[9bphillips]

I was actually outside of Montgomery yesterday visiting some family. Thanks for your post, lots of good info. I was under the understanding that the audiologist and the manufacturer pretty much took care of everything. Do I need to talk to them about what kind of fit I am looking for? I just assumed with the molds they would be giving me the perfect fit. Do you feel your first audiologist just didn’t understand how to make the molds correctly?

It is exciting to hear I should hear a huge difference from the pair I am listening to currently. The way you describe yours sound awesome. I really feel I am going to be very happy with whichever model I choose.

 

[9bphillips]

I had mine done and used a bite block the 1st time which for me was not the way to go. Some people swear thats the way to go but it wasnt for me. The 2nd time i didnt use a bite block and kept my mouth opened but relaxed. Better but not what i wanted. The 3rd time i had my mouth closed and relaxed as if i was just being normal. With the bite block my k10's broke the seal when my mouth was closed. Without it the only way the seal breaks is if i yawn or something. No 2 ear canals are exactly alike so what works for some may not for others. Whatever ciem you get look at their website and they usually have directions on how to get the earmolds made. However noble said for me to use a bite block and it just didnt work for me. Show the audiologist the directions and even tell him my experience because he may see something with how your ears are formed and suggest one way or another. Honestly its a game of patience because it doesnt always work out right the 1st time. Once it does get done right you will be glad you were patient.

 

[buke9]

Well since you said you can go to Atlanta area I would look at Empire Ears they are in Norcross GA.

 

[Tswilson]

Well since you said you can go to Atlanta area I would look at Empire Ears they are in Norcross GA.

Awesome, I had no idea that is where they were. I was actually just looking at some of their CIEMs and researching the Adel technology. I gave Empire Ears a call and it looks like they do have a demo room at their facilities. I'm going to be in Atlanta next week for a one day conference, so I am going to setup an appointment and check them out while I am down there. Thanks again for letting me know!

 

[Tswilson]

I had mine done and used a bite block the 1st time which for me was not the way to go. Some people swear thats the way to go but it wasnt for me. The 2nd time i didnt use a bite block and kept my mouth opened but relaxed. Better but not what i wanted. The 3rd time i had my mouth closed and relaxed as if i was just being normal. With the bite block my k10's broke the seal when my mouth was closed. Without it the only way the seal breaks is if i yawn or something. No 2 ear canals are exactly alike so what works for some may not for others. Whatever ciem you get look at their website and they usually have directions on how to get the earmolds made. However noble said for me to use a bite block and it just didnt work for me. Show the audiologist the directions and even tell him my experience because he may see something with how your ears are formed and suggest one way or another. Honestly its a game of patience because it doesnt always work out right the 1st time. Once it does get done right you will be glad you were patient.

That is great to know and helps me set my expectations for the whole process. I will definitely discuss your experience with the audiologist I use.

 

[castleofargh]

it's only one guy's experience, it was a few years back and they've had a lot of changes since, so I wouldn't tell people to avoid JH for such an anecdotal case. that would be unreasonable. but at a personal level, it pissed me off. they basically ghosted me the second they got my money. unable to contact them I decided to still send back my IEMs with fully detailed info and horrible drawings pointing to pressure points and where there was too much free movement(it was my first CIEM but I had several custom earplugs done before), they sent the IEMs back with about 2mm of the right earpiece cut just short of attacking the plastic tubes on the nozzle(absolutely barbaric! to quote the meme). not a word about the job, my questions, how to contact them? or why they never answered any of my emails sent from many accounts to be sure it didn't just go in the spam box by accident. I had just spent like 150$ for delivery+insurance to spend weeks without music, and get the wrong thing done to my IEMs in a way so crude I could have done it myself. and to this day there is a legend about how they will reply to me when the time is right.
I ended up doing the work myself through trial and error with some sand paper and some nail acrylic(stuff that hardens with UV light). now it's been a few years and they would deserve a reshell(they don't change much, but we do), also I've butchered them to remove some filters and put some with a different damping value instead to change the signature a little. they really would deserve a makeover. of course I will not send them for reshell to JH if/when I decide to do it, but that's really just my personal grudge talking. they're a successful business, I can't imagine that being possible if I was more than a fairly isolated incident.

I don't think empty acrylic shell will isolate much better than shure+olives or etymotic.

about the audiologist, it's clearly better if he has a clue what you're talking about. for him most likely it's all about hearing aids and they're usually not taking the full inside of the ear like custom IEMs do. so it's always good to insist that he tries to go fairly deep and also really get the shape of all the concha, and even better, go a little over all around to get the general shape of the targus(where the cable plug can sometime come at a bad place) and stuff like that. but you can probably find some advice on most IEM websites, just find one that seems clear enough and show it to him/her on your phone the day you do it.

 

[buke9]

Awesome, I had no idea that is where they were. I was actually just looking at some of their CIEMs and researching the Adel technology. I gave Empire Ears a call and it looks like they do have a demo room at their facilities. I'm going to be in Atlanta next week for a one day conference, so I am going to setup an appointment and check them out while I am down there. Thanks again for letting me know!

I'm glad I saw your post then. I really liked most all of the EE's I've heard I don't own a pair yet but I'm thinking of selling off a bunch of my gear soon and just might go the CIEM route myself as I tend to listen as much sitting on the back patio as I do inside.
They had weather problems in GA and didn't make it to CanJam SoCal this year as I was really wanting to hear the Adel versions. Would be interested to know what you think of them after your audition I loved the Zeus but boy is it pricey. Good luck.

 

[Tswilson]

I'm glad I saw your post then. I really liked most all of the EE's I've heard I don't own a pair yet but I'm thinking of selling off a bunch of my gear soon and just might go the CIEM route myself as I tend to listen as much sitting on the back patio as I do inside.
They had weather problems in GA and didn't make it to CanJam SoCal this year as I was really wanting to hear the Adel versions. Would be interested to know what you think of them after your audition I loved the Zeus but boy is it pricey. Good luck.

So I just got back from a trip to Empire Ears. Wow that was a great experience and really blew away my expectations; their customer service is simply outstanding. I went with a friend and we were both treated like royalty. We listened to every model and received a tour of the facilities. The co-founder and lead engineer Dean also took an impression of my ear for free! I honestly couldn't say enough good things about this company.

The listening experience was also great. I started with the lowest model the Supra and then went to the Hermes. I honestly wasn't too impressed by these models. Of course this was my first time listening to headphones above $500, but I just didn't hear a big bump in quality over the cheaper headphones I have used in the past. I then moved on to the Apollo and wow was that a big bump in audio quality for me. I loved the wide soundstage! I listened to Kickstart My Heart by Motley Crue and Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses (as well as other tracks). It was awesome to hear clear separation from each of the instruments and vocals as well as being able to tell where they were positioned on the soundstage. Honestly, I have no idea how to use all of these audiophile words so It is difficult for me to describe what I heard. I really enjoyed the Apollo and felt I understood why someone would spend over $200 (and in this case over $1,500) on a pair of headphones.

I then listened to the Adel version of the Apollos with the G1 Module. I actually did not like the Adel version as well as I did the regular version. Again, I don't really know how to describe it, but it felt like there was air or room in between me and the music; the version without Adel made me feel like I was more directly connected to the music. I guess this kinda makes sense based on how the Adel technology works, so I hope it wasn't my brain just trying to read into it. The employee who was helping us out indicated that a lot of people say that was their experience as well and some like the sound of the Adels and some don't. I then told him that I was concerned that listening to the non Adel version would damage my ear and asked him if the Adel tech was really recommended. To my surprise he said he recommends the non Adel version unless the individual likes the sound of the Adels better. He mentioned that the study done on the Adel tech, by a college that I forgot the name of, was inconclusive and that he honestly thought that a lot of it was marketing. I guess you can take that for what it is worth.

I also listened to the Zues and while they did sound amazing I actually slightly preferred the Apollos. At this point in the day we were running out of time so I only spent about 15 minutes comparing the Zues and the Apollo. I don't know if it was budget considerations that were impacting my listening experience or what but I definitely slightly preferred the sound signature of the Apollos.

As you can tell I am really excited about the Apollos, but there was one thing that I wasn't blown away by with any of the in ear monitors and that is bass. The bass on the Apollos sounded great but I definitely heard it more than felt it if that makes sense. I guess I was hoping I would be able to feel the bass more than my SE215s and for me that just wasn't the case. Of course I am interested in the custom models so that fit may bring out more what I was hoping for. In the end IEMs may not be able to reproduce the feeling that I am looking for and I am honestly okay with that. I just sort of reset my expectations. Everything else sounded so great and the feel of the wide soundstage was an awesome surprise.

I also found out the JHAudio has an office in Nashville so I could swing up and try out some of their models. I called them inquiring about the demo space and the employee was slightly rude and just not as friendly as the Empire Ears group. My time is booked for the next month or so, so I wouldn't be able to make it up there for a while. I'm ready to pull the trigger on the Apollos but don't want to rush things if JHAudio might be a better fit for me. I am really just interested in their variable bass controls on the cable with the thought of that control may be able to give me more of the bass feel that I am looking for. I want to make sure I don't get into analysis paralysis and just never end up buying a model though.

 

[castleofargh]

seems like you had a good time, that's great.

 

[buke9]

Sounds awesome glad I remembered about them being in GA.

 

[tomwoo]

I got my custom JHA Angie without auditioning any IEMs, maybe there are better ones out there, I don't know. At this price point, I don't think there will be a huge difference in overall performance, it is down to personal preferences, etc. I'm pretty satisfied with my Angie. Frankly, I have no idea how other CIEMs sound. I won't be surprised if there are cheaper and better alternatives, which I'm not interested in finding out at this point.

JHA's customer service was OK for me, their reps usually replied my emails within a day or so, I had no problem with the fitting. Be prepared for refitting tho, it is fairly common for CIEMs,
Good luck with your search!

 

[Bensaida]

Thats a big jump