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Who else has given up on custom fit?

post #1 of 10
4/10/10 at 5:21pm
Thread Starter 
I went through the process of getting custom sleeves, or tips, for my ie8's. I had impressions done by two different audiologists and had a remould of one ear.
I know people on here go through numerous refits but that was enough faffing around for me. To be fair, the company supplying the tips could not have been more helpful. I am sure that they would have persevered.
What decided me to stop was when I started having problems with the seal in the ear that I thought we had got sorted.
I was very suprised by the fact that my ear canals seem to be very narrow. I am wondering if there are some ears where customs just cannot fit.
Anyone else had problems?
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post #2 of 10
4/10/10 at 5:29pm
i had thought about having my tf10 made into customs , but after reading about other peoples views and experiences i decide to shelve my plans and went for um3x instead
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post #3 of 10
4/10/10 at 5:51pm
Yup, love the idea of customs but not sure if it's worth the potential hassle.
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post #4 of 10
4/10/10 at 7:51pm
Bummer! Well I'm just about to order customs sleeves, and sad to hear about your issues. Where you use ACS?
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post #5 of 10
4/11/10 at 5:03pm
Thread Starter 
Yup. ACS. I would emphasise that they were brilliant to deal with. It was me that gave up! I hope you have more success.
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post #6 of 10
4/11/10 at 5:12pm
For me, it took Sensaphonics two tries to get them right, Fisher took five tries (horrible quality) and UM got them perfect on the first try.

Remember that ACS (and Sensaphonics) use silicone instead of acrylic and it's much harder to get a perfect seal with silicone.
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post #7 of 10
4/11/10 at 7:18pm
I have some custom IEMs, but I like universal fits more, because they're more comfortable (I like them because they are softer.)
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post #8 of 10
4/11/10 at 8:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kobayashi View Post
For me, it took Sensaphonics two tries to get them right, Fisher took five tries (horrible quality) and UM got them perfect on the first try.

Remember that ACS (and Sensaphonics) use silicone instead of acrylic and it's much harder to get a perfect seal with silicone.
I got silicone earmolds from Starkey and they were right on the first try. I assumed that silicone was actually easier to get a fit with than acrylic, since it flexes just slightly inside the ear, so there is less likely to be pain if the mold is slightly too large. But maybe my understanding is incorrect.

I also have acrylic remolds from Unique Melody, and they were very slightly too large on the first try. They sealed fine, but caused discomfort and blisters. I had my audiologist adjust them instead of mailing them back to China.

Overall I think that the sound quality of customs is worth the hassle, though my perspective may be skewed because I had very little difficulty getting a good fit. There are probably JH13's or something of that caliber in my future.
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post #9 of 10
4/11/10 at 8:19pm
I was told that silicone is much more difficult to work with and that's why only a couple of companies offer it. It also must be correct from the factory because no amount of sanding or clear nail polish will adjust the fit like they will on acrylics.
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post #10 of 10
4/11/10 at 8:35pm
i'm slowly trying to replace my customs with a full size stationary rig for home use. customs are still perfect for portable use though.
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