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Listening at home⏱️ Estimated reading time: 12 min
On this page: Overview
Key Takeaways
Most often the ear tip is one size too large, the IEM is pushed deeper than the seal needs, or the shell is large for your outer ear. Try one tip size down and seat it gently. If ear pain does not improve within 2 to 3 days, see your GP.
Loop the cable over the top of each ear, slide the chin cinch up and try one tip size up or a different tip. Too small a tip slips, but too large a tip never seats deep enough either, so test both directions.
A sealed ear canal traps a little air as the tip goes in, and a tip one size too large presses on the canal walls. Pull your outer ear up and back, twist the IEM in gently and take it out by the shell, not the cable.
That is the occlusion effect. With the ear canal sealed, the sound of your own voice travelling through your head cannot escape, so the low frequencies build up, by as much as 20 dB according to audiologist Marshall Chasin. It is normal, and a deeper seal changes it without removing it.
Over long sessions they often are, because the shell follows your own ear shape. They change nothing if the problem is tip size, cable routing or wax on the nozzle, and they need their own settling-in. We offer custom fit on six Unique Melody models, with a free refit if the fit is not right.
“Why do my IEMs hurt?” tends to be the first question after a new pair arrives. The second is why they keep slipping out. Both usually trace back to tip size, insertion depth, cable routing or the shape of your ear canal.
IEMs can fall out because the tip is too large or because it is too small, and both can be right. Below, six common fit problems are matched to a cause and a first thing to try, and if you are new to the category, start with what are in-ear monitors.
At Bollsen, we are a family-owned hearing company from Ljubljana and the official UK & EU partner of Unique Melody. Fit decides how an IEM feels, and a good part of how it sounds, long before the driver count matters.
Which IEM fit problem do you have?
The six common IEM fit problems are pain, falling out, a pressure or “vacuum” feel, a booming own voice, one side sounding thin and itchy ears, and each one points to a different cause. Find yours and try the first change before anything else.
| Problem | Likely cause | What to try first |
|---|---|---|
| Pain or soreness | Tip one size too large, IEM pushed deeper than the seal needs, a large shell for your outer ear, or the first days with a new pair | One tip size down, seat it only as deep as the seal needs, keep early sessions short. See your GP if ear pain does not improve within 2 to 3 days. |
| Falling out or working loose | Tip too small, cable hanging straight down, chin cinch left low, jaw movement when you talk or chew | One size up or a different tip, cable looped over the ear, cinch slid up. The full method is in how to wear in-ear monitors. |
| Pressure or “vacuum” feel | Air trapped as a tight seal forms, a tip one size too large, or pushing in too fast | Pull the ear up and back, twist in gently and let the seal form, take it out by the shell. One size down if the feeling stays. |
| Own voice loud or boomy | The occlusion effect: a sealed canal holds in the low frequencies of your own voice | Normal, not a fault. A steadier, slightly deeper seal changes it but never removes it. |
| One side sounds thin or quieter | That ear needs a different size, tip half off the nozzle, wax on the nozzle mesh, or cable not over that ear | A different size in that ear only, tip pushed fully onto the nozzle, nozzle checked. Sizing help is in choosing IEM ear tips. |
| Itchy ears | Dirty or shared tips, long sessions without a break, sweat | Clean, dry tips, never shared, and breaks between sessions (see how to clean IEMs). See your GP if itching persists or comes with pain or discharge. |
Why do IEMs hurt, and when is it more than fit?
IEMs usually hurt because the ear tip is one size too large, the IEM sits past the point where it seals, or the shell is too big for the bowl of your outer ear, so something presses where it should not. A new pair can also feel sore for the first few days.
Pain and falling out often share one cause, running in opposite directions. Too large a tip presses on the canal wall and never seats deep enough to hold; too small a tip leaks, slips and tempts you to push it further in. So test one size down when a pair hurts, and one size up when it slips.
Shell size is a fit factor, not a fault, and our own product pages say as much. The MEXT has a fairly large resin shell that may not suit small ears, and the Stardust pairs a large titanium shell with a straight nozzle, which can crowd a small outer ear.
Fit has limits, though. See your GP if ear pain does not improve within 2 to 3 days, and get urgent advice from your GP or NHS 111 if there is swelling around the ear, fluid coming from it or a change in your hearing, as the NHS guidance on earache sets out. Do not put anything inside your ear, such as cotton buds.
Why do IEMs keep slipping out?
IEMs slip out when the tip is too small to grip the canal, when the cable hangs straight down and its weight levers the shell outward, or when jaw movement from talking and chewing works a loose seal free. A low chin cinch lets the cable swing and makes all of it worse.
On stage, the cable is often the real culprit, because its weight drags at the ear with every turn of the head. Loop it over each ear and slide the cinch up, and that pull goes away.
What causes the pressure and the booming voice?
The pressure or “vacuum” feel comes from air trapped in the ear canal as a tight seal forms, and it grows when the tip is one size too large or goes in too fast. Twisting the IEM in gently, with the outer ear pulled up and back, lets the seal form without driving a pocket of air ahead of it. Take them out by the shell, slowly, for the same reason.
The booming voice is a separate thing, the occlusion effect. With the canal sealed, the part of your own voice that travels through the bones of your head can no longer escape, so low frequencies build up, by as much as 20 dB according to audiologist Marshall Chasin on earmould impressions for in-ear monitors. A study by Stenfelt and Reinfeldt on the occlusion effect matched it to sound pressure in the ear canal between 0.3 and 2 kHz and found that “even deep ear-canal occlusion, produced noticeable occlusion effects”. A deeper, steadier seal changes how much boom you hear, but it never takes it away, because it is a property of any sealed ear canal rather than a fault in the IEM.
Why does one side sound thin, or your ears itch?
One IEM sounding thin or quieter usually means that side has lost its seal. Your two ear canals may need different tip sizes, which is normal, the tip may be half off the nozzle, or wax may be sitting on the nozzle mesh. A cable not looped over that ear can also tug the shell out of line.
Before blaming the driver, push the tip fully onto the nozzle and look at the nozzle itself. The 2HT, for example, has a metal nozzle with a mesh cover that its product page asks you to keep clean. Running a different tip size in each ear is fine.
Itchy ears after long sessions tend to go with dirty or shared tips, sweat and hours without a break. Clean and dry the tips after use, keep them to yourself and give your ears regular rests. See your GP if itching persists or comes with pain or discharge, and the NHS page on ear symptoms and when to get help lists what to look out for.
When is a custom shell the answer, and when is it not?
A custom-fit shell is the last fit change to try, not the first. It is made from a 3D ear scan or ear impressions of your own ears, so there is no tip to size. We offer Custom Fit on six Unique Melody models, always the universal price plus £300: MEXT £1,289, MEST MKII £1,649, MEST Jet Black £2,099, MEST Fortune £2,729, The Multiverse Mentor £4,349 and Mason FS £7,949.
We email our 3D-scan guide, a hearing specialist near you takes a 3D ear scan or ear impressions (usually charged separately), and your IEMs are delivered 3–4 weeks after we receive your scans. Custom fit is made to order, so there is no change-of-mind return, but we arrange a free refit if the fit is not right.
Custom is not the answer when the problem is tip size, cable routing, wax or the first days with a new pair; a moulded shell changes none of those. It is also not on offer for the 2HT, Stardust, 3DT, From The Start, Maven III Moonshard or MEST MKIII CF Blue, which are universal fit only. And the 14-day return comes with universal fit only, with the hygiene seal unbroken.
Custom shells have a settling-in period of their own. Alclair’s guide to making a good impression notes that if your jaw moves while an impression sets, “the resulting monitor may feel uncomfortable or fail to seal”, and that softer canals can give “an initially tight fit that softens with use”. Chasin also recommends a long canal “past the second bend in the ear canal”, with the impression taken with the mouth open.
Comfort over a long set, refits and resale value are weighed up in universal vs custom IEMs. The appointment itself, from the bite block to where to go in the UK, is covered in ear impressions for custom IEMs.
What should you try first, and in what order?
Start with tip size, going down for soreness and up for slipping. Then depth, then the cable and cinch, then a clean nozzle and clean tips. Give a new pair a few days, and only after that think about a custom shell.
Pain, itching or discharge that does not settle is a question for your GP, not for a tip box. To compare fit options and UK terms across the range, our page for Unique Melody in-ear monitors (UK) sets every model side by side. Most fit problems end sooner, though, with the right tip in the right ear.
