I have played around with my Ety 4P for several days already and can't decide which eartip provide better sound?

Silicone eartips are harder to insert and deliver much more pain and presense of "foreign thing" in the ear...also isolation is worser than with foams....but i noticed (or is it my imagination?) that with foamies sound tends to be thinner and the bass is less tighter than with silicone flanges...

Also as i understood it is not how deep you insert the Ety's but the level of isolation is much more vital (there were several times when i inserted them really deep while isolation wasn't good)


Anyone please help...i just wanna know if the sound changes with foamies (or its just my imagination) and please provide me with more detailed inserting instruction (some tips and tricks if you know such)


Best regards,

Tenhauser

for me sillicons are better, i feel safer when i insert them and they are much more friendly to use.
the sound seems to be better too, but it's very hard to tell you precisely.

plus the foames expand too much in my ear canal.
not insert them to deep, you will not have a good seal, and wet them before insering.
maybe if you open your mouth it will help too.

I use the silicone tips exclusively, and I find that wetting them first makes insertion a helluvalot easier. Also, after deep insertion, just when I feel pressure on my eardrum, I twist them out ever so slightly and this, for me at least, creates an excellent seal every time. Of course, this is not as easy as plopping a pair of regular 'phones on your head, but it is definitely worth the extra effort.

Good thing I read Joelongwood's post before I typed my response. That is exactly the way I insert mine. One thing that I will add; if you read enough about Etys you will come across the phrase "Lick em and stick em". I prefer to carry a tiny bottle of isopropyl alcohol in my bag. I put a little on my fingers an moisten them that way. I at least have the feeling that I am sanitizing them a little each insertion.

Is anyone worried about infection with these kinds of deep insertion? Especially with water.

Also, has anyone thought about the possibility that prolonged insertion of these plugs will widen the ear canal beyond their natural circumference (if you are married, you know what I mean, but these days, you don't really have to be to understand...)?

As long as whatever you're sticking in there is clean, there shouldn't be a risk of infection. I've been using the foamies on my Shure E2cs, and keep trying to use the silicon ones, but I have fairly small ear canals so they don't stay in that well. For me the sound is NIGHT and DAY...the silicon tips make the sound a ton better for me...I'm gonna try the "lick and stick" method now and see how it works out. On that note...as long as you "lick and stick" there shouldn't be a whole lot of the "marriage syndrome" happening to your ear canals...as the lateral pressure once they're in there shouldn't be very high. If it is...you need to use smaller tips.

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I have used the Ety's for quite some time with no issue and before that silicone plugs and/or foamies with never an issue. I do prefer the alcohol to licking them though.

I use the silicones exclusively. I tried the foamies once, but they hurt like heck when they expanded. OTOH, I've always liked the silicones and never really gave the foamies a chance.

Here's the insertion method I use, which originally came from someone else on this forum:

1. Insert with the cable connectors pointed forward until you start to feel pressure
2. Pull the back of your ear lobes (a la the Etymotic instructions) to relieve pressure
3. Twist cable connectors 90 degrees until pointing down, pushing in slightly as you do so to re-establish the seal
4. Pull out slightly to relieve pressure while maintaining seal

I insert them dry, and have found that after a while the silicones soften up, making it easier to get a seal with greater comfort. All of the above should be done gently; you really don't need to shove them in until they hurt to get a good seal.

Above all, you need to give yourself some time to find what works for you. It took me a month or more of trying different methods until I finally figured it out. It can be frustrating, but I'm glad I stuck with it.

I prefer the foamies for comfort, but the silicones for speed. Have you tried reversing the silicone tips and then bending back each fold, so the large end goes in first? That way a seal is formed while the tips are further out of the canal. Try it. Also I find getting a seal is easier when opening your mouth/lowering your jaw (while pulling your ear) during the insertion/twist stage.