[hazmat]

I have had the ER-4P's for a while now but decided to try the foam tips. I rolled them and stuck them into my ears just like the silicon ones and held them for a few seconds for the foam to expand. Here are some of my impressions, and I would love feedback to see if I am on or misperceiving things.

The bass might be little better with the foam. There's definitely a tighter feeling when they're in compared to the silicon and seem to move around less as well. Now here's the issue that may only be in my head, no pun intended. Could it be that some of the subtle crispness is lost with the foam compared to the silicon? I am wondering that maybe I'm getting a little more low-end so it's throwing my perception off. And also, I put the foam on so the shinier edge is at the end, which goes first into my ear. Is this right? And lastly, is there anything to do about the plastic tube maybe sticking out slightly so it scratches against the ear canal? And lastly, the entire earphone sticks out more than with the silicon tips. It doesn't seem to effect the sound, but it just doesn't go in as far.

Thanks for any feedback on this. I would also love to hear others' impressions of the foam vs. silicon.


-Ken

 

[hugoamt]

Usually the shinier edge is on the outside. At least this has been the case with foam ear plugs I have used in the past. Also, in my case I find the the foamies fit deeper into my ears than the silicone. Because they are stiffer, I find that the silicone tips find their way into my ear by themselves. The foamies have to be carefully guided, otherwise they will hit an obstruction and just sort of scrunch up without actually going into the ear canal. In my case I find I have to push them up at an angle into my ear to get a nice deep fit. As for the scratching, I found it just went away after a while. I think either all the squeazing and rolling of the foamies has cleaned the burrs and hard edges of the tip of the plastic tube, or I have developed calouses in my ear canals (especially my right ear) and now it just doesn't bother me.

 

[stallion11msu]

In terms of overall enjoyment of the sound - I would love to say that I prefer the silicone tips since they're so much more convenient, but I just can't. The foamies just seem to sound more "full" to me, at the expense of a small amount of fidelity. They're prolly just taking the edge off of my TBSC sound card and cmoy, but nevertheless...

 

[Eagle_Driver]

I tried the foamies a few times, but I have since gone back to the white tips. The foam tips made my ER-4S's sound a little grainy and woolly.

 

[rawhit]

I prefer the foam tips over the silicon. With the silicons for me the isolation is better and so is the bass but everything else sounds flat and looses the airy feeling.

With the foamies the details come back and bass becomes a little less strong (a good thing with the 4P)
The only problem is that they need to be replaced more frequently than the silicons

 

[hazmat]

Thanks for the feedback. I am keeping the foamies on for now to see how I like it. I can't get the thought out of my mind that something is being muted. It might just be my imagination, though. And it's not quick to change tips for back-to-back comparisons. I will just have to use the Apple earphones to see how certain things match up. But I do like the fit better with the foamies. Both ears feel the same with them and they don't seem to move around as much as the silicon. One downside is that I can hear the scrunching of the foam when I move my mouth around, especially when it's quiet. Is this normal?

Thanks again.


-Ken

 

[RobertR]

I find that the foam tips deliver better clarity and separation in the high end. there are times when the silicon tips can distort or change the shape of the ear causing loss of midrange presence resulting in more apparent high frequencies. you have to be careful inserting the silicon tips. if pushed in too far you change the sound stage.
altho they are more convenient to use the foamies give better balanced sound.

 

[shafu]

Hmmm. I get a much better seal with the silicon tips over the foams. Also, I've noticed with the foams I have, they scrunch up away from the inner tube - seems like it'll expose the filter too much.

But it really seems like different ears call for different methods.