Got my isines back today, I had already forgot how good they sound... My craving for the Focal Elear is smaller now
Also, I have tried the comply 600 comfort tips. My impressions with cipher eq, through a Marantz PM5005 headphone out:
Negatives: They definitely recess the highs, and some (not a severe amount) of the airiness that you get from the cipher eq. I wouldn't say the soundstage is smaller, the sound is just a little thicker and smoother (I guess this could count as a positive for some people).
Sound feels slightly slower /less impactful in the midrange, probably because of the more recessed highs.
Positives: With the silicone tips+ eq, the isines were slightly sibilant to me at times. With the complys, all sibilance is totally gone, even from recordings that I know have sibilance on most of my gear. Subbass is absolutely THUMPING, impact is just unreal...
Bass is just as clean and extended as with the silicone tips. Keep in mind, I got a very good seal with the silicones too, so if you struggle with the fit of the silicones, your results may be even better on this point.
As for comfort, that is probably the biggest positive. Complys are far more comfortable for the ear canal.Where the silicones felt stiffer and didn't adapt to my ear canal as well, the complys are much softer. Also, the silicones irritated the skin in my ear canal after a couple of hours, complys don't.
Comply's also stay in place way better,
so much that I no longer need to use the ear hooks.
EDIT: Tried cutting off 1-2mm of the comply tips, as suggested by someone here. It brightens the sound back to something between stock complys and silicones. So far, this is my favorite sound. It seems that it keeps all the positives of the stock complys, without sacrificing too much airiness.