[Rav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterDLai /img/forum/go_quote.gif Have you been going back and forth with your LiveWires and your other 'phones? If you were to give a long listen to your RS-1 then switch to the LiveWires, would that make the LiveWires sound not as good?

Yes, but then i think that's the nature of IEMs and balanced armatures. They don't sound as open nor as airy as the RS1s, and the mids are a little sucked out by comparison i'd say. Once the brain acclimatizes to the sound it does become less of an issue, plus the option of the same decent sound in a noisy environment is a big plus. Having said all that, the only amplification i have for the livewires is a Cmoy, so something else might yield better results.

 

[eternality.pl]

guys about the fit issue - I had the same thing-a feeling that my left ear isolates right, but as soon as I've put right earpiece suddenly I felt the left one was someway incomplete and I easier to fiddle

And You know what ?? i GAVE MYSELF 2-3WEEKS TIME and everything changed drastically- the fit in both ears are perfect now

John explained me via email that your ears get accomodated to customs in some way - I've got a feeling that they snug easier into ear after this half month wearing time

Personally I think that the acrylic body is somehow influenced by the outcomings of ouer ears ( I don't mean wax, just the fact that ears are never really complete dry) and it somehow merges with the earpiece, making it easier to snug and also get seal without problems.

That's how it is with me , loose thoghts only

P.S. sorry for pronounciation errors - I'am after 10hrs llinguistics classes at university and I am amazed that I can still type - head=fi must be really a passion

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Well,

Martha at EarPeace spoke with me today, and she felt that mine needed an adjustment (to get re-dipped to make the acrylic thicker).

They will feel fine in place but I can more easily hear past the right earphone, unless I twiddle with it to get a seal and then I have to bite down to keep the seal. It wont stay sealed if I relax my bite.

She also didn't seem to think it should be as easy as it is to break the seal in both earpieces when eating food and drink either. She thought both may be a little loose, right > left.

They will get them tomorrow and mail back by Friday or Monday.

 

[Rav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, Martha at EarPeace spoke with me today, and she felt that mine needed an adjustment (to get re-dipped to make the acrylic thicker). They will feel fine in place but I can more easily hear past the right earphone, unless I twiddle with it to get a seal and then I have to bite down to keep the seal. It wont stay sealed if I relax my bite. She also didn't seem to think it should be as easy as it is to break the seal in both earpieces when eating food and drink either. She thought both may be a little loose, right > left. They will get them tomorrow and mail back by Friday or Monday.

Hmm, mine aren't that loose, i can move my jaw around a lot before the seal breaks. Smiling/laughing seems to break it quite often. I'll definately give them a few more weeks though, since sending them back from the UK will mean i'll be without them for at least 2 weeks.

Hope you get yours sorted out quickly and right this time

 

[JoeB]

Yeah it does seem that the livewires are very difficult to get the perfect insertion/seal. I have now been able to get the perfect seal on my left ear, which initially I thought wasn't the right size (it's just I have a bigger ear flap, and the side that goes under the ear flap). Now I seem to have problems getting the perfect seal on the right, because I virtually have no ear flap, and the side of the livewire is so small I can't get it under the flap. I will keep practicing this though.

 

[stewtheking]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeB /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah it does seem that the livewires are very difficult to get the perfect insertion/seal.

Well, I think it's the nature of Custom IEM's. The problem is just coming out more now because they are becoming a more accessible product and more people are getting them. People have been having fit issues with the UE customs for years, as is mentioned on several of the reviews.

If you want a good seal, it seems you'll have to work at it... or just be lucky

...

 

[JoeB]

Yeah thats going to be true for all as you say, because they are all the same concept.

I find that even if they aren't even in my ear totally (the iem showing, and you can see more than just the plate) I still get a good seal.. it's just getting the whole thing in my ear, which is the problem. Also I practice getting them in and then my ears get sore :lol:

edit - I don't want to speak to soon, but I think I have mastered the insertion technique for both ears. The right ear requires me to really push against the flap, to get it under. I have also found a quick way to remove (10-30 seconds) thanks to rav, which is now not to difficult. I find that on my left ear, I have to pull on the bottom of my ear to get the bottom of the livewire in, whilst on the right it fits easily in that spot. I think it's because one of my canals is very straight, and the other is at an angle

LETS see if I can continue getting them in ok

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rav /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, mine aren't that loose, i can move my jaw around a lot before the seal breaks. Smiling/laughing seems to break it quite often. I'll definately give them a few more weeks though, since sending them back from the UK will mean i'll be without them for at least 2 weeks. Hope you get yours sorted out quickly and right this time

I'm expecting they will ship back to me Friday or or Monday, and be in my hands between Tuesday if they ship back friday.

In comparing them to your headphones, it looks like you agree with my assessment of sound signature "reminding" you of a high end Grado, true?

 

[FaRKle]

Quote:

In comparing them to your headphones, it looks like you agree with my assessment of sound signature "reminding" you of a high end Grado, true?

*whew* Glad I'm not the only one who thought that...

I remember when I first got my Livewires a while ago it felt like a grado in that you just wanted to crank it up, yet it wasn't as forward or nearly fatiguing.

 

[BIG POPPA]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewtheking /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I think it's the nature of Custom IEM's. The problem is just coming out more now because they are becoming a more accessible product and more people are getting them. People have been having fit issues with the UE customs for years, as is mentioned on several of the reviews. If you want a good seal, it seems you'll have to work at it... or just be lucky ...

You know there is a learning curve inserting these things. It has taken me over a month getting used to the T1's. I love these things. I'm lucky enough to wear them at work everyday with a Red Tomahawk and 5G iPod. I went to a Sonus clinic to get my impressions. Those guys are Impression Ninja's. In the beginning I thought These things didn't fit right. I really didn't know how to insert these babies. I had to get used to listening to them at lower volumes. Now getting used to everything, I am very happy with them. I'm waiting for peoples 30,60,90 day reviews on the T1's. Sorry about rambling on.

 

[PeterDLai]

It almost sounds like putting contact lenses into your eyes for the first time. In the beginning, it's unnatural and quite difficult to put in and take out. However, over time and with practice, it becomes second nature. At least for me, it did.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Well, I suspect the reason my LW were so easy to insert was because they are indeed too small. We'll know next tuesday when I get them back...

 

[PeterDLai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Next up, I will do optical out into iBasso D1 (source iRiver DAP, then Sony CD player). But, I am off to bed now. You'll just have to wait

Did you do this impression before you sent them back?

Oh, and be sure to update your signature.

EDIT: I just found the answer in the Denon AH-C700 thread. Never mind.

Quote:

I still haven't gotten around to amping them with the D1, as my out of town guests only just left, and I am relaxing and listening to the LW with the iRiver headphone out right now and loving them.

 

[Rav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif In comparing them to your headphones, it looks like you agree with my assessment of sound signature "reminding" you of a high end Grado, true?

To an extent, although less bright (obviously, since they're balanced armature). I have to be careful with impressions of them since my portable CD player sounds significantly worse than my NAD or computer where i can use an amp (no line out on the portable, unfortunately). With the portable, there's a noticable hiss, and the sound can get a little congested, rolled off at the high end and maybe even a little boxy in the midrange.

Things improve with a decent source and an amp (CMoy with adjustable gain pots set to their lowest). Using foobar is nice since i can eq a little more top end in, but even without it there's more to be happy about. Listening to the Beta Band's Hot Shots II and the vocal harmonies are really natural and expressive sounding, although still missing that top end sparkle that the Grados are famous for, and sitting slightly lower in the mix. The livewires are bassier than the RS1 for sure, almost to the detriment in some cases, but it's probably the case that once the ears are accustomed to the sound it becomes less of an issue.

I suppose you could say that they sound a bit like a flatter Grado

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I'm just going based on memory of the sound signature, having been since this July when I last listened to some - I found the Denon AH-C700 at a local store, and they sounded the most like an SR-80, but the high end grado's (3-5x the cost) beat them soundly (pun intended, also didn't have Livewires back then).

So, in comparing the Livewires to my Denon C700 and iGrado's, the LiveWires soundly beat the Denon with more highs and mids, hence I thought about Grado's high end phones and how I wanted them no more.

Anyway, now that I am listening to my SE500's more for the next week, I am liking them more again. Funny how the brain can fill in the missing frequencies, until you hear what you are missing. It does kind of train itself around the faults. Here is a similar story about that

In 1995 I had vision correction in just the right eye for distance, and kept close up vision for th eleft eye. Last month when I went to get reading glasses for just my right eye, they decided to fix some astigmatism for the first time (in both eyes). When I tried on the glasses everything was tilted funny and I was car-sick. The eye doctor said my brain had trained itself around the distortion, and would take 3-5 days to "re-train" itself, but if I didn't use the glasses I'd need 2-3 days to get use to that again. I aid no thanks, as I can read up close with my left eye just fine and don't to be stuck with glasses.

The brain seems to adjust to differences in sound MUCH faster than distortions in vision.