I have had mixed experiences, both in terms of comfort and performance with Etymotics earphones.
I found the seal to be inadequate with all of the supplied earpieces and therefore went to the trouble to have custom ear pieces made by someone recommended by the company.
In the end, I had weird goop injected in my ear by someone who clearly was not a doctor, in a sketchy "office", an acoustic seal that was slightly better but still unsatisfactory, and comfort that was still somewhere between mediocre and bad.
The Shure headphones, by comparision, have both sounded better and felt more comfortable.
I found the seal to be inadequate with all of the supplied earpieces and therefore went to the trouble to have custom ear pieces made by someone recommended by the company.
In the end, I had weird goop injected in my ear by someone who clearly was not a doctor, in a sketchy "office", an acoustic seal that was slightly better but still unsatisfactory, and comfort that was still somewhere between mediocre and bad.
The Shure headphones, by comparision, have both sounded better and felt more comfortable.