The little melted end would pull right through the soft plastic

So if you're in the market for a $20 small, damaged plastic bag, this is the product for you.

The clear plastic pictured in the description is hard plastic

The ER20xs has the added feature of replaceable tips, which is great, because the hard plastic portions essentially last forever; and it lets them sell the universal fit kit with three different pairs of tips so you can figure out what size you like without having to share

The hard plastic inner skeleton just isn't comfortable at all

Simply put: they are incredibly stiff (likely due to the abundance of hard plastic in the design) so they are uncomfortable to wear for extended periods of time

The second pair I had met their gruesome end when the cord got wrapped around it and pulled so tightly that it severed the plastic in half

The string goes through tiny soft plastic bits to form a slip-knot so that you can secure it to each earplug

Besides looking dorky sticking out of your ears (the clear plastic helps a little), they are very uncomfortable to insert.

bad plastic, fall out of ear, doesn't even shield sound.

They are made of hard and uncomfortable plastic that isn't malleable enough to create a seal

The standard size soft silicon bits are identical, the differences are in the hard plastic bits, the stem on the ER20 or the can shaped bit on the ER20XS

The clear plastic pictured in the description is hard plastic

It's basically a hunk of hard plastic with no place for sounds to enter

and I could feel the harder plastic tab irritate my ear after half a day,

While the internal piece fits just fine the hard plastic puts pressure on the outer parts of my ear causing discomfort when worn for any significant length of time

Received the older more basic version of these with the blue tips and the straight clear plastic piece in the center...

It's a plug of clear plastic inserted into the usual tri-umbrella of silicone.

It is difficult to rest your ear on a pillow because the earplug end is hard plastic.

Works as good or better than expensive custom earplugs!

Works as it's supposed to, but gets crusty from my waxy ears

Concerts are instantly more enjoyable as you can clearly hear everything that is going on, as well as saving your hearing for the next day

I've used these in a gig situation now (with an extremely loud drummer!) as well as at an ACDC concert, and I'm surprised by the results