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what universal iem offers the best isolation?

post #1 of 10
2/18/11 at 4:02am
Thread Starter 

Hi everyone, I need an universal iem to tide me over till I can get my first custom (probbably the jh3a but i want to wait a few months with that till the first reviews are posted and the backlog at jh is gone). I have owned a lot of iems the last fe wyears but many of them that i liked the best, the ie8 and the sm3 offered pretty little isolation for me. I do think that deep insertion small iems might be the best for me. I was thinking about the re262 but not sure. Can anyone tell me what iems isolate the best? I know this is also tip dependant. Greetings, Anouk,

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Etymotic Research ER4S MicroPro Reference Earphones
post #2 of 10
2/18/11 at 5:02am

Basically out of about 10 iems I tried, the ER-4S had most isolation.

Next is Shure iems. And yes I found IE8 to have little isolation..

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post #3 of 10
2/18/11 at 5:02am

Many people seem to use the black olives, but just from my personal preference I get the best isolation from the silicone triple flanges modded to dual flanges (trim the top flange and half of the bottom stem). It's kind of dangerous walking around with them for me.


All the comply/foam tips offer good isolation but, silicone is the material that really STICKS to your canal and when I take them out I have to be careful I hear a loud pop sound (suction) when they are taken out too fast.


I really want to try the Monster tips I heard good things about them but have no clue whatsoever.

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post #4 of 10
2/18/11 at 5:27am

For me the ER4S was the best(and is considered by many to be the golden standard for isolation) I have ever tried but I didn't have enough time with it. SM2 with Shure Olives was the best of what I owned previously. The DDM I am using right now offers really less isolation compared to other BA IEMs, and more or less the same can be applied to the other dynamic driver IEMs.

 

Personally the RE262 had rather good isolation for a Dynamic but not as good as the etys nor the earsonics+olives.

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post #5 of 10
2/18/11 at 6:35am

Majority of all dynamic driver IEMs are ported and will this have less isolation.  Most armiture driver IEMs and not ported (they don't rely on movement of air to work), and will offer better isolation.  The Etymotic HF and ER series phones give the best isolation available -- their 100% sealed housing plus deep insertion ensure that.

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post #6 of 10
2/18/11 at 6:45am
Thread Starter 

Hi, Hmm I might have to try the er4 then although since I am blind the replacable filters are not appealing. I have owned a shure se530 in the past and that isolated rather well too but I could not get the standard tips off. Shure seems to be worhth a rebuy maybe. Not sure if i would like the ety sound. The re262 is dynamic driver so ported (less isolation), right? I think that all hifiman iems have replacable filters too bu tnot totally sure. Greetings, Anouk,

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post #7 of 10
2/18/11 at 7:24am

Anouk, if you keep your ears fairly clean of wax, then you probably don't have to worry about changing the filters very often -- even as long as 6 months or so.  Another thing that greatly helps keep mine clean is that I use the Shure black foam tips ("Olives") with my HF5, so they don't get inserted nearly as deep as with the 3 flange Ety tips -- and so my ear cleaning does not have to go as deep into my ear canal either.

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post #8 of 10
2/19/11 at 3:08am
Thread Starter 

Hi, the hf5 is that an iem?

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post #9 of 10
2/20/11 at 12:31am
Thread Starter 

Hi again, anyone heard the new sony ex1000? Does that isolate well? Greetings, Anouk,

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post #10 of 10
2/20/11 at 1:33am

I don't own it, but had a listen at a shop.

They sound great and open, but that openness seems to be the result of poor isolation, and is the poorest I've heard on any IEM.
It might be ideal for indoor use, but then I'd use a headphone.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anouk View Post

Hi again, anyone heard the new sony ex1000? Does that isolate well? Greetings, Anouk,

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Etymotic Research ER4S MicroPro Reference Earphones
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