The All New Earsonics SM3 Appreciation, Discussion and Review Thread! - Page 84  

I haven't been hearing my SM3s for a while since my bout of tinnitus and my ATH ES-10's arrived but, if my memory serves me well. I think you're right. On receiving my sensorcom tips after my SM3's arrived, I immediately trimmed them down and replaced the stock bi-flanges. While this opens up what you hear by a fair degree, I agree that a small amount of bass body has been lost, though this doesn't mean that there is a depreciation in the quality. It's still very tight and well-controlled. I listened in on Muse's Resistance between tips and found that some of the drums in the background has lost enough impact for my abysmal hearing to realize.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by meurglys0 

 

How about trimming it so that the stem is a bit longer? Does it change the resulting sound? I'm asking because I don't want to experiment on one of my remaining two pairs of sensorcoms...

 

Btw, did you notice anyhing in the bass department after replacing the stock bi-flanges with the sensorcoms? I might be making it up but in my case not only the so-called veiled upper midranges or treble came alive -just a bit- but also the sound got thinner as a whole, meaning some bass body has been lost.... It's too early though to say anything with certainty and I didn't have much time to a/b them thoroughly, so this is just a vague impression...  
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by asphyxiation 

I haven't been hearing my SM3s for a while since my bout of tinnitus and my ATH ES-10's arrived but, if my memory serves me well. I think you're right. On receiving my sensorcom tips after my SM3's arrived, I immediately trimmed them down and replaced the stock bi-flanges. While this opens up what you hear by a fair degree, I agree that a small amount of bass body has been lost, though this doesn't mean that there is a depreciation in the quality. It's still very tight and well-controlled. I listened in on Muse's Resistance between tips and found that some of the drums in the background has lost enough impact for my abysmal hearing to realize.
 

 

I decided I'll go ahead and trim the stem of Sensorcoms a bit longer, because I figured if I don't like the result, I can always trim a little bit more of the stem to match their length with the stock bi-flanges... The thing is, while the original Sensorcom stems are too long to obtain a perfect fit, they are too soft and bendable compared to the stock bi-flanges. I am theorizing that a slightly longer stem, in other words, slightly deeper insert, might create better isolation and make up for the lost bass body and may even open up the sound a bit more... This might just be a wild guess. 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by cloudq 

its about a foot from the Y split to the IEM

Thanks. I was wondering because I heard somewhere that the length of the cable after the Y split was short because it's supposed to be worn from the back of the neck. But it doesn't seem too short for me? I'm still debating on whether I should drop a couple hundred dollars on a pair of SM3's. Thanks again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jj94 

Thanks. I was wondering because I heard somewhere that the length of the cable after the Y split was short because it's supposed to be worn from the back of the neck. But it doesn't seem too short for me? I'm still debating on whether I should drop a couple hundred dollars on a pair of SM3's. Thanks again.

it might if you were planning to wear it over the ears, under the chin... but its totally fine for most heads i guess... the Y split hangs about 3-4 inches below my chin

Quote:

Originally Posted by cloudq 

it might if you were planning to wear it over the ears, under the chin... but its totally fine for most heads i guess... the Y split hangs about 3-4 inches below my chin

No, I doubt it'd be too short for my comfort. I'd better save up some more money....

Just a heads up - recent batch of Sensorcom tips has now all sold out bar 3 pairs.  So drop me a pm if you want to grab these. First come first served.

So what is the SM3 good for again? Haven't heard many top tiers so was wondering which aspect of SQ am i getting the "best" for.

I got my Earsonics SM3 yesterday.

I saw something weird this morning. (see picture below)

I don't think this is normal? I'm just asking here because (some of) you have this in-ears yourself.

Besides that none of the tips included work for me so I definately have to get new ones and the short Y cable really sucks too, but I knew that up front. I think it is something you can get used to though. 

That's pretty common in the cables, Westones also have the same issue, I have that on both um3x and sm3.

That just just seems like an extreme case of what is a normal "problem".

You could probably trim down the excess with some scissors or the likes if it's really bothering you.

Also how do you mean none of the tips work for you? Fit wise?

Regardless, I hope you work it out and end up with a smile on your dial.

I actually thought that was part of the design. I found the look of the cable better with those excess. Sorry to hear about your fit problems.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hero Kid 

 

Also how do you mean none of the tips work for you? Fit wise?

Fit wise? -> Yes (for the standard tips). There are also 2 other (reshape-able?) tips included. I think they are called ''comply tips'' but I am not sure. 
I bet you guys know which ones I mean though. When I first put these ''comply tips'' in my ears they didn't work for me, but if they really are reshape-able I should do a little bit more testing. I had a look at the instruction manual (which is 100% french) but unfortunately my french isn't that great to understand everything into detail.

My old in-ears (Sony MDR-EX500LP - also see picture below I stole from Google) were a lot cheaper and had ''normal Sony tips'' in different sizes.

These ensure a great fit for me. If anyone has some good suggestions on tips which are similar to these please tell me. I would really appreciate it.
I have read some good things about Sony Hybrid tips (or something like that) but I didn't do to many research on it yet.

I'm glad that I don't have to send my Earsonics back because the thing I thought was a ''problem'' is just a normal thing. Thanks for your replies, I appreciate it.

I'm sorry. It says stock 'bi-flanges' on this same forumpage. >_<

When I listen to the SM3 on my iPod (all Apple losless files) I can hear a lot of bad recordings. One way this makes me happy because it tells me how accurate these in-ears really are and at the other side I don't like it that much that I spent hundreds of euros on CDs with low audio quality. 

This may be of some help to you. http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/485632/earsonics-sm3-appreciation-discussion-review-thread-technically-best-universal-see-first-post-for-reviews-and-info#post_6592319

Well, since the stock foam tips for my SM3 deteriorated on me, threw these together in about 5 minutes before school this morning:

To make these, I first ripped the old foam off the original tips, and cannibalized the stalks. After cutting off a small portion of the tube (small white things seen between the cables), I took a new pair of Comply T400 tips in my desk drawer and shoved the larger, flat part of the original tubes through the back end of the Comply tips. It just barely fit and took some positioning, but I can say they sound very, very good! The bass goes WAY deeper now, and the treble has a tad more energy. I also feel like the mids have a little more contour to them. It loses a little soundstage, but I think the intimacy brings another layer of realism to how they sound. Let me know what you think!