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Most Comfortable Headphone/Earphone for lieing down

post #1 of 10
Thread Starter 

Looking for the most comfortable headphone or earphone (whatever is more comfortable) for lieing down. I'm guessing earphones would be more comfortable but when lieing on my side i feel the IEM basically dig into my head which isn't great. Budget is around $100. Prefer comfortability over sound (as blasphemous as that is).



post #2 of 10
Thread Starter 

anyone have any ideas?? Last few threads about this are pretty old so wondering if theres any new options.

post #3 of 10

If you can handle open back cans how about Sennheiser HD558's, not much isolation but they sound really nice. I can see them going for $129.54 on Amazon  right now, shipped and sold by Amazon so no chicanery. I wear them while horizontal and have no issues, I find them very comfortable. Being open back they breath well and my ears don't get warm or sweaty. They are easy to drive, no amp required.

What kind of sound signature are you interested in?

post #4 of 10
Thread Starter 

I've got hd650's atm and they're not so comfortable on my side so i don't think full cans are the best option.

post #5 of 10
Thread Starter 

Anyone? think i'm going to die from getting stabbed in the brain by my IEMs.

post #6 of 10

HiSound Audio BA100.  Very small.  Flat with your ears - so lying down not a problem.  Very comfortable.  Sound fantastic.


Reviews here: http://www.head-fi.org/products/hisoundaudio-ba100


The others I'd recommend are Shure Se series (again very flat with my ears).  For your budget - the SE215.

post #7 of 10

Depends on your budget and sound preferences


Creative EP630/Sennheiser CX300 mk ii (The EP630's are my personal benchmark for comfort).


If money's no object, try to find the discontinued Audio Technica ATH-CK10. Now, I haven't tried these, but there's no way that these aren't the most comfortable universal iem that exist. 


Also look at the Soundmagic PL50. Their sound signature is a very love-it or hate-it one. Build quality could be better. Extremely comfortable, unimaginably so. Good price/performance ratio. But its got a very love it or hate it sound. 


If you can step your budget up a bit, the brainwavz b2 are comfy.


I've personally used the Soundmagic E30 while lying down on my side and they're barely noticable. They're not as good as the pl50 or ep630, but I prefer the sound of e30 to that of pl50 or ep630. But people have debated this. Many ears have found the e30 to be uncomfortable.


Oh. the meelectronics m11+. I disliked the sound - not that it isn't refined, but its not my genre - others may really like the sound. They're incredibly comfortable. Tiny. Its one of those - 'holy **** thats small' ones.


All in all, the pl50's are unparalleled for comfort in their price range. They're small, and fit ears amazingly. 

The klipsch s4's aren't bad for comfort, but i didn't like their sound at all, especially for its price tag. If you can get it for a discount, though, its a quality purchase.


Oh right, I forgot about the king - Phonak Audeo. The company's shut down, but you can still find some of their iems. Their PFE 012 still sells at some stores for about 90$. Sound great, fit great.



Summary - I can't judge what you'll like because I don't know what you listen to. The PFE012 would be a safe bet. PFE112's better if you can stretch your budget, the sound's more versatile and its got filters to change the sound. 

If you wanna pay less, I really think you should give the PL50s a try. You may hate the sound, but if you end up loving it, you're in for a treat. Many people do, afterall, love the PL50 sound. I enjoyed my PL50 while I was using them. Similarly, the Meelec M11+, I hated it, but I can imagine others liking it. 

post #8 of 10

Oh, and the Vsonic VSD1/VSD1S seem really comfortable for lying down too. But don't trust me on that, find someone who has tried them... My previous reply is the iem's i've tried. 

post #9 of 10

I do sleep/nap on the side, and put a lot of weight on the ear or the bone in front of it.

I bought quite a few iems in order to find something confortable for sleeping with.


I had no luck with barrel shaped iems, even with small one like HifiMan RE-400 : the pressure make them dig in the ear, and any lateral move changes the sound or break the seal.


I did try the Soundmagic PL50, and it is indeed the most confortable of all : very small, flat, keeps the seal. Cable is so-so. And i'm one of those who dont like its sound :) It sounds nice, it is bright, it's good with classical and jazz. But it has some heavy narrow peaks. When trying to EQ it flat, i had to use : -13dB at 2330Hz Q=24/0.06oct , -8dB at 6550Hz Q=8/0.18oct, -6dB at 8500Hz Q=13/0.11oct. And it needs some bass boost. As I like to listen to ambient electronica to drown out neighbours noise, I need some bass to make the sound "whole", and any drone in some frequencies (eq'ed down above) would hurt.

I spent quite some time trying to live with this PL50, but no, not for me.


I tried a few other flat IEMs : Meelectronics M6 (flat, but body a bit too wide), some budget JVC (not flat enough).


But my happiest finding was the Jays T-Jays. I even bought each of the serie, in that order : T-Jays Three, T-Jays One, T-Jays Two.

General comment about the family, and why I like them :

They sound good and balanced. They all have good bass. The first days, with each of them, I thought the bass was too strong, but after a few days, I dont think that way anymore. The bass is there for my ambient, not overbearing, and the sound is good.

I can't wear them straight down as they are supposed to be worn : their big and sharp body hurts my ear. May be I just have small ears.

But cable up, they are the most confortable I had, and i can sleep on them for hours. Only downside is that channels are inverted (left on right, right on left). So, you have to not be bothered by that, or have a player that can swap channels (there is a patch for that for rockbox that one can custom build).

Also, their cables are quite small : 60 cm. Which I like ! I can just clip a sansa clip+ or clipzip on my chest, and sleep and change sides without messing with a long cable.

For an even better confort, I use them with comply T-200, inverted. Inverted, they sound better, and u can adjust the position so that the pillow pressure is distributed between the iem body and the tips' tip.

I'm so happy with them that I dont use better sounding IEMs anymore (re400, philips fidelio s1), even when not sleeping : the small cable and their confort are such a big plus.


About the differences in the family : Two is balanced, not offending, sounds good. One is similar to Two, with a bit less quality in the sound, a bit less clear. Three has some upper bass/lower mids enphasis than makes them a bit muddy with classical. I prefer the Two.

post #10 of 10

Sennheiser CX150/CX200/CX215/CX250


I can only vouch for the sound quality of the CX150, but all of them use the same housing. It's small and round so it goes it your ear deep enough that it won't really contact your pillow or anything if you sleep on your side. Strain relief is a bit of heat shrink which is obviously pliable so it doesn't rub against the outside of your ear.


In general when it comes to IEMs I've had good luck with spherical housings.


My only over-the-ears is the Sony XB500. These are perfect if you lie on your back and stare up at the ceiling, not so much on your side though.

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