The ear buds arrived (Amazon delivery) this AM. I spent a few minutes setting up the buds on my phone. And... selecting the "correct size" tips and covers. Still not sure I have the best fit... as everything I've tried seems fine. I'll keep experimenting, I guess.
Mine has TONS of volume. Even for my ear... which didn't work well enough to hear a watch tick... 50 years ago. I don't know if Amazon fixed the volume issue or if Apple did. But it works.
I took it for a bike ride (it... not her). And used the noise cancelation feature to stop the wind noise. That also worked great. I only wore ONE ear bud. I hate it when cyclists, joggers, and walkers make themselves effectively deaf... and then fail to pay attention to their surroundings. So I was still aware of my surrounding (I even wear a mirror on my cycling glasses).
I listened to some oldies rock, got a weather report, and texted with my wife. All hands-free (Apple's Siri read me the text). Then as I approached the garage when I returned home... my home automation alerted me of the activity (via the Alexa app and my earbuds). I love this stuff!