[KLS]

 
Quote:

Hi KLS, how have you been?  I hope all is well with you.  I agree with you about the custom eartips vs. the sensorcom (er, Alpine), which is what I am now using with the SM3.  I was going to drill out the bore on my custom tips, but haven't got around to it yet.  I would do it right now, but my custom tips are at work.
 
And the sensorcom tips in the picture at the top of the page work well also, but are more difficult to get a good angle resulting in more difficulty getting a good seal for me.

Busy with some assignment lately... But I never forget listening to music

 
Sorry for my poor comprehension, by 'drill out the bore on my custom tips', do you mean you want to make the nozzle's opening bigger?
 
The multifilament tips you sent to me (thanks!) sound pretty good with SM3, however it takes me 5 minutes to adjust and insert them into my ears ^^;


 
Quote:

They look good. You'd think they'd put a little stem on the tip (as with the UM56) so that if they come off the nozzle whilst in your ear you've got something to grab on to to pull them out.

 
Oh didn't know that the little stem acts as a 'handle'. I thought it is to prevent the 'swivel' problem when wearing custom tips.
 
If EarSonics make something like the ACS custom eartips for IE8, which cover part of the earpiece then it would be great, though such custom tips can only serve one master.

 

 

[Marcus_C]

Quote:

In case anyone's interested, my SM3s are now sold and on their way to their new owner, who I'm sure will report back on their findings.

That would be me, Benny's sm3s arrived today and I like what I hear, although I think Benny has bigger ears than me. I've got to say they are very revealing of source, more so than most earphones I've heard. At first I thought there was a blown driver on one of them but a quick play of 'Chemical Brothers - Under the Influence' confirmed the drivers seem to be working. That being said the left earphone definitely has less emphasis on bass than the right, although I may be having fit issues (quite likely). I also haven't decided if that's  a good thing, i haven't had much time to play yet. 

 

[Rip N' Burn]

I wonder if Mark was experiencing the same issue? Did it sounded balanced to you Bennyboy?
 
Quote:

That would be me, Benny's sm3s arrived today and I like what I hear, although I think Benny has bigger ears than me. I've got to say they are very revealing of source, more so than most earphones I've heard. At first I thought there was a blown driver on one of them but a quick play of 'Chemical Brothers - Under the Influence' confirmed the drivers seem to be working. That being said the left earphone definitely has less emphasis on bass than the right, although I may be having fit issues (quite likely). I also haven't decided if that's  a good thing, i haven't had much time to play yet. 

 

[Marcus_C]

I did look up what mark said about them but couldn't find the post, I may shoot him a pm if he isn't reading this thread and find out what he thought of them. Also I am using some tips that benny sent me, white double flanges, which ones are they?

 

[Rip N' Burn]

Probably the sensorcom tips.

 

[Bennyboy71]

Try the grey dual flange tips, or the Jays singles I sent if the sensorcoms are sounding unbalanced - I have a feeling I might have trimmed them slightly too much on one side and that might influence the sound.  As you're in UK, its easy for you to order fresh Sensorcom tips if you do want to try trimming them yourself to fit....
 
Quote:

I did look up what mark said about them but couldn't find the post, I may shoot him a pm if he isn't reading this thread and find out what he thought of them. Also I am using some tips that benny sent me, white double flanges, which ones are they?

 

[Marcus_C]

Right, I had the jays singles on these today and I think the lack of balance I had was just bad fit with the doubles.First impressions, I like them, it's a very immersive sound with a real sense of sound stage I don't often find in iem's. Instrument separation and clarity are good too. It has very good bass extension, better than any other earphone i've used. Granted, I haven't heard any other earphones at this price tag but I was still impressed. Reading so much about these earphones I half expected them to be really shoddily put together as well but naturally, most of what's written is exaggerated. I don't think i've found the best fit yet but i've plenty more tips which will fit so that's just a matter of time, at the moment I don't need to smile or frown too demonically to make the bass disappear altogether. Altogether sound-wise they're a very good replacement for my beyer's.
 
Here it comes...
 
But...
 
Does everyone in this thread have really large ears? I wasn't exactly left wanting ears-wise but the housing is just big enough to rub on the back of my ear pretty much whichever angle it's pointing, hence I can always tell they are there and in that regard the ergonomics of them are somewhat lacking when compared to my W2's.
 
Also they are just as or even more revealing that the w2's, I keep discovering tracks which sounded good on the beyer's and let me leave the world of reality now all of a sudden have started selling popcorn and sweets as if specifically to the people sat behind me.
 
Anway, where was I? Sm3 = Good, Comfort = at the moment not that good, has anyone else had similar problems??

 

[meurglys0]

 
Quote:

Right, I had the jays singles on these today and I think the lack of balance I had was just bad fit with the doubles.First impressions, I like them, it's a very immersive sound with a real sense of sound stage I don't often find in iem's. Instrument separation and clarity are good too. It has very good bass extension, better than any other earphone i've used. Granted, I haven't heard any other earphones at this price tag but I was still impressed. Reading so much about these earphones I half expected them to be really shoddily put together as well but naturally, most of what's written is exaggerated. I don't think i've found the best fit yet but i've plenty more tips which will fit so that's just a matter of time, at the moment I don't need to smile or frown too demonically to make the bass disappear altogether. Altogether sound-wise they're a very good replacement for my beyer's.
 
Here it comes...
 
But...
 
Does everyone in this thread have really large ears? I wasn't exactly left wanting ears-wise but the housing is just big enough to rub on the back of my ear pretty much whichever angle it's pointing, hence I can always tell they are there and in that regard the ergonomics of them are somewhat lacking when compared to my W2's.
 
Also they are just as or even more revealing that the w2's, I keep discovering tracks which sounded good on the beyer's and let me leave the world of reality now all of a sudden have started selling popcorn and sweets as if specifically to the people sat behind me.
 
Anway, where was I? Sm3 = Good, Comfort = at the moment not that good, has anyone else had similar problems??

The housings hurt my ears very much in the first days. All my friends (none of which had experience with IEMs previously just like myself) who tried them put them away in just a few minutes because they hurt their ears, too. Anyway, they still hurt my ears but everyday I get more used to them (I have them since 3 weeks ago) and the good thing is they start to hurt / make themselves felt after about 1.5-2 hours now. I give my ears a break of 10-15 minutes and my ears are good to go again! So I believe and hope you'll get used to them in quite a short time...

 

[airwax]

The housing is quite big for me as well. But it's just a matter of time that you'll get used to them. Nothing beats the W2 comfort wise for me also. It's really all about the tips. The only way I could get them very comfortable is when I use those single flange silicone tips from my W2 or cut the stalks of the sensorcoms shorter. 

 

[ericp10]

Haven't listened to the SM3 in awhile, but its been back in my ears for the past couple of days and..... WOW!!!!!!! With the significant burn-in (that I believe in) these have been through, the SM3 has really opened up and making me love them all over again. Still love the FX700 sound sig more, and I'm back and forth between which is my favorite (SM3 or SM2 - they're about tied now), but this is still one of my favorite top two universals of all time.

 

[hasanyuceer]

Using SM3s for two days, I found its spacing and soundstage amazing. Also that chameleon sound signature, yea, I liked it too. But I still couldnt fell in love with them, still using as a marriage of convenience. I feel like SM3s got no soul. I hope it turn out to love soon...

 

[latent]

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I'm using that mod, but instead of shure olives, I'm using the Comply Tips cores, which comes along with the SM3.
Works great btw.
 

 
 

I don't have my camera on me right now, so I'll just use my cellphone's one.
 

 

There are two sizes of Comply Tips which you get from Earsonics SM3.
First I used the core of the smaller comply tips together with the Monster Tri-Flange tips. 
The result was that it wasn't comfortable to my ears as what I had hoped.

This week my Sensorcom Tri-Flange tips arrived by mail so I gave those a try. These aren't comfortable either.
I tried them for 20 minutes but the hurting didn't got any less.

Now (as we speak) I am trying the cores of the bigger Comply Tips together with the Monster Tri-Flange. As witnessed before 
they stick too good into my ears, the spacer and tip stay in my ear when I want to pull it out (I don't have this trouble with Sensorcom tips (both double-flange and tripple flang).
But for comfort they are better than the Sensorcom tips, maybe because they are softer. I didn't look if there is actually a difference with the cores of the smaller and larger Comply Tips or that it is just that my ears got more used to Tri-Flanges. 
 
As for now I am not that satisfied with comfort, even though it gets better with every new tip I try.
I'ts a pity I have to spend that much money on just testing tips. 
 
Maybe the Monster Tri-Flange will get more comfortable 
after some time, do you guys had any experience with this? Else I might have to go for Single flang or customs overall. But atleast the discomfort of [core of big comply tips + monster tri-flange] is bareable, whereas with other tips this wasn't the case. 

 

[cn11]

latent-
 
Yeah, unfortunately they do seem to require a little more investment in tips to get the best out of them. If you're thinking of trying some single flange tips, be sure to try JAYS single flanges, and the standard Monster ones which come with the entire Turbine line. These are the two best options I've found, but no double or triple flange options ever seem to work for my particular ears. I need the short wide kind of tips to get the best seal. 
 
Best of luck finding the most appropriate options for you. Once you do, the caliber of sound will really reward you.

 

[tehort]

Yup, they're really annoying, I've tried different cores too, but they are all as uncomfortable as the others.
What I do is simply put them with ease in my ears(couple of tries), not trying too deep or to get the perfect seal, otherwise they will start itching in a few minutes, it's been working so far, SQ is excellent ^^
 
Quote:

There are two sizes of Comply Tips which you get from Earsonics SM3.
First I used the core of the smaller comply tips together with the Monster Tri-Flange tips. 
The result was that it wasn't comfortable to my ears as what I had hoped.

This week my Sensorcom Tri-Flange tips arrived by mail so I gave those a try. These aren't comfortable either.
I tried them for 20 minutes but the hurting didn't got any less.

Now (as we speak) I am trying the cores of the bigger Comply Tips together with the Monster Tri-Flange. As witnessed before 
they stick too good into my ears, the spacer and tip stay in my ear when I want to pull it out (I don't have this trouble with Sensorcom tips (both double-flange and tripple flang).
But for comfort they are better than the Sensorcom tips, maybe because they are softer. I didn't look if there is actually a difference with the cores of the smaller and larger Comply Tips or that it is just that my ears got more used to Tri-Flanges. 
 
As for now I am not that satisfied with comfort, even though it gets better with every new tip I try.
I'ts a pity I have to spend that much money on just testing tips. 
 
Maybe the Monster Tri-Flange will get more comfortable 
after some time, do you guys had any experience with this? Else I might have to go for Single flang or customs overall. But atleast the discomfort of [core of big comply tips + monster tri-flange] is bareable, whereas with other tips this wasn't the case. 

 

[average_joe]

So, I finally drilled out the ear end of my custom tips for the SM3.  I found them to be too warm with much of my music, so I was using the sensorcom tips which had less warmth.  I used a dremel with a tapered tip and drilled in about 5 mm deep.  They are still warm, but much less so, probably due to more treble.  I plan on making the opening wider and deeper soon, but wow, the space is so much better than with the Sensorcom tips.  Nice!