[balrog]

What happens to the impressions that are made by your audiologist after your custom IEMs are built? Are they destroyed during the fabrication process, kept on file at the manufacturer or sent back? Can they be used to manufacture another set of IEMs?

I read that UE asks for a specific type of impression to be performed by the audiologist. Is this style of impression the same for all custom IEM manufacturers?

 

[Harun]

I know that UE keeps them on file for two years. After that you have to send them new impressions if you'll order a custom iem. I don't know if it's some sort of a digital file or if they put the molds in a fridge or something though.

 

[episiarch]

The ones made by Westone aren't destroyed, but apparently the material they make the impressions from is not very stable, and they're not usable for making additional molds with after the first month or two.

If UE keeps theirs longer, either they're using a different impression material or maybe they are transferring the impression to a more stable medium or to a digital file.

 

[barleyguy]

Starkey (where I got mine) digitizes them, stores them in a computer for two years, and sends the originals back to the audiologist. Most audiologists will keep them on a file for a couple of months. The molding material isn't much good after that, as far as I know.