[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Has anyone who has (or has listened to) the Westone "body-heat activated vinyl" tips have any thoughts about possible sound differences between that and the hard tips inre: sound (or sound quality)?

The thing about that is some manufacturers run plastic tubes for the sound bores all the way though to the tips so it would be irrelevant in that case.  
 

 

[aLm0sT]

How durable is a vinyl or silicon tip? Are they likely to break or deform after time?
How about moisture and cleaning?

Having only used full acrylic customs, I'm not sure what to really expect from soft tips.
What other reasons besides comfort (& isolation) would speak in favor for soft tips.
For me, the acrylic tips didn't cause any discomfort at all.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

What other reasons besides comfort (& isolation) would speak in favor for soft tips.

That's it.  Perhaps bone conduction if you walk around with them a lot.  But those are big deals IMO.  I'm at about 5 hours w/ the ES5 in my ears right now and could go another 5 easy though I shouldn't.
 

 

[aLm0sT]

Quote:

That's it.  Perhaps bone conduction if you walk around with them a lot.  But those are big deals IMO.  I'm at about 5 hours w/ the ES5 in my ears right now and could go another 5 easy though I shouldn't.
 

 
I've never listened to my customs for 5 hours straight. I usually take them out every once in a while (2-3 hours), not because they cause discomfort or the sound was fatiguing, but just to let my ears rest for a while. Not sure why I do that. Maybe just precaution.

Also, after 2-3 hours of use, my ears usually build up some sweat, so I have to take them out and dry my ears anyways. 

But I get your point.
 
I'd be interested if there are any downsides, like less durable, harder to clean, more prone to moisture, etc.?
 

 

[Anaxilus]

They are supposed to turn yellow but so far mine are great.  I use Oto Ease for insertion.  The bit of alcohol disinfects and evaporates leaving lavender oil to lubricate the tips and your ears.  When I remove them I wipe them down using the left over Oto Ease on the tips and a micro fiber cloth.  Works great so far.  They haven't dried out or turned yellow.  I actually stopped storing them in the dessicant case as I worry about drying out the tips.  I think perhaps my tips are quite long as I haven't had to worry about sweat like i do w/ silicone tips on my universals.  It's totally transparent experience wearing mine. 

 

[rawrster]

I don't know if they really will turn yellow. I've seen old customs turn slightly yellow but those are old customs (UE10pro when it first came out and then 5 years later or something like that). I don't know the reason but I have not seen any more recent customs turn slightly yellow so maybe there is a better quality of the custom material than before.
 
It would be interesting to see how the comfort is for the customs made by 1964 Ears that have the heat sensitive tips like the Westone and see if anyone has both to compare them to.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

It would be interesting to see how the comfort is for the customs made by 1964 Ears that have the heat sensitive tips like the Westone and see if anyone has both to compare them to.

Nice try.  

 

 

[buffalowings]

all right guys, after the second (or third refit) the fit is still very off for my quads. as a result, I've asked for a remold with new impressions and the soft canal tip option. hopefully 1964 ears would remold the phones with the softcanal tip instead of the standard tips (at my own cost of course). This should allow a good comparison between the original and the soft tips
 
james

 

[aLm0sT]

Quote:

They haven't dried out or turned yellow.  I actually stopped storing them in the dessicant case as I worry about drying out the tips.  I think perhaps my tips are quite long as I haven't had to worry about sweat like i do w/ silicone tips on my universals.  It's totally transparent experience wearing mine. 

 
How can tips dry out? Isn't the dessicant case there to keep moisture away from the IEMs?
Would "drying out" result in shrinkage of the tip?

Sounds like you need to take a lot more care of soft tips than acrylic tips.
 
I'd really like to give them a try but I can't quite convince myself to do so atm.
 
 

 

[spekkio]

I had the opportunity to rehear the Westone UM3x against my Quads today. The UM3x has boomier bass (??!), but it is more midbass, and not so much of sub-bass / a textured bass that the Quads has. One thing I found surprising was that the UM3x sounded veiled in comparison -- the mids felt rough and not as smooth / forward as the Quads. This is surprising, because having been a UM3x owner for almost two years, I never knew there was so much room for improvement.

 

[MaxwellDemon]

Quote:

I had the opportunity to rehear the Westone UM3x against my Quads today. The UM3x has boomier bass (??!), but it is more midbass, and not so much of sub-bass / a textured bass that the Quads has. One thing I found surprising was that the UM3x sounded veiled in comparison -- the mids felt rough and not as smooth / forward as the Quads. This is surprising, because having been a UM3x owner for almost two years, I never knew there was so much room for improvement.

Well, it is similar to how majority of the population believes that all headphones/earphones sound the same. You don't know there is room for improvement until you hear it.

 

[ericp10]

This is interesting as I have read some reviews stating that the W4 has similar qualities to the UM3x, and some have called the W4's sound sort of veiled. Definitely no veil sound with the Quad. I'm still waiting for a head-fier to lend me their W4 because I don't think I will even attempt to buy one until I've heard it. Come on head-fi friends, volunteer for the cause!! LOL...
Quote:

I had the opportunity to rehear the Westone UM3x against my Quads today. The UM3x has boomier bass (??!), but it is more midbass, and not so much of sub-bass / a textured bass that the Quads has. One thing I found surprising was that the UM3x sounded veiled in comparison -- the mids felt rough and not as smooth / forward as the Quads. This is surprising, because having been a UM3x owner for almost two years, I never knew there was so much room for improvement.

 

 

[vinnievidi]

all right guys, after the second (or third refit) the fit is still very off for my quads. as a result, I've asked for a remold with new impressions and the soft canal tip option. hopefully 1964 ears would remold the phones with the softcanal tip instead of the standard tips (at my own cost of course). This should allow a good comparison between the original and the soft tips
 
james

Good luck to you. I just got mine back after being remolded and having to send them back again for a slight tweak to one of the canal tips. If I knew that the did soft canal tips with the quads I would probably have gone that route, too.

I think that my quads are finally comfortable enough to wear for longer than 30 minutes. I'm going to give them another week before making my final verdict though.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

 
How can tips dry out? Isn't the dessicant case there to keep moisture away from the IEMs?
Would "drying out" result in shrinkage of the tip?

Sounds like you need to take a lot more care of soft tips than acrylic tips.
 
I'd really like to give them a try but I can't quite convince myself to do so atm.

Correct.  This is a concern.  I haven't heard one, single complaint yet or seen an actual issue w/ people that have been using them for years.  I know it is a simple fact wrt the material's properties.  Therefore, I just take care of them.  My process is no different than what I would do to insert, remove and wipe down any IEM I use so it's not a pain.  Vinyl or not I won't let wax fester on my tips , especially clear ones.
 

 

[mcnoiserdc]

What about suction? I am asking because the thing I hate the most about IEMs is the suction it creates on my ear canals. I read from joker's review that custom eliminates this suction. So my expectations are high, but then I read about these soft tips which seems to be really nice, but then again, I am afraid about it. Does it cause any sense of suction compared to full acrylic customs?
 
Quote:

Correct.  This is a concern.  I haven't heard one, single complaint yet or seen an actual issue w/ people that have been using them for years.  I know it is a simple fact wrt the material's properties.  Therefore, I just take care of them.  My process is no different than what I would do to insert, remove and wipe down any IEM I use so it's not a pain.  Vinyl or not I won't let wax fester on my tips , especially clear ones.