[kms108]

Comply tip update: While it’s true that the Comply 500 tips fit the Xelento just fine, the ones that come with the headphones are NOT the Comply 500 Isolation tips, which are the first that come up on Amazon. The USA rep suggested I try the Comply 500 Comfort tips instead, which should be coming in today... will update if it turns out those are the same as the stock. The Isolation version was much more bassy and veiling in the mids and highs than the stock tips are.

The supplied tip are not the 500 series, it’s the TX200, I have three sets that comes with the Xelento, just had time today to check.

 

[Trager]

The supplied tip are not the 500 series, it’s the TX200, I have three sets that comes with the Xelento, just had time today to check.

The customer service manager I was talking with stated the tips were from the Comply 500 series. I’m pretty sure I had a bunch of 200s from other IEMs that I tried, and they didn’t sound like the stock ones. I’ll check the TX200 if I don’t like the 500 Comfort tho.

 

[kms108]

TBH I can’t comment on what the customer service said, the photo I posted was taken just for you, those are the tips out of the box, they have not been touched and used, the photo speak for them selves.

Another photo of the manual.

 

[Simon T]

Hi fellow Xelento owners... I have not been following this thread for a long time, thus, I apologize in advance if the following tips on tip rolling (no pun intended) for the Xelento has been already covered...

The Xelento are easily the most comfortable IEMs I own, but that comes with a struggle I faced with them when trying to find the best fit stock silicone tips (good quality and design) size. At the end, found out that the L sized tips were the most fitting for my ears. Having said the aforementioned, it was not good enough, because, due to the short nozzles; I had to still push the IEMs,to ensure that they would stay firm in my ear canals.... and that constantly caused driver flex on the miniature Tesla drivers, which always made me uncomfortable/concerned, in terms of potential damages.

The Xelento have been the most challenging for me in finding the right tips considering again the short length, relatively large and oval shaped nozzles.The solution was to find a pair of ear tips that when inserted in my ear canals it would stay firm (no need to push and hear the driver flex), also, size of the tips bore should be flexible and large enough, to ensure the intended Xelento sound signature is not affected. In summary, I went through all my ear tips collection, including but not limited to, regular SpinFits, twiblade SpinFit, Comply, RHA, Noble Audio, Sony, JVC Spiral dots, Pioneer, NuForce, Shure, Sennheiser... but, unfortunately none yielded a satisfactory result.

Then, after some perseverance, below is the best solution I came up with (apologies, poor lighting in the pic):



In summary, these are the FitEar Japan stock double flange tips filled with Comply sport tips (S series, not the Sport Pro series) on the outer/larger flange. The Comply S series are the softest among Comply foam tips combined with FitEar double flange tips, do not alter the Xelento sound signature while providing a firm fit,

Hope this is useful.

Cheers

 

[csglinux]

Hi fellow Xelento owners... I have not been following this thread for a long time, thus, I apologize in advance if the following tips on tip rolling (no pun intended) for the Xelento has been already covered...

The Xelento are easily the most comfortable IEMs I own, but that comes with a struggle I faced with them when trying to find the best fit stock silicone tips (good quality and design) size. At the end, found out that the L sized tips were the most fitting for my ears. Having said the aforementioned, it was not good enough, because, due to the short nozzles; I had to still push the IEMs,to ensure that they would stay firm in my ear canals.... and that constantly caused driver flex on the miniature Tesla drivers, which always made me uncomfortable/concerned, in terms of potential damages.

The Xelento have been the most challenging for me in finding the right tips considering again the short length, relatively large and oval shaped nozzles.The solution was to find a pair of ear tips that when inserted in my ear canals it would stay firm (no need to push and hear the driver flex), also, size of the tips bore should be flexible and large enough, to ensure the intended Xelento sound signature is not affected. In summary, I went through all my ear tips collection, including but not limited to, regular SpinFits, twiblade SpinFit, Comply, RHA, Noble Audio, Sony, JVC Spiral dots, Pioneer, NuForce, Shure, Sennheiser... but, unfortunately none yielded a satisfactory result.

Then, after some perseverance, below is the best solution I came up with (apologies, poor lighting in the pic):



In summary, these are the FitEar Japan stock double flange tips filled with Comply sport tips (S series, not the Sport Pro series) on the outer/larger flange. The Comply S series are the softest among Comply foam tips combined with FitEar double flange tips, do not alter the Xelento sound signature while providing a firm fit,

Hope this is useful.

Cheers

Awesome and very thorough bit of research - thanks for sharing!

Can you provide links for where to purchase those FitEar tips? Also, how do you secure them onto the Comply S foam tips? It looks like there's a risk the silicone part would come off each time you took them out of your ears!

 

[kms108]

Has anyone tried the Sony new memory foam tip, I have them but never actually used them, just been using the stock oval tip, they work well for me.

 

[Simon T]

Awesome and very thorough bit of research - thanks for sharing!

Can you provide links for where to purchase those FitEar tips? Also, how do you secure them onto the Comply S foam tips? It looks like there's a risk the silicone part would come off each time you took them out of your ears!

Hi csglinux,

I have few pairs of Fitear's universal IEMs, thus, I did not purchase the ear tips online. Nonetheless, I only found this link for you http://www.e-earphone.jp/shop/shopdetail.html?brandcode=000000042435&search=fitear&sort=price_desc

May I recommend you, to ask Fitear authorized dealer near you if they can get these ear tips for you to purchase.

As for the process in securing the Comply S foam tips, it is pretty simple, and you do not need to worry for the foam tips to come out from the silicone bore every time you pull the Xelento out from your ear canals:

Step 1: Remove the plastic bore from the Comply foam tips, by simply pulling the foam and detaching the glued plastic bore from the foam..
Step 2: Reverse the silicone tips, so that, it is easier to insert the Comply foam tips (w/o the plastic bore)
Step 3: Insert the Comply foam tips (w/o the plastic bore) into the silicone tips bore and return the silicone tips to the original form wrapping the Comply foam
Step 4: Insert the Xelento nozzle into the silicone tips bore ... (just to be clear)

Please refer pic below from left to right for reference:

Has anyone tried the Sony new memory foam tip, I have them but never actually used them, just been using the stock oval tip, they work well for me.

Hi kms108,

Like yourself, I am a Sony IEM collector ... Yes, when I was performing the tip rolling trial and error... I used the hybrid foam tips from Sony XBA Z5. The results were as follow:



1. good and comfortable fit; but,
2. the sound sig. of the Xelento became less airy/darker, thus, the bass became a little more prominent, mids sounded a little more recessed and the treble lost some sparkle.

Not sure if it is because the bore size of the Sony hybrid foam tips are too narrow for the Xelento.

FYI. I am still waiting/praying for the MDR-EX1000 true successor

Cheers

 

[Duncan]

I find it strange (goes to show how everyone is different), how I never found true love with the Sony MDR-EX1000 - to the point that, whilst still in my collection, they're in one of my boxes, that I cannot locate right now...

The Tesla drivers (being ambiguous as I'm a T8ie mkII user) really do feel like a cut above, haven't been this happy with a DD since the Sennheiser IE800, which - other than cable noise, stiffening cable (which meant fit was bad), and finally - cable failure / dead driver on one side, were my only stable mate for a full year, without even a second thought of trying anything else.

The teslas, they feel like quite a step up to me compared to the IE800, and I prefer their balance / tonality to the RE2000, which only really starts to sing with a more powerful / cleaner source (DFR minimum price of entry), whereas the Beyers, they're quite happy even on modest sources (right this second listening via a Samsung Galaxy S9+)

Happy times

 

[Turrican2]

I find it strange (goes to show how everyone is different), how I never found true love with the Sony MDR-EX1000 - to the point that, whilst still in my collection, they're in one of my boxes, that I cannot locate right now...

The Tesla drivers (being ambiguous as I'm a T8ie mkII user) really do feel like a cut above, haven't been this happy with a DD since the Sennheiser IE800, which - other than cable noise, stiffening cable (which meant fit was bad), and finally - cable failure / dead driver on one side, were my only stable mate for a full year, without even a second thought of trying anything else.

The teslas, they feel like quite a step up to me compared to the IE800, and I prefer their balance / tonality to the RE2000, which only really starts to sing with a more powerful / cleaner source (DFR minimum price of entry), whereas the Beyers, they're quite happy even on modest sources (right this second listening via a Samsung Galaxy S9+)

Happy times

Just bought a pair of AKG N5005, should be an interesting comparison.

 

[kms108]

Hi csglinux,

I have few pairs of Fitear's universal IEMs, thus, I did not purchase the ear tips online. Nonetheless, I only found this link for you http://www.e-earphone.jp/shop/shopdetail.html?brandcode=000000042435&search=fitear&sort=price_desc

May I recommend you, to ask Fitear authorized dealer near you if they can get these ear tips for you to purchase.

As for the process in securing the Comply S foam tips, it is pretty simple, and you do not need to worry for the foam tips to come out from the silicone bore every time you pull the Xelento out from your ear canals:

Step 1: Remove the plastic bore from the Comply foam tips, by simply pulling the foam and detaching the glued plastic bore from the foam..
Step 2: Reverse the silicone tips, so that, it is easier to insert the Comply foam tips (w/o the plastic bore)
Step 3: Insert the Comply foam tips (w/o the plastic bore) into the silicone tips bore and return the silicone tips to the original form wrapping the Comply foam
Step 4: Insert the Xelento nozzle into the silicone tips bore ... (just to be clear)

Please refer pic below from left to right for reference:






Hi kms108,

Like yourself, I am a Sony IEM collector ... Yes, when I was performing the tip rolling trial and error... I used the hybrid foam tips from Sony XBA Z5. The results were as follow:



1. good and comfortable fit; but,
2. the sound sig. of the Xelento became less airy/darker, thus, the bass became a little more prominent, mids sounded a little more recessed and the treble lost some sparkle.

Not sure if it is because the bore size of the Sony hybrid foam tips are too narrow for the Xelento.

FYI. I am still waiting/praying for the MDR-EX1000 true successor

Cheers

Thanks for the information, i'm more referring to the new sony tip, in this link, which are also stock tips for the N3.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-EP-TC50M-Triple-Comfort-Ear-Piece-M-Size-Replacement-Ear-Tips-NEW-Japan-F-S/142713158271?_trkparms=aid=555017&algo=PL.CASSINI&ao=1&asc=50686&meid=a0c75d497452470287193956238718da&pid=100705&rk=1&rkt=1&&itm=142713158271&_trksid=p2045573.c100705.m4780

I have just tried these triple comfort tip from Sony, somehow these don't do too well on the Ex600 and EX1000, but on the EX800 and Xelento, they do quite well, increases the sound level, better seal with increase of bass.

update: keep those isolation tips safe, just been doing some searching, apparently they have been discontinued and prices rocketed sky high. I don't use them but at least I have 2 set of each size.

 

[Duncan]

Just bought a pair of AKG N5005, should be an interesting comparison.

Oh, I see that they're exactly the same price as these in the UK, colour me interested!

 

[csglinux]

Hi csglinux,

I have few pairs of Fitear's universal IEMs, thus, I did not purchase the ear tips online. Nonetheless, I only found this link for you http://www.e-earphone.jp/shop/shopdetail.html?brandcode=000000042435&search=fitear&sort=price_desc

May I recommend you, to ask Fitear authorized dealer near you if they can get these ear tips for you to purchase.

As for the process in securing the Comply S foam tips, it is pretty simple, and you do not need to worry for the foam tips to come out from the silicone bore every time you pull the Xelento out from your ear canals:

Step 1: Remove the plastic bore from the Comply foam tips, by simply pulling the foam and detaching the glued plastic bore from the foam..
Step 2: Reverse the silicone tips, so that, it is easier to insert the Comply foam tips (w/o the plastic bore)
Step 3: Insert the Comply foam tips (w/o the plastic bore) into the silicone tips bore and return the silicone tips to the original form wrapping the Comply foam
Step 4: Insert the Xelento nozzle into the silicone tips bore ... (just to be clear)

Please refer pic below from left to right for reference:






Hi kms108,

Like yourself, I am a Sony IEM collector ... Yes, when I was performing the tip rolling trial and error... I used the hybrid foam tips from Sony XBA Z5. The results were as follow:



1. good and comfortable fit; but,
2. the sound sig. of the Xelento became less airy/darker, thus, the bass became a little more prominent, mids sounded a little more recessed and the treble lost some sparkle.

Not sure if it is because the bore size of the Sony hybrid foam tips are too narrow for the Xelento.

FYI. I am still waiting/praying for the MDR-EX1000 true successor

Cheers

Very useful post - thanks again!

 

[csglinux]

@Simon T motivated me to go digging through my box of eartips today I'm not sure how similar these are to the Fitear tips - and I have so many unlabelled eartips in my collection, I'm not even sure what they are, but I believe they're ME Electronic's bi-flange tips (shown on the left below):

The eartip on the right is the stock FLC8S eartip that I use most of the time.

For sure, the MEELEC bi-flange provides a much better and more consistent seal. (I find the FLC8S SpinFit tips eventually want to work their way out of my ears and need constant re-seating) - I have no such problem with these bi-flange tips. However, the very tight seal with these bi-flanges notably elevates the bass. Some of you may like that. Some of me might like that, on occasion. But on balance, I feel it's too much and despite the easier, more reliable and more consistent seal, I still prefer the sound with the single-flange SpinFit or FLC8S tips (the FLC8S tip bore is slightly wider than that of the SpinFit which, in theory, can help with treble extension). I have a feeling the Xelento and its tips were designed for a shallow-insertion seal, which is (intentionally) not as airtight as the seal you'd get with, say, an Etymotic.

@Simon T - I presume you found your tip gave the best seal, but did you also find it gave you the most prominent low end? I have to say I'm impressed you found the time and energy to test so many eartips

 

[Peter Hyatt]

The Xelento itself. It's odd there are so few dealers in the US. And odd that the wireless version hasn't been released, despite even having the manual available online.

Maybe I should just wait for the wireless Xelento.

Not wishing to debate, I just don’t think the sound quality can match cable....yet.

I have 5’ Moon audio cable.

I’ve adjusted to its size and appreciate the strength. It’s even good for treadmill walking.

 

[Simon T]

Thanks for the information, i'm more referring to the new sony tip, in this link, which are also stock tips for the N3.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-EP-TC50M-Triple-Comfort-Ear-Piece-M-Size-Replacement-Ear-Tips-NEW-Japan-F-S/142713158271?_trkparms=aid=555017&algo=PL.CASSINI&ao=1&asc=50686&meid=a0c75d497452470287193956238718da&pid=100705&rk=1&rkt=1&&itm=142713158271&_trksid=p2045573.c100705.m4780

I have just tried these triple comfort tip from Sony, somehow these don't do too well on the Ex600 and EX1000, but on the EX800 and Xelento, they do quite well, increases the sound level, better seal with increase of bass.

update: keep those isolation tips safe, just been doing some searching, apparently they have been discontinued and prices rocketed sky high. I don't use them but at least I have 2 set of each size.

Thanks for sharing kms108... I will get them, if there will be a chance