an ear piece assembly designed for a stethoscope or other headpiece , and configured to allow rotation of an ear tip of the assembly about a central axis and to allow limited off axis movement of the ear tip . in typical embodiments , the ear piece assembly is designed to fit a user &# 39 ; s ear canal and stay in place during typical use without rotational or off axis movement of the ear tip relative to the ear canal , and to provide substantially more comfort to the user than would a headpiece with a conventional ear tip assembly , particularly for prolonged wearing by the user . other aspects of the invention are a headpiece or stethoscope including an embodiment of the earpiece assembly , an ear piece housing body configured for use in an embodiment of the earpiece assembly , and an ear tip configured for use in an embodiment of the earpiece assembly .