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Comment by LooseMarmoset | Hacker News Reader

I have a set of the Pro 2s. The noise cancellation and adaptive listening is really great, but the damn things will not stay in my ears no matter what tip I use or how I orient the things in my ear.

Talking, chewing gum, and even just leaning my head back is enough to make the things fall out.

I really wanted to like these things as I have terrible hearing, and the assistive hearing on these is already pretty nice, but they don't do me any good if they won't stay in my ears.

I haven't had this issue with any other earbud I've ever owned.

Do yourself a favor and try a pair out first before you buy, if you can.

EDIT: I am very open to specific recommendations on 3rd-party eartips for these things.

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I like the Comply foam tips. You can buy the "assorted" pack in different sizes, and use whichever ones fit best.

Both ears need not use the same size tips btw, you can mix and match sizes as many people do. You can also use different tips in summer vs winter for better comfort due to thermal expansion.

https://www.complyfoam.com/products/apple-airpods-pro-ear-ti...

I will say I do use and love Comply tips, I had the same issue where the bundled silicone ones would fall out regardless of the size I used.

But a caveat - the foam tips do start to crumble after a few months, and the AirPods case seems to munch on them a little bit.

As long as you consider them a wear item and not something permanent, I think you’ll be satisfied.

I just bought some, thanks. Also happy to have black tips instead of the white ones that Apple is so stubborn about.

After a year the white tips get this embarrassing nicotine yellow color that would be completely unavoidable had Apple offered any other tip color than white.

Ah, they make it out of the same plastic as their cables?

Let's hope not - IME the cables go sticky after a few years.

They know what they're doing. Replace your tips / cables every year or look like the filthiest guy.

Hmm, I just looked at mine and they aren't yellow at all. These are the first gen Airpod Pro. They must be 3+ years old.

Yeah, neither are my girlfriend's. But I sweat heavily in them multiple times a daily doing exercise and even wear them to bed. And my ear wax might have special yellowing properties. Either way, nothing that goes in my orifice that could be seen by other people needs to be white.

Don't get me started on the transparent plastic anti-snore nostril dilators.

How is the buttplug industry more accommodating with its color offering than Apple?

if you care about longetivity, beware that foam tips degrade relatively fast ( ~1 year).

Hmm, maybe ill try these. I bought some air pods, but could only use them if totally still, which defeated the point. Then i see everyone jogging with them and i can't even sucessfully walk to the kitchen for a snack.

Were these the original AirPods Pro or the AirPods Pro 2? The original ones had an issue: https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-...

I've tried these and, at least for me, they are worse than the silicon ones that came with the AirPods. A while ago I heard of someone getting (molded?) ones from their ENT. I might have to look into that.

> but the damn things will not stay in my ears no matter what tip I use

Look at third-party tips. There's no set of 3 tips that can work for everyone, but with third-party tips you're much more likely to find some that work.

Yup, my friend has some of these that were custom made based on his ears. They seem to be much much better for him as a result. I don't believe they were inexpensive though, at least what he had made.

They're still probably pretty price competitive with hearing aids.

As I recall it was a couple hundred bucks for the ear pieces plus the cost of the AirPods. So, yea, probably around the same price as MSRP AirPods Max.

It's not just the tips, but the stem and overall shape can be problematic too. EarPods and AirPods hang off the ears by protrusions on ears called tragus and antitragus, and the triangular cavity behind it, but that part can be just wide open hemisphere for some people. Maybe ethnicity has a role in it. If those are, the earphones become cantilevered on ear canals with most of its mass unsupported and just follows Newtonian physics.

And tbh, I have this problem. Most circular shaped earphones are complete non-issue for me, many TWS models included, but not Apple earphones. Supposedly they offer SoTA performances in many domains, so it's kind of sad that I don't get to buy them myself or recommend to anyone unless they change it back to more commonly used shapes.

I'm a runner and I'd have no hope of keeping those airpod pros in my ears if it weren't for the airpod hooks that I have. There's a variety of inexpensive ones on Amazon that you can try out. I've had good luck with the ones that nestle inside my ear.

got a link?

Not the GP but I use these[1] and they work great for workouts. They look pretty much the same on various amazon stores, temu, aliexpress, etc so I'd just get whatever is cheapest if I lose mine. I've also tried over ear hooks for the AirPods Pro but I wear glasses and it's an awkward fit.

[1] - https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/product/B0BGLJ9B1C

This particular iteration doesn't seem to be available anymore - but there are many copy cats. The silicone is usually flexible enough to provide support integrity without being too irritating.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BHHGJB8/

The downside is that you have to put them on and take them off every time they come out of the case and then manage to never lose the dang wings.

But in return you get a form factor that is comfy and refuses to fall out of your ears.

Are you sure you aren't just using tips that are too large?

I've used AirPod Pros for the past ~3-4 years and have spent hundreds of hours walking, running, and biking with them. They have never once come out or even become loose, though I do use the smallest size tip.

Not the person you're replying to but I tried all 3 sets of standard tips as well smaller 3rd party tips and none of them sat in my ears well enough while doing any kind of moving around (or gum chewing) so I ended up giving them to a friend and going back to the standard AirPods because I've never had a problem with them staying in my ears. What's weird is that before AirPods came out my standard earbuds were the Panasonic ErgoFit ones and those always stayed in my ears no problem with the smallest set of tips.

it's a fair question - I tried using all three sets of tips. I settled on the smallest size, but even they won't stay in. I find myself wishing they were a little longer.

I’ve had great luck with Comply. The Apple tips are worthless for me, but Comply tips solve the problem.

The only problem is they last long enough that I can never remember what size I ended up using, so I have to buy a sampler kit instead of my preferred size.

purchase history?

With you on this one. The Pro's just never fit my ears. I tried all sorts of tips. Foam, silicon, even the ones that fit "into" the ear curve fail and leads to a really inconsistent experience.

The regular AirPods work well ENOUGH for me that when I walk I don't need anything to keep them in, but running would be an absolute no go. And I feel like they never actually "stay put" in the ear even when walking. I always have to push them in again.

Will try these new ones, but most likely will fall back to my usual AirPods.

I figured they needed a bit of friction to not move around in my ears. Two small patches (dots) of bandaid material solved the problem. (From the end with the sticky back, not the center). Works great. If you place them right they won't be visible when you wear them. Roughly $0.

There are also silicone wraps for sale that achieve the same effect.

I found that beats fit pro can stay very well and still have most of apple features

I don't like the foam tips, what works better are silicon sleeves for each AirPods or grippy pads that you can tape on. You don't have to take either off when putting them back in their case.

There are many third party foam tips that should make them work for you. They give better hold and noise isolation.

This is what I do. The foam tips wear out faster, but as mentioned fit and noise isolation are superior. I've also noticed that some brands of foam tips interfere with charging the AirPods. You've got to sort of jam them down into the case to get contact. But that has been very size / brand specific.

You need to get third party tips with wings, which will help them stay put.

memory foam tips

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