How to wear earbuds properly to ensure comfort and sound quality

There's no quicker way to carve out some personal space for yourself in today's bustling, noisy world than by using a pair of noise cancelling earbuds. Whether you're commuting to work, traveling, trying to focus in a busy open-plan office, looking for the best headphones for working out, or just want some time and space at home to listen to your favourite music, wireless earbuds can instantly make any activity more enjoyable and personal. But it’s important to know how to wear earbuds the right way to maximize your comfort.

If you're used to wearing over-ear headphones, inserting the earbuds may feel strange at first. When you open your Bose wireless earbud packaging, you'll find an earbud charging case, two earbuds, a 12-inch (30 cm) USB-C (A to C) cable and a Bose Fit Kit. The Fit Kit contains three pairs of eartips, including small, medium, and large, and three pairs of stability bands, numbered 1, 2, and 3.

With the right combination of tip sizes and stability bands, you’ll get the best fit from your new wireless earbuds. To find the right fit, you may need to experiment to see what fits your ears and feels the most comfortable. Start by pushing the small earbud tips onto the left and right earbud nozzles, being careful to note which side is which. Gently pull on the top of each ear to open the ear canal, and lightly insert the earbuds. See how they feel in your ears, and try each size of eartips. Be sure to push the earbuds all the way into your ears to achieve a proper seal with both ear canals. They should be snug, but comfortable.

While you find the best-fitting eartip for each ear, also try the different stability bands, which wrap around the external part of the earbud to help hold the earbuds correctly in place in the ridges of your outer ear. The eartips and stability bands are made of soft silicone and designed for a secure fit, to help you comfortably and properly wear them all day long.

Don’t be afraid to mix and match the eartips and stability bands until you're completely happy with the feel and fit. Every ear is a different size and shape, and it's not unusual to find differences between each ear on the same person.

The correct fit isn't only about comfort. Choosing the right size eartip and stability band for each ear will ensure you experience the best sound quality. The better the fit and seal, the more they will reduce external noise. Music will sound clearer, with greater depth and richness — and you won’t need to turn up the volume as high to get the best experience.

Now that you know how to wear earbuds, here's how to keep up with maintenance and how to fine-tune the sound.

To maintain your perfect sound, it’s not all about finding the right fit. You also need to take good care of your earbuds. Make sure they're clean and free of dust, dirt, or wax before and after you use them. When you're not using your earbuds, the best place to store them is inside the charging case.

To clean the soft silicone eartips and stability bands, gently pull them off your earbuds and use a mild detergent and water.  Make sure they're rinsed and dried thoroughly before reattaching them to your earbuds.

You can wipe off the earbud nozzles with a dry, soft cotton swab or something similar, and the same goes for the earbud charging contacts and charging case. You should never push any type of cleaning tool into the earbud nozzles, or you'll risk damaging your earbuds.

Everyone's ears are different, and your ear canal’s shapes and sizes can affect your frequency perception. And of course, your personal taste and the musical genres you listen to are also a factor. Some people like a lot of bass, more defined high frequencies for greater detail, or scooped mid-frequencies.

Whatever your preference, you can use the Bose Music app on your smartphone or tablet to easily adjust the bass, mid-range, and treble frequencies using the EQ points. Just place your finger on any of the three frequency dots and drag them up or down between a plus and minus 10 range, giving you plenty of scope to add or reduce the frequencies.

If you want a quick change between frequency balances, you can simply touch the Bass Boost, Bass Reducer, Treble Boost, or Treble Reducer preset buttons on screen. If you decide after testing out a few variations that the default EQ setting is fine, tap the reset option in the top right corner of the screen and the equalizer will return to a flat value.

Bose wireless earbuds feature several different noise cancellation modes, which can be set to Quiet for full cancellation or Aware for full transparency. In combination with the EQ settings, these modes allow you to tailor your listening to any situation.