[AudioDwebe]

With all the selling of CIEMs to be then, presumably, reshelled by the new owner, does anyone know if a reshelled CIEM will sound exactly like the original if it's not reshelled by the original manufacturer?

Has anyone here, for example, bought a JH13 from the maker, bought a used JH13 from someone, had it reshelled by someone other than JH Audio, and compared the two?

Thanks.

 

[AudioDwebe]

hello...knock...knock...is the mic on?

I'm a bit surprised this subject hasn't been addressed by someone.

In my mind, I can't help but think the sound is going to be a bit different. The different placement of the drivers within the shell, possibly a different material for the casing, opening size, distance of the driver to the opening, and on and on.

Thoughts?

 

[Watagump]

If people had them reshelled and it changed the sound, most would quit having it done.

 

[AudioDwebe]

Really?

How would they have even made the comparison?

I'm not saying the reshelled ciem won't sound good, just likely a bit different than the original.

Look, if I have a JH13 made for me by JHA, then purchase a used JH13 and have that reshelled by someone other than JHA to fit my ears, then I can make a valid comparison. Short of that, I don't see how anyone can compare how a reshelled ciem sounds.

That is why I was curious if anyone had done that.

 

[Watagump]

All that's being done is one company taking the parts and putting them into another shell. The shell is a mold of your ear. So dimension wise it should send the sound through a tube the same size, the same distance, sound should be the same. Its not like they are taking the drivers and the crossover and changing them.

 

[AudioDwebe]

I'm not so sure.

I kind of see an iem as a miniature speaker. And with a speaker, if you take the insides of monitor A and give it to a different company to have them create monitor B, even with the same dimensions and same woods, I would argue that they would not sound the same. Similar, maybe, but not identical.

Who knows, I could be totally off base with my thinking.

 

[getclikinagas]

@piotrus-g has the experience to shed some light on whether/why reshelled CIEMs sound different. Some one once quoted him as saying it may sound different.

 

[karloil]

i read or watched somewhere an interview done with Jerry Harvey - he mentioned that the length of the tube and the material of the tube used will change the sound - but don't quote me on this!

 

[jazzwave]

I'm not so sure.

I kind of see an iem as a miniature speaker. And with a speaker, if you take the insides of monitor A and give it to a different company to have them create monitor B, even with the same dimensions and same woods, I would argue that they would not sound the same. Similar, maybe, but not identical.

Who knows, I could be totally off base with my thinking.

Agreed with this example..
I tried to make copy Harberth speaker, use same driver ,component and wood..but never get similar sound signature.

~ron~

 

[Cloudtastrophe]

When you reshell an iem, all that is changing is the housing. But unless you are using an open radiated driver like the TIA by 64 audio it would not matter. The sound "circuit" is a closed environmnent. IE. A balanced armature produces the sound, then the sound gets sent through a tube attached to a nozzle on the BA to the opening, which is big enough to fit the tube. Once you reshell it, all the internal components that effect the sound is the same, even if the size of the bore is different for the sound tube, the inner diameter of the tube is still the same, the leng of the tube is still the same.. The housing, regardless of size or material, has no effect on the sound of the iem. One thing that it may effect is the isolation however.

 

[EagleWings]

Yes, there is a possibility for the sound to change.

1. Length of the Sound-Tube and Positioning of the Drivers: Position of the drivers can affect the length of the sound-tubes and sometimes introduce sharp bends in the tubes that would ultimately affect the sound

2. Driver Mounting and Shell Material: The way the drivers are mounted in the shell and the material of the shell (acrylic or silicone) affect the dampening properties. For example, if you re-shell an acrylic IEM into a silicone IEM, there is a possibility for the sound to change.

3. Other Factors: Manufacturers add other extra parts in their IEM to tune the sound in a certain way. If it is not replicated the way the manufacturer intended, that might cause changes too. For example, Lime Ears Aether uses a damper in the sound-tube to reduce the treble energy.

The Following 2 Are Debatable:

4. Interference between drivers of different frequency bands: There is a possibility of interference between drivers that belong to different frequency bands. Certain manufacturers use certain coating around the drivers to prevent this interferecnce

5. Material of the Sound-Tube: Certain manufacturers ditch the conventional plastic sound-tube for a different material for improved sound quality

 

[goodvibes]

If the tube type, length and orifices are the same, it will sound the same. You are not dealing with box coupling, component/wire changes and cabinet resonances like a loudspeaker. Even Jerry Harvey said his carbon fiber sounds exactly the same as his acrylic. It's because the wavelengths are longer than the surfaces that are also damped by the best damping material made, flesh. As long as the drivers are stable and the tubes, crossovers the same, they will sound the same in the same tip length shell. That varies by individual perception and whomever is making the individual device so falls into the normal margin of variability that you'd get in an original sample. Your ear has a certain amount of adjustability to a device so while two samples from the same maker may vary slightly due to tip depth, it will be unimportant in the grand scheme.

We're human and anything can get messed up but if done with care, no problem with a reshell.