Ciem shell size/comfort

[jungkyu]

Hey headfiers. I'm a little curious about the types of shell sizes with ciems so could somebody tell me about full, medium, and micro sized ciems are like in terms of comfort, isolation, and how easy it is to put in your ear/take out of your ear. 
Thanks!

 

[briankeeeem]

Different categories of sizes exist for custom IEMs? I have never heard of such thing. As far as I know, all custom IEMs are generally the same size: enough to fill up the bowl and cymba area of your ear.

I find my 1964 Ears V3s to have more isolation than my Shure SE215s. They're not as comfortable as the olive tips, but maybe that'll change with the refit I'm bound to send them in for.

It's not hard at all to put them in and take out of your ear. After a couple of tries, it'll become second nature.

 

[tomscy2000]

He's talking about the categorization that Cosmic Ears uses.
 

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Basically, the full and medium are the same size, except that the medium takes away the outcropping that goes underneath the legs of the antihelix. The result is a less secure fit, but it's easier to put in and take out. For the micro fit, as you can see, it doesn't even fill the entire concha; it barely covers the entrance of the external acoustic meatus and the tragus/antitragus. That makes the shell more difficult to handle, as typically, we hold the shell by the edge lining the antitragus (the antitragus creates a natural indentation in the shell) and the legs of the antihelix, As such, people typically need to tug on the shell in order to pull it out, much like how you tug on an earplug.
 

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