[EllisDee]

Also if you have custom molds made for IEMs (like the SE530) can you not just remove them and put the standard tips back on before you sell them?
Sorry if thats a dumb question!

 

[ChicagoPhil]

Based on your criteria, I would actually suggest trying the Klipsch X10, bought from a seller with a no-risk return policy (currently the online apple store will allow you to return within 14 days, they'll even pay return shipping).
 
My initial head-fi journey took me through a number of IEMs, culminating in the purchase of UE 10 Pros.  Unfortunately, I never quite got the fit 100% right, and I find them unconfortable after about an hour of wearing (not the ear canal itself, but the outer ear where the earpiece is held in place).  Add to that, I find they sound a bit "weak" straight out of a player unamped (the 10s are designed to be the flattest/most accurate IEMs).  The JH you mention may well be better suited to running unamped, but I believe the shell construction is still nearly identical to the UEs.
 
I then set out to find a secondary set to use in true portable use (no amp), and tried the Klipsch on a whim back when they were running the great half price sale.  Now I hardly listen to the UEs.  The Klipsch sound much fuller hooked to my various ipods and iphone.  They are much more comfortable.  The oval ear gels of theirs really work for me.  And the X10 weighs next to nothing.  Isolation is not as great as the UE, but you stated that was not one of your top priorities.
 
Cheers,
Phil

 

[lazard]

Quote:

Also if you have custom molds made for IEMs (like the SE530) can you not just remove them and put the standard tips back on before you sell them?
Sorry if thats a dumb question!

If custom tips, then yes.  If custom re-shell, then no.

 

[JPizzzle]

Maybe someone can answer this for me.  If a mold is uncomfortable as in the case of phil, would a company like UE pay for another mold to be taken and remake them or is all/some out of your pocket?

 

[jleewach]

However, if you go the custom tip route & you later want to sell the earphones, you will get a higher return that if you get custom remolds, and later want to sell them.

 

[shane55]

Anyone notice if custom tips increase (or decrease) cable and general head microphonics?
 
shane

 

[koonhua90]

Slight reduce of cable microphonics. The sound of bone conduction stays about the same. Perhaps slightly less too, since custom tips fits snugly inside the ear and don't get tugged around as easily as compared to using normal tips.

 

[forbigger]

Quote:

OK, I'm sold on the customs. Next question:
 
SE530 Pro, TF10 Pro or JH 5 Pro?

se530 (no such thing as se530 pro) and tf10 (pro or no pro is the same) is not custom. But if you compared the two vs jh5, jh5 beats both hands down

 

[ChicagoPhil]

Quote:

Maybe someone can answer this for me.  If a mold is uncomfortable as in the case of phil, would a company like UE pay for another mold to be taken and remake them or is all/some out of your pocket?

In my case, I never had a second mold taken, though UE did make modifications to my earpieces free of charge (I believe I paid shipping to them, they paid return) based on my feedback of pressure/discomfort points.  This made a big difference, but I was still not 100% sure, and as time passed I didn't really pursue it further.  Part of me questions the recommendation for open-mouth molds, as I don't sit with my mouth open listening to the earphones.  It's just my opinion, but I believe the open-mouth recommendation is based on the original audience for UEs - professional musicians, who need to maintain a seal while performing.  Despite an increasing customer base of non-performing "listeners" neither UE nor JH made any change to the recommendation.  I'm not sure if anyone has tried a closed-mouth mold for custom IEMs, but could be interesting.  I definitely notice less pressure in my ears with the UEs when I sit with my mouth open.  It's quite awkward to do that though. 

 
Quote:

Anyone notice if custom tips increase (or decrease) cable and general head microphonics?

I  can't speak to custom tips specifically, but in general, the biggest improvement to general cable microphonics, IME, is running the cable over your ears, which all the custom IEMs do.  I have worn my X10s over the ear, as well as my new s4i for the gym.  Next to no cable microphonics.  The UE cable is thicker than the Klipsch, which may provide further improvement, but as I can't run the UE cable straight down, I can't say for sure.
 
Chewing and other "head"  noises have little to do with the cable or the specific IEM - just the way your hearing system works (occlusion - bone conducted sound vibration cannot escape from the blocked ear canal).  Try chewing or speaking with your fingers in your ears...
 

 

[JPizzzle]

interesting, i thought the open mouth thing was to open the ear canal as I think I saw in a video.  What you said makes sense though, maybe one day i'll have the opportunity to find out 

 

[rawrster]

To answer your original question yes and no. There are some universals that are just so comfortable that I can't imagine it getting any better. The CK10 with sony hybrids and DBA02 with triple flanges are much more comfortable in my ears and they just disappear. Everything else my customs are more comfortable than but they don't disappear..it is a pretty big piece of acrylic in your ears.
 
If you want to get custom tips you will retain a large amount of the value of your earphones if you decide to sell them. If you make them into a custom the value of them will drop by 50% or more on average.
 
My customs have less microphonics when I am using the Westone ES cable. With the Fisher cable there is more than the ES cable. I think it depends on the cable as some are more microphonic than others.
 
Bone conduction I'm not sure but it might be more than some earphones compared to customs. Based off memory my e-Q7 has less bone conduction noise than my customs but my DBA02 has more.

 

[koonhua90]

Quote:

In my case, I never had a second mold taken, though UE did make modifications to my earpieces free of charge (I believe I paid shipping to them, they paid return) based on my feedback of pressure/discomfort points.  This made a big difference, but I was still not 100% sure, and as time passed I didn't really pursue it further.  Part of me questions the recommendation for open-mouth molds, as I don't sit with my mouth open listening to the earphones.  It's just my opinion, but I believe the open-mouth recommendation is based on the original audience for UEs - professional musicians, who need to maintain a seal while performing.  Despite an increasing customer base of non-performing "listeners" neither UE nor JH made any change to the recommendation.  I'm not sure if anyone has tried a closed-mouth mold for custom IEMs, but could be interesting.  I definitely notice less pressure in my ears with the UEs when I sit with my mouth open.  It's quite awkward to do that though. 

 

I  can't speak to custom tips specifically, but in general, the biggest improvement to general cable microphonics, IME, is running the cable over your ears, which all the custom IEMs do.  I have worn my X10s over the ear, as well as my new s4i for the gym.  Next to no cable microphonics.  The UE cable is thicker than the Klipsch, which may provide further improvement, but as I can't run the UE cable straight down, I can't say for sure.
 
Chewing and other "head"  noises have little to do with the cable or the specific IEM - just the way your hearing system works (occlusion - bone conducted sound vibration cannot escape from the blocked ear canal).  Try chewing or speaking with your fingers in your ears...
 

According to my audiologist, our ear canal is at its most relaxed position (ie widest), when we open our mouths. Custom earphones require such impression because the ears need to be sealed. If you close your mouth, the seal might not be tight enough and you might lose some bass impact. The reason I said that occlusion is lessened somewhat when I use the custom tips is that since the earphone stay put, it doesn't bounce around that much as opposed to using soft tips. It's a welcome change all in all. I'm still waiting for my custom earphone to come...

 

[shane55]

For me, microphonics changes with the material of the tip.
It seems to be somewhat dependent on the hardness of the materials with foam being the less microphonic and firm silicone being the most.
The one exception seems to be tri-flange types. These are so bad in my ears... more perhaps with bone conduction than anything else (like cable microphonics). Torturous.
Comply - type foams are the most tolerable, but I never really spent any time with the monster pro types.
 
So... what's the custom material... usually?
Is it fairly rigid?
 
shane

 

[koonhua90]

Quote:

For me, microphonics changes with the material of the tip.
It seems to be somewhat dependent on the hardness of the materials with foam being the less microphonic and firm silicone being the most.
The one exception seems to be tri-flange types. These are so bad in my ears... more perhaps with bone conduction than anything else (like cable microphonics). Torturous.
Comply - type foams are the most tolerable, but I never really spent any time with the monster pro types.
 
So... what's the custom material... usually?
Is it fairly rigid?
 
shane

Depends, for custom tips, you have hard acrylic, to softer vinyl (mine is this type, that softens slightly when in contact with body heat), and then there is silicone (softest, provides the best seal usually, but does not last as long, and yellows easily). Some people have said that silicone tends to affect the sound more, but I am not so sure on this. Others who have multiple custom earphones might be able to provide more information.

 

[rawrster]

Typically for me the deeper the insertion and the more the isolation the more bone conduction there is from my experience at least. My customs are made of acrylic as are most customs. I know some have silicone filled inside the acrylic and Westone has some kind of heat sensitive tip on their customs so I'm guessing the tip area is silicone? I wouldn't call the material rigid or not rigid. It's just acrylic which is some kind of plastic.