[yuujin]

i was looking through some threads and the soft canals separate/break after a year.

 

[Defiant00]

Quote:

i was looking through some threads and the soft canals separate/break after a year.

 
More specifically, it's been reported by one owner that he had them break after a little over a year.
 
One occurrence doesn't make a trend, so it's hard to say if this is at all common.

 

[PocketGroove]

Quote:

gotta ask a few questions before i put in my order.
1) anyone has a V6 yet? any opinions?
2) is wine red someone like a deep fuchsia? anyone have a picture?
3) anyone ordered soft canals? i read that it breaks off after while, is that true?

Before ordering mine I asked 1964 ears about soft tips on their Facebook page, this was the response and why I went with the hard: "The soft tips do bend with mouth movements which improves the seal. The downside is that in 3-5 years the soft tips dry out and become brittle."

 

[briankeeeem]

Quote:

Before ordering mine I asked 1964 ears about soft tips on their Facebook page, this was the response and why I went with the hard: "The soft tips do bend with mouth movements which improves the seal. The downside is that in 3-5 years the soft tips dry out and become brittle."

 
That's a pretty long time to be fair. I mean, CIEM's are inherently fragile if you consider their structure. The only thing stopping you from crushing your IEM is... well, not stepping on it or rolling over it with an office chair, whatever you can think of. However, the prospect of buying a high-quality product that is supposed to last basically a good 10+ years that in reality is only going to last you about 5 years is pretty off-putting.

I can see why people would go with the soft-tips though. Seems like it'd be easier to forget about the fact that you have a plastic shell jammed into your ear canal. It would make the whole listening experience more transparent. And if you have the money, and aren't too bothered by having to replace them in the future, then why not go for them.

Interesting how they become "brittle" though. Any thoughts on how that works on a chemical level? Maybe over a long period of time the salt in sweat dries it out? Now that I've written it out, that just doesn't seem very scientific or accurate at all.

 

[project86]

Quote:

 

I can see why people would go with the soft-tips though. Seems like it'd be easier to forget about the fact that you have a plastic shell jammed into your ear canal. It would make the whole listening experience more transparent. And if you have the money, and aren't too bothered by having to replace them in the future, then why not go for them.

 

 
You'd think so, but remember that the acrylic is not merely "jammed in your ear" - it fits the curves of your specific ear exactly. Or at least it should if your impressions were good. 

 

[PocketGroove]

Quote:

 
That's a pretty long time to be fair. I mean, CIEM's are inherently fragile if you consider their structure. The only thing stopping you from crushing your IEM is... well, not stepping on it or rolling over it with an office chair, whatever you can think of. However, the prospect of buying a high-quality product that is supposed to last basically a good 10+ years that in reality is only going to last you about 5 years is pretty off-putting.

I can see why people would go with the soft-tips though. Seems like it'd be easier to forget about the fact that you have a plastic shell jammed into your ear canal. It would make the whole listening experience more transparent. And if you have the money, and aren't too bothered by having to replace them in the future, then why not go for them.

Interesting how they become "brittle" though. Any thoughts on how that works on a chemical level? Maybe over a long period of time the salt in sweat dries it out? Now that I've written it out, that just doesn't seem very scientific or accurate at all.

I agree, the fact is after 2-3 yrs I'd imagine the time would come when the new stuff would look like a step up. Even with the V-6 my ears perked up. I have had the Quads for about a month and LOVE them. Went with the Quads because 6,8,10,12 drivers just seems like over-kill to me. With the soft tips I think it's just the nature of the material that would cause them to start to break down, I have NO complaints with the acrylic tips. As mentioned by Project86, the impressions assure a perfect fit and as time goes by getting newer CIEM's/having back up's ain't such a bad thing.

 

[briankeeeem]

Quote:

 
You'd think so, but remember that the acrylic is not merely "jammed in your ear" - it fits the curves of your specific ear exactly. Or at least it should if your impressions were good. 

Haha. yes im aware of that. i was just using that word for dramatic effect 

 

[Yuceka]

Anyone got two different sets of customs from the same impressions stored by 1964 Ears within a period of 6 months or so? I'm asking because it will save me from going to an audiologist again and get new impressions. I've also heard about impressions getting shrunk over time but I'm not sure what that "time frame" is. Mine were made in last May so if they're ok to use, I can get my V6 right away I emailed them about it but no response so far. 

 

[rroseperry]

Anyone got two different sets of customs from the same impressions stored by 1964 Ears within a period of 6 months or so? I'm asking because it will save me from going to an audiologist again and get new impressions. I've also heard about impressions getting shrunk over time but I'm not sure what that "time frame" is. Mine were made in last May so if they're ok to use, I can get my V6 right away I emailed them about it but no response so far. 

I got customs from the same set of impressions a year apart. They were fine. They may also keep a scan of the originals. I'm not sure where I read that though.

 

[PANGES]

Quote:

Anyone got two different sets of customs from the same impressions stored by 1964 Ears within a period of 6 months or so? I'm asking because it will save me from going to an audiologist again and get new impressions. I've also heard about impressions getting shrunk over time but I'm not sure what that "time frame" is. Mine were made in last May so if they're ok to use, I can get my V6 right away I emailed them about it but no response so far. 

 
Why would they shrink? Don't they make a cast of your impressions, and then store the casts? Honestly, i don't know if this is how 1964 Ears does it, but that's how some other companies do it.

 

[Sopp]

Quote:

Anyone got two different sets of customs from the same impressions stored by 1964 Ears within a period of 6 months or so? I'm asking because it will save me from going to an audiologist again and get new impressions. I've also heard about impressions getting shrunk over time but I'm not sure what that "time frame" is. Mine were made in last May so if they're ok to use, I can get my V6 right away I emailed them about it but no response so far. 

 
I have 1964-T purchased about 18 months ago and V6 on order. 1964 Ears told me that maybe I would send a new set of impressions to cover any changes in my ears since then. If the 1964-T still fits well, they can use the old impressions, no problem.

 

[fueltank]

I have Quads without soft tips and they are comfortable to me have had them in for a 9hr flight. I think it largely depends on how well your audiologist was when taking your impressions.

 

[briankeeeem]

Speaking of impressions, I must say that I am a bit worried, having realized that I had a pimple of some sort on the "inside" of my ear over 6 months ago. However, it never fully went away, even to this day, and so, is included as part of the impression.

It is not by any means a significant or large bump, but it has added a few thousandths of an inch thickness to the surface of my outer ear. I want it to go away, but now that I'm getting some pricey IEM's made for me based on the shape of my, I kind of hope it doesn't. O woe is me.

 

[PANGES]

Quote:

Speaking of impressions, I must say that I am a bit worried, having realized that I had a pimple of some sort on the "inside" of my ear over 6 months ago. However, it never fully went away, even to this day, and so, is included as part of the impression.

It is not by any means a significant or large bump, but it has added a few thousandths of an inch thickness to the surface of my outer ear. I want it to go away, but now that I'm getting some pricey IEM's made for me based on the shape of my, I kind of hope it doesn't. O woe is me.

 
If it's something about the size of a pimple, i wouldn't worry about it too much. You probably won't even notice a difference.

 

[Kunlun]

Quote:

 
More specifically, it's been reported by one owner that he had them break after a little over a year.
 
One occurrence doesn't make a trend, so it's hard to say if this is at all common.

I believe it's happened with some westone es5s as well--same process, same materials. So, yes, it can happen. I talked to the owner of a different custom iem company who said the problem of durability was why they chose not to offer soft-tips.