The simplest yet most amazing tip for IE8 owners (updated)(slow for 56k)

(Forgive the following ranting, this poor man can't sleep in the middle of the night
because he has found a revelation. Maybe he lost his ears, who knows...)

Equipment: IE8 (1300+hr total, 1100hr of burn-in with various methods)
Lenovo T61P head-phone out
Canal size (left medium, right large)
Wear Straight (wire-down then around the ear)


Right now wearing the backward big half-bi-flange wire-up (Sennheiser way) and deep insertion is giving me the best SQ and worst hiss.
Do try the big one even if the smaller hurts, because the big one's flanges are softer by a mile (exag.)


A bit of prelude to the story.

I am a tip fanatic. I play with different tips as if they are lego pieces, and I
combine them, searching for the one holy tip that will rule them all.

All the tip that I've tried have one thing in common: they keep the size of the
nozzle (default single flange) or they decrease the size (sony hybrids).

There is one tip that does the opposite.

And it's included with your purchase.

And I'd kick myself in the nuts if it would hurt so much, how could I not see
this for so long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




There are some tips for getting a seal with those without feeling painful/uncomfortable:
1. Gentally push the tip in by twisting
2. Do pull (small steps, hear the air-sucking-sound) and push (less than you pulled)
3. Adjust the angle of the nozzle, then the angle of IE8 itself
(if the face with the logo is a plane, and positions on this plane can be stated
as (x, y), the positions not on the plane can be stated as (x, y, z)
Twist them so z changes the least)
4. It should not be deeply inserted, and should be tilted like this (look at the angle, not the length which will differ from person to person)
They bring balance to IE8, no longer slightly subdued treble, slightly recessed
mids, slightly bigger bass. Clarity, detail, and transparency went up a notch.

The headstage changed, if what I heard with my ex-best-tip is large, then
this new headstage is a flat field of grass, or the unlimited horizon of the sea
(pardon the exaggerations), it presents the sound stage in the song and no
more.

Some pictures that you can reference to for the fit and angle:




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This is wire-down without changing sides, so you listen to the left housing and
the left wire, and vice versa, could make it easier for you:


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This is how it looks when wearing the Sennheiser way:


If you'd like for deeper insertion:


The deeper it goes the more noticeable the hiss...
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Try this variation if you can't get a seal with them no matter what:



Pull it out as much as you could without losing the seal (that sucking sound)


I find the high to be reduced a small yet noticeable degree, but more importantly the
sense of air and the headstage is similar to the IE8 I knew before last night. The bass
increases with better seal, so it got a bit more "oohm". Mids got recessed, but it's almost
negligent unless you listen for it. Transparency lessened with the seal, and the signature
is more warmish/darkish (Sennheiser signature).

If you have the hybrids, you can try this for more seal/bass, although I didn't do much
A/B with these.



If you wish for greater isolation/comfort, push a senn foam or comply (maybe black
olive works, don't have them) down so they surround the nozzle might work for you,
put the half-bi-flange (or mushroom head?) on backward after that.
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Here's another tip that should be WAY easier to get a seal:


Although they still don't sound like the half-bi-flange to me, they make a noticeable
difference from other tips and the sound is warmer.

They are included with your purchase:






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Still waiting to hear from those that have dacs and amps. These tips brought me
transparency, but made the background hiss... forward. So I wonder what it'll do
with a cleaner source/output.

Wow, my ears are weird!

Comfort: these aren't the most comfy ones that I've had
(Sony hybrids + comply + backward senn double flange + comply core + senn big foam)
but I'd rate it 2nd or 3rd

Intimacy: odd that some song seems more intimate and others more distant, the distance
do change, maybe not quite the "right" way

Instrument Separation: I find better separation, it's easier for me to locate instrument,
voices. Maybe a result of the soundstage and quieter background?

Treble: I actually find the treble better than my hybrid mod, only second to my
"no seal + backward double flange" mod, which however sacrifices so much bass for
a sense of air (since it can now circulate in/out the ear canal), a soundstage greater than
this, and a high I never though I could hear on the IE8 without EQing. But it's the damn
most difficult configuration for me to put on, no problem with comfort, just a pain to find
the right place to insert the tip.

Bass: bass can't compare to my hybrid mod, hence I noted balance. The fullness/closeness
of the hybrid + comply truly encloses the opening of the ear and you can "feel" the bass
better, and a greater presence of the bass (50 hz and above) with a slight veiling of
treble that's noticeable in JPOP music.

Mid: I though those came out more. Perhaps the mid didn't come out, but the treble and
bass subdued?


Just some additional detail: I've probably said this close to ten times on this board, but
I'm burning-in these IEM at a really high level since the end of last month. There is maximum
one hour break a day, though some days only 10 minutes. Every night I play white noise/
pink noise/frequency sweep (one of these per night, switch to the next one in the order
given) for 8 hours at the same loud volume. The noises plays for 30 seconds then pause
for 2 seconds, and the frequency sweep loops back and forth from 0hz to 24khz logarithmically
with the duration being 9.5 sec.
I don't think these has more effect then getting a good angle/seal with those tips, but
they do, with probably a minutia degree, effect the sound.

Now, I'll go listen to them again. I just woke up to the pink noise, so I'll see if it's not the
wine last night that duped my senses.