Push in ear headphones

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by jackson123, Nov 27, 2014.

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  1. jackson123

    jackson123 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    How far exactly are you supposed to push them in your ears without damaging your eardrum? I have some JVC Marshmallows and they always sounded bass shy and high pitched until recently I accidentally shoved them kinda hard in my ear. I noticed right away how much better they sounded with deep almost bloated bass. I'm no fan of in ear phones, but was wondering if cheap phones like these can sound good how do the more expensive ones sound? And can you damage your hearing by shoving them deep in your ear?
     
  2. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Stop when blood starts coming out.
     
    Ntotrar, timind, shirleyujest and 2 others like this.
  3. TeflonScoundrel

    TeflonScoundrel Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    To damage your hearing you would have to either push it in so far as to damage the eardrum or listen to the music at too high a volume. It's unlikely that you could push it in far enough to reach the eardrum, unless you have a large, straight ear canal, but the closer it is to your eardrum, the louder the sound will be at a given volume setting. The reason is that as you push it further into your ear canal, the size of the space the sound enters become smaller, making the sound louder.

    It is important to understand that two important factors for risk of noise induced hearing loss are the loudness of the sound and the length of time you are exposed to it. An extremely loud sound can cause hearing loss instantly and moderately loud sound can cause hearing loss if the exposure lasts long enough.
     
  4. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    To get proper sound with an IEM (in ear monitor) the earphones need to have a full and proper seal inside the ear canal. If they don't have a proper seal there will be no bass and the entire sound signature of the earphones will be way off.

    You can't insert the JVC and similar IEM earphones so far in that they could reach the ear drum. There are some IEMs designed for an ever deeper insertion and a longer flange, and even those IEMs won't reach the ear drum. The ear drum is way back in the ear canal.

    Here's a YouTube video that explains how to insert an IEM and get a proper seal. The video shows the reach-around method where you reach around the back of your head and lift up on the top of the ear. That opens up the ear canal and makes it easier to insert the IEM and get a proper seal. It's hard to explain in words. The video shows it.

    The JVC Marshmallows have a foam tip. With the foam tips you need to compress the foam by rolling it between your fingers. Then insert it in your ear while the foam is compressed. Then hold it in place while the foam expands. The video also explains this.

    The JVC Marshmallows come with two sizes of tips. Small and medium. Try both sizes. Use the size that gives you a proper seal.

     
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  5. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    Sounds like you never had them properly inserted. The important thing is that the phones form a seal in the ear canal as noted above. Everyone has slightly different ear canal shapes. With those foam, ear-plug style, in-ears, sometime people need to use larger foam inserts to seal the ear canal -- maybe that would work better for you. And that foam loses elasticity over time needs to be replace fairly frequently in my experience, so don't be afraid, if the foam is not fully bouncing back after you compress it in your figures, to replace it. I assume JVC sells replacement foam parts, yes?
     
  6. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    I love this question coming from your avatar.:D
     
  7. jackson123

    jackson123 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Oops, too late, blood gushing everywhere, dang. Anyways, thanks to everyone else with the serious replies, very informative.
     
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