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Hi guys, I'm in the middle of something that I find disturbing... now it's two manufacturers that I have ordered a custom set of IEM's that both sound different from the Universal demo versions of theirs and well, not in a good way. Since I have some of the decent equipment available to me I have fooled around with measurements only to get to the point that there is probably no way to actually meaningfully measure the Universals as it seems there is no dedicated "sound" to it as the differences made by the tip of the Universals and the difference in drivers tubing length in the Customs mess everything up in the end?
This is the post I found here that gave me the inspiration to measure difference of the tips only to find in horror that the difference is huge and Custom sleeve or custom design in general messes up the sound.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/shu...tatic-earphones.785377/page-207#post-13714398
FYI I use the SpinFit tips with the Universal demos. So, what do you measuring fanatics think about it? Do you agree with me and what do you think should I tell to the manufacturers for them to fix the sound so that it would actually resemble what people hear when they listen to the Universals and want "that sound"?
I'm not a fan of CIEMs. I'll try to explain why below.
Pros of custom IEMs:
1) No pressure on your ear canals. You can wear them forever with no discomfort.
2) Consistent fit and seal. They'll sound the same tomorrow as they do today.
3) Nope, I can't think of any other pros.
Cons:
1) They're expensive.
2) When you get them back from the manufacturer, they may or may not fit you properly. Most manufacturers will happily repeat the process for you until you're happy with the fit and seal, but even then...
3) They will never give you the same level of isolation that you'll get from a UIEM with something like Comply foam tips. (The people that tell you otherwise are simply the ones who couldn't get a proper seal with foam tips. Measurements don't lie and aren't subjective!)
4) They're a total crapshoot in terms of FR. Your ear canals and conchal bowls are unique - as a result, the length of the tubes running from the drivers to your eardrums will also be unique to you. So you'll never know where those resonant peaks are going to land until those customs finally arrive in the post. And then if you don't like the way they sound, good luck getting a refund.
5) Good luck re-selling them when it's time for an upgrade.
To answer your question, yes you should go back to the manufacturer and ask them to re-work it if it sounds radically different to the UIEM you originally demo'd. Some companies, like UE do claim that your CIEM will be tuned to have what they call a consistent "house signature". It's kind of a bold claim though - I don't understand how they can guarantee this when everyone is going to have different sized ears, which is going to necessitate different bore lengths.