Multi-IEM comparison: Vsonic GR07, Ultimate Ears UE700, TDK BA200, Etymotic Research HF5 and... - Page 11

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozkan 

Which one do you think has better overall bass Pfe112 or Hf5? I am torn between Pfe and Hf5.

pfe112 hands down im my opinion.  112 is very close to the ety er-4s.  closer than the hf5 is in my opinion.  the hf5 has more bass and treble rolloff.  the pfe is perfectly flat across the spectrum with only a slight boost in the 10k region or so.  They are also much easier to fit and more comfortable and cheaper than the er-4s.  the hf5 shares the similar ety tip fidgeting process and whatnot.  However, I'd suck it up and get the er-4s :)

But either way, both are very good.  If you fit them well and get a good seal the hf5 are very good.  But I prefer the 112.

woohoo.  :-)  I wonder what those are for? :-P

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marleybob217 

Is that, bubblegum?

Yeah, I'm making my own wrigley's custom ear tips. :-P

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marleybob217 

Haha wow, I can't imagine that being comfortable.

Ha.  That was a complete joke.  They are professional molds from my audiologist. :-)  They look like gum though don't they?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marleybob217 

Very much so! How much did you pay for these molds? and where the H exactly is the iem? That white sphere couldn't be the etymotics right?

 

And at last, how do you like the sound?

Oh, no no... these are the molds.  The molds have been sent to the lab, and they will make the ear tips based off of the molds.  I'll let you know once I get them.  $113 total for everything including shipping.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marleybob217 

They look sooo weird, what are those wires, and what are those white spheres? That's actually not as expensive as I was expecting.

The white spheres are small pieces of foam that they insert in your ear that act as "stops" to protect your eardrum.  They keep the molding material from going to deep in your ear canal.  The white wires are just strings they put in the molding so they can pull them out of your ears more easily. :)

Well you are correct on both points.  First, I still have fit issues with the er-4s, but I am getting better at getting the proper fit more often.  However, I still fiddle with all of the tips except the big black foam cylinders, which are my current favorite.  They fit every time, but they seem to have the "slightest" (and I mean slight) bit of sibilance with them.  The triple flange don't.  But they improve the bass a very small amount and are comfortable, major isolation and fit perfect every time.

I love the triple flange and mushroom tips, but both require a lot of fiddling to get the correct seal.  The HF5 had too much treble softness for me.  It is an excellent phone for the price, and I think I reflected that in my reviews, but I wasn't very good at getting a proper fit, and when I did the sound just wasn't as open and airy or flat in the bass response.  So it wasn't worth the fit difficulties to get that sound.  I'm a sucker for high frequencies more than bass.  But I do love my bass.  The ER-4S fixed both issues and sound simply amazing, but the fit issues are not completely gone.  I am better at it though, a lot better.  Especially now that all the tips are softening a bit they are easier to fit, but still require fiddling for a while.  Mostly for my right ear.

I can say that I probably didn't honestly give the HF5 tips long enough to break in.  And in that regard I may have had a similar experience with them fit-wise, but sound-wise the treble killed it for me.  Don't get me wrong, the treble was excellent, but didn't extend high enough at a flat volume for my taste.  It was like everything had noise reduction applied a bit.  Air (literal air) was not as apparent and strings, while smooth and bright, didn't have that incredible micro texture you get with more treble extension.

Ultimately though, I opted for the custom molds for exactly that reason, the fiddling.  I want to put my tips in and forget about them.  If there were no customs I'd still keep them no questions asked, but the fiddling does get old.  I'd probably just buy a boat load of foam tips and be done with it.  However, I'm hoping the customs sound at least the same but improve the fit process for me.  With the foam and er-4s i sometimes forget they're in my ear and literally have the impression I'm listening to speakers. I love it. :)