[Solan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think most of these have been covered on the guide, but I'll included them later, with some updated pictures. Stay tuned.

I know. But us scatterbrains would like individual treatment of each tip while we can wach the picture of it to make sure we get it right.

 

[ClieOS]

Updated with more info and a larger, clearer pictures.

 

[steviebee]

Superb thread, ClieOS. Your updates are very useful...
Thanks!

 

[Solan]

Good work! You'll soon be known as the Skylab of IEMs.

 

[subfocus]

Great piece of work ClieoS.....and much appreciated!

 

[wquiles]

Great thread - thanks much for taking the time to post all of this information

Will

 

[Golden Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Generally speaking, foam tips have a warmer, bassier, but less detail sound than silicone / PVC. Deeply inserted silicone eartips will have a bassier, slight more detail sound than shallowly inserted tips.

Thanks Skyla...ClieOS, nice guide!

I'm not so sure about the part I quoted though...at least as far as my ER4-P/S's are concerned. I don't like the foam tips at all, and I seem to have more bass with the white tips. Also, I think the further they are inserted, the less bass I get, after a certain point. I get a good seal on them, and more air in the ear canal, properly sealed, the better bass due to my ear acting more as a "bass drum". Too far in, and the bass thins. Improper seal, no bass at all. I used to have a problem seating them and sealing them properly without putting them in too far, but I have a "fitting system", if you will. I follow Ety's instructions:

*For best results, moisten the white soft plastic eartips before insertion.
*Using your right hand, grasp the eartip with the red plug.
*With your left hand, pull up and back on your right ear to straighten your ear canal.

*Carefully insert the right earphone so that it seals deeply and comfortably in your ear.
*Repeat procedure for the left ear, using the earphone with the blue plug.
*Remove earphones slowly with a twisting motion to gradually break the seal.

My variations on this are that prior to inserting them, I open my jaw fully a few times to clear any air in my ears, and pop them if they need it. Then, when inserting them, I start with the cable end up, and insert while turning them 180 degrees, so that when they are seated, the cable is pointing down (in the proper "hanging cable" angle). I also found that I can seat them at the proper depth by clenching my jaw tightly when inserting them. This prevents me from inserting them too far, and avoiding the feeling of them sitting on my jaw joint. You can really tell if they are in too far by opening your mouth widely after inserting, as a final test...if you can feel it in any way on your jaw, back them out just a bit.

Hope this helps, if anyone has issues with inserting IEMs properly...try it yourself, and see what you think.

 

[cyberspyder]

Good thread...might also want to post the new Shure orange E2C foamies. Also, interested in posting a thread about which tips fit in which IEM for the best SQ and isolation?

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberspyder /img/forum/go_quote.gif Good thread...might also want to post the new Shure orange E2C foamies. Also, interested in posting a thread about which tips fit in which IEM for the best SQ and isolation?

The problem is, I have no use for the orange foamies and won't likely to get them. As for the second question, it is really a personal preference / belief of which IEM sounds best with which kind of tips. A bit hard to get specific about them.

 

[SiBurning]

Foam tips are like listening through a big cushy sofa. The orange comply tips have the best sound of the foam tips because they're harder so they don't absorb as much.

The black shiny Shure foamies deserve a special plug (pun intended) since I'm still using the pair I got at the first head-fi international meet more than two years ago. All the other foam tips get nasty after a day or two and can't be cleaned easily if at all. Because of this, the Shures are my standard tip. Nearly all of my listening is on the subway so I need the isolation of a foamie. Willing to sacrifice the little difference in sound between the comply tips to save the cost of having to buy them in bulk. The Shures do sound better than most of the other foamies, maybe because the shiny surface reflects just a tad better.

The best sounding tips are the triflanges. Next are the Shure black (silicon?) tips.

The clear flex tip (bottom left) sounds best in traffic on a busy city street. Don't ask me why, but it has some acoustic faults that boost certain frequencies that harmonize with traffic. Maybe the traffic in another city yield a different acoustic pattern. OR... Your mileage may vary. (har har)

(And, of course, it's all a matter of taste, where you listen, what you listen to, etc, etc, and etc.)

By the way, aren't the orange comply and the clear flex (pvc) both from Westone?

 

[scompton]

Are you sure of your measurements of the im716 tube? They fit easily, without a lot of stretching on my im716. The medium Shure black olive tip requires a tremendous effort to get it on. Yet you measure the black olives as having a larger tube. This doesn't make sense to me. Even if I'm wrong about getting the im716's tips on and they do stretch, your measurements say they only stretch to the original size of the Shure tube. Unfortunately, I don't know what I did with the im716's original tip so I can't compare them.

I wish your measurements were right because then I could use the small olives. As it is, I've never successfully put them on the im716. I've considered taking a file to the end of the tip of my im716 to make it easier to get Shure tips on. If I could be assured of getting a new one if I screwed it up, I probably would.

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiBurning /img/forum/go_quote.gif By the way, aren't the orange comply and the clear flex (pvc) both from Westone?

I do not own any Westone, therefore I don't own any Westone's eartips. However, Westone, like many other IEM companies, gets their foam eartips directly from Comply, which is why you will find the same orange foam on UM1/2 too.

As for the Clear Flex, it is definitely from Shure.
Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are you sure of your measurements of the im716 tube? ...

I am very sure the measurement is correct, because I measured every pair myself. However, I think it is the wording that might be a bit confusing: when I wrote 3mm+, I mean 3mm and beyond (no upper limit because I don't wish to push it to the breaking point). As you can see, what I wrote for olive is "expendable to 4mm+, 5mm+ if you force it" - that means it will becomes more and more difficult for the inner tube to expend as it approach 5mm, and anything beyond required some force.

The nozzle opening of im716 is ~4mm, which is with in the expansion limit of olive and I have personally fit them on my iM716 countless times, without using any excessive force. The trick is to hold the nozzle and olive's inner tubing at a 45 degree angle of each other, than push one side of the nozzle in first and at the same time, starts twisting the olive. Continue to twist and slowly push the whole the nozzle in. When you want to take the olive out, twisting also help.

If you still find it difficult to fit olive on iM716, try the 'awesome mod' of TF10 + olive: force a needle nose plier into olive so it'll expend, leave it at the table for 5 minutes than take it off and immediately put it on iM716. Using this method, I have force a pair of olive on my TF10 (which nozzle opening is huge), and you should have no problem doing the same to the much smaller iM716

 

[scompton]

I'll have to try the needle nose pliers trick with some small tips. I do use the 45 degree angle trick to get medium tips on, but it takes 3 or 4 tries and I only end up getting them on half way. And they're never completely straight. They don't block the nozzle though.

With the small tips, just holding onto the tip pinches the tube enough that I can never get them on.

I think I'll be ordering some small tips tomorrow.

 

[fraseyboy]

Great thread!

Just wondering, what size are the shure black 'olives' you got there? I don't think it says anywhere...

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just wondering, what size are the shure black 'olives' you got there? I don't think it says anywhere...

Probably a bit difficult to spot, but this is just under the picture: 'Middle sized tips of all sort.'