Hi,
I've not posted here very often, and am back on the site after about 12 months of not wanting to look in case I ended up spending more cash; taking a look around, I saw this thread and felt I had to contribute.
I must confess I'm one of those that hasn't felt they had much to say, but I have certainly read plenty, and both learned a lot and ended up spending a ton of cash as a result (I love you guys!
) of my newfound love of iems. As a brief resume I started with some Shure e2s to see what it was all about, then e3s, then some Westone 2s, added some e56 custom tips and was pleased to stay with that. 'Till I added a total bithead amp...
About a year later I had my rig stolen and had to start again. This coincided with the announcement of the Westone 3s, but after about a year I just couldn't wait any longer and bought some Shure 530s. These lasted about 6 months before I started looking for some custom tips. I ended up at the audiologist in my village (I live in Surrey, UK) and got talking to the technician who was taking the impressions. Turns out he's a bassist with a local rock group and had been toying with the idea of custom monitors and offered, rather than to have tips made, to re-shell my Shures. In for a penny, in for a pound, I signed up and a week later had some clear custom fit monitors. Some adjustments later (new impressions and a re-working) I have near perfect sound isolation, ridiculously clear sound (no sibilance at the high end), supreme comfort, and no complaints. He fitted a vent (leads from the rear of the shell into the canal) with variable size plugs to adjust bass, but I ended up blocking it completely for max effect and isolation (I use these on planes most of the time, and like to shut out as much noise as I can). I have no regrets at having gone this route, but now that I have something "custom" I find it hard to justify changing to something else!
As soon as I work out how to add some pictures (and have some time to take them) I'll post them up. For those interested, the re-shell cost me £150 some 14 months ago.
Thx,
R