest Way to Find The Right Model and Avoid the Hassle of Online Returns:
Before buying new eartips, check whether or not they are compatible with your earbuds by measuring the earbud nozzle length and diameter. The tips should fit perfectly on the nozzle.
If you’re having trouble getting a precise measurement of the inner diameter and length of tips, don’t worry.
Most major brands publish compatibility charts showing which earphone models are compatible with their earbud tips.
- Find the model number of your earbuds.
- Open the compatibility chart from the earbud replacement tip manufacturer.
- Do a find search on the chart if needed, some of these charts are long lists with tiny fonts.
(To “find” use Command (⌘)-F) on mac, Ctrl+F on PC, most phone browsers have a “find on page” tool in the upper right corner.
Our favorite replacement buds are the popular Comply Memory Foam Earphone Tips.
Comply currently makes a total of 8 different series of tips. If you order the wrong one, they won’t fit your earbuds, so it’s essential to make sure you select the appropriate model.
Searching online can be confusing and time-consuming. Luckily, Comply publishes this chart (opens PDF), showing all major brands showing and sizes.
Here are some useful links to each model on Amazon in case you want to check the price or read customer reviews.
Comply Models: 100 series, 200, 400, 500, 600, and “Truly Wireless Tips.”
Does Earbud Size Matter?
Eartips that come included with your earbuds have multiple sizes. Choosing the right size tips will not only give you a comfortable fit but a better seal to improve sound quality. This perfect seal allows you to hear precisely what the designers intended you to hear. Wearing earbud tips that are too large can put too much pressure on your ear canal and make it even painful to wear them for long periods If the earbud tips are too small you will have sound leakage, loss of bass impact and a loose fit that can cause your earbuds to fall out. First-time users will usually feel uncomfortable inserting eartips into the ear canal, but this gets less awkward over time, and most people do get used to the feeling.
Eartip Material
Foam, silicone, and rubber are commonly used for earbud tips.
Foam tips tend to offer a better seal, so you get a more dynamic, pleasant, and often broader response with foam than with silicone or rubber tips.
Foam eartips are also more comfortable and give better noise isolation than silicone and rubber, but they are not as durable. Foam also catches dust and earwax easily and are not usually washable.
Silicone or rubber tips can be washable and are varied in size. With universal earbud tips like Etymotic tri-flange, how they fit depends largely on a user’s ear canals. If the tips you buy are varied in size, try them all and find which one feels comfortable and snug.
Single Flange vs. Multiple Flange eartips:
Due to their flexibility, silicone can be used to make bi or tri-flange tips. Low-End buds usually include come with cheap Rubber earbud tips.
Most single flange eartips enter slightly into the ear canal. Indeed, these earbud tips don’t isolate ambient noise well.
Multiple flanges (double or triple) earbud tips jam deeply into the ear canal.
These earbud tips give users a tighter seal, which will improve isolation, but they are less comfortable than single flange eartips.
This assortment packby Earphones Plus is another excellent mixed pack of single and triple flange eartips.
| Material | Brand | Comfort | Noise Isolation | Durability | Washable |
| Silicone | Earphones Plus | 3.5 | 4 | 5 | Yes |
| Rubber | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | Yes | |
| Foam | Comply | 5 | 5 | 3.5 | No |
Earhooks/Wingtips
These parts are optional. However, if you always have to fix the earbud position while you workout, you may need better parts to keep them in place. Sports earbuds, like the JayBird X2, come with wingtips or earhooks which sit just outside the ear canal and provide a more secure fit.
Custom Fitting
High-end, in-ear monitors, are designed, form-fitted by a professional, and sometimes even 3-D printed to fit your ears perfectly. If you want this same fit on a budget, there is a brand called Decibullz, which lets you make your earbud tips at home without an appointment with audiologists like audiophiles who buy high-end monitors.
Best Replacement Earbud Tips
Comply
Comply foam earbud tips offer a super soft and flexible fit. When inserted into your ears, they form a custom fit that is exceptional and provides maximum noise-isolating performance. This provides a warmer sound and more rumbling bass.
Shure
Shure is well known for its eartips among audiophiles and head-fi communities, but they are only compatible with a limited number of models.
Sony
Sony Hybrids ear tips (discontinued) are versatile and provide good sound isolation.
The design of the earbud housing plays a vital role for comfort and noise isolation. Generally, lightweight and small housings will be more comfortable.
The FiiO EX1 is an example of how lightweight and angled nozzles, as well as small housings, make these some of the most comfortable earbuds under 100.
Larger and sturdier housings used for bass-heavy earbuds like the Sony MDR XB90EX are quite bulky because they accommodate big drivers.
Here are some other eartips you may be interested in:
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Note that you should clean earbud tips and your ear canals regularly to prevent ear infections. Which aftermarket replacement tips have you had amazing or poor experiences with?
Tell us by leaving your comment below.
The only thing I would add is that with the foam tips you generally tend to lose a little quality on the high end while gaining bass on the lows. I use an old Android phone as my music player. I also use poweramp as my music player (which is, by far, the best in my humble opinion.) It has a 9 band equalizer, so I have the ability to equal it out a little better. The short answer is make sure have an equalizer and then use the foam tips for comfort and fit.
Thanks a lot for your information @rollinwiththaTide. The reason why foam tips steal a bit quality on the high end, I think they are porous and have capacity to absorb sound with high frequencies.
i hate foam earbuds they are not comfy . The only earbuds that work for me are large silicone ones that actually seal on the outside of the canal, they go pretty airtight. I cant use small ones that are supposed to fit inside the canal, they are just too large.
“The only earbuds that work for me are large silicone ones..” “I cant use small ones that are supposed to fit inside the canal, they are just too large.”
That doesn’t make any sense, Pete.
Hi Eric, I think I have a similar issue to Pete. For me, the silicone ones would be for example the Bose isolation version, that don’t have the harder flanges inside the ear the same way and are softer inside and outside and personally I find much more comfortable even in medium size than the smallest flange option. I’m assuming there are other brands of these but I don’t know of them. The foam ones from Etymotic have worked better for me so far than the harder triple flange options, but it would be nice not to have to shove something so far in your ear either way; however, I think that’s the only route for the most hardcore noise isolation according to the internet.
Eric, I think Pete meant his ear canals are too large…Jon..!!
I am going to purchase a pair of Panasonic 125\’s for listening to some music but mostly audiobooks. I prefer a triple flange eartip. Are there any specific brands/models of such eartips you can recommend that would fit the Panasonics? Thank you.
(I should mention I use a pair of Bose QC15\’s when flying or on trains to block out engine noise and find them comfortable. I prefer not to use them for general listening as they are very expensive and I don\’t want to risk damage or wearing them out too soon.)
Or maybe his ear canals are to small and even the little eartips don’t fit
Can I buy a pack that will fit on multiple brands of headphones?I don’t even know what brands all my family members have,but we need them often
Sure you can Chris.