Getting excited about my EM1-iFI's...

[K.I. Unlimited]

Now for my question :
 
I have a fit problem. Apparently having owned a previous pair with pretty good fit is a good thing, I think I did pretty good with the troubleshooting.
 
My EM1-iFI's had a short stem compared to my previous Livewires. Also, the part of the stem twisting into the 2nd bend is missing, as I will show with two pictures:

 
And the fit, the top of the customs is sticking out, as veterans would see:
 
 
 


 
The funny part is that the sound is pretty natural and umm, great overall compared to the Livewires despite this setback - which is a great plus.

 

[K.I. Unlimited]

Quote:

That's quite the beating the box took but the inside didn't seem to suffer from any damage Did they come with any kind of case other than that big box where everything is stored?

It's actually approx. 13.8cm by 10cm. Fits on top of my palm. Lol.

 

[rawrster]

I guess that's the case then. It's a bit bigger than my pelican 1010 case however which is still pretty big imo when I put it in my bag. I'd like to use the UE case from the TF10 for something like that but I'm not paying what they are asking for that case.

 

[K.I. Unlimited]

Quote:

I guess that's the case then. It's a bit bigger than my pelican 1010 case however which is still pretty big imo when I put it in my bag. I'd like to use the UE case from the TF10 for something like that but I'm not paying what they are asking for that case.

The small TF10 case?

 

[rawrster]

Yep. It's the best case from any universal that I've seen imo. I had to put it in the package when I sold my TF10 and it's $15 plus shipping if I remember correctly and no way I'm paying that for a case when that's how much it costs for the pelican + foam.
 
I guess you are going to send them back soon? How do they sound fit issue and all? Just a FYI but if you do closeup shots on your camera it's probably better to use macro setting

 

[K.I. Unlimited]

Quote:

Yep. It's the best case from any universal that I've seen imo. I had to put it in the package when I sold my TF10 and it's $15 plus shipping if I remember correctly and no way I'm paying that for a case when that's how much it costs for the pelican + foam.
 
I guess you are going to send them back soon? How do they sound fit issue and all? Just a FYI but if you do closeup shots on your camera it's probably better to use macro setting

Well I mentioned they sounded better overall, and more natural compared to the LW's, which was surprising given the incomplete fit.
 
Waiting for Mr. Franck Lopez to reply first, regarding any additional costs if I were to remold.
Err that's a camera phone, so...idk, but I'll try that next time.
 
I apologise if I couldn't be any more accurate at the moment; my audio vocab has gotten rusty.
 

 

[K.I. Unlimited]

He says there're no problems, and after a little looking around, I realised everybody's Earsonics customs have shorter stems "than American counterparts" to quote Shizgeo; maybe that's the reason why I found the fit very different from my Livewires, which entered the 2nd bend of the ear canal.
 
I seem to have slightly reduced isolation, plus they unseal more easily.
 
The treble seems to sparkle in a very interesting and organic way I haven't heard before; vocals a lot more natural and endearing compared to the Livewire's. The bass was just nice, not having so much slam and impact until you'd go dizzy.
The sound signature was slightly on the 'cooler' side as Mr. Lopez had said over an e-mail; but refreshingly cool rather than being analytical or anything like that.
 
It's very interesting, all in all...it has definitely brought me closer to my music again. And that's what I wanted. Now, years down the road, time for some EM3-Pros...xD

 

[K.I. Unlimited]

I think I have about ~20hours of normal listening. They still sound very natural with smooth mids and cute (yes, cute) twinkling highs - very endearing esp. for the emotional songs and such.
 
The bass is there but lacks impact possibly due to the incomplete seal. With the Voyager the bass sounds more suitable for rock and heavy metal, but overdone/overwhelming for other songs (Contour on). 
 
If I haven't mentioned it before, the synergy with the Voyager is rather weird. Instead of the Contour making lots of nice audiophile music (classicals, jazz, etc) sound great, the Contour must be used to make my rock and heavy metal sound great; otherwise they sound unflattering. Flat is now better across most other genres and even the low bitrate music gets some love. To me, that means they're pretty forgiving, but better recording and quality still benefits more.
 
Also, for fast music it sounds slow out from the iPod headphone out. With the Voyager the speed is fine; but you won't get the exhilaration  fast amps like the Hornet and Predator may offer.
 
For soundstage (I was never fussy about imaging and such, I find even the iBuds able to differentiate positions fairly ok), comparable to the ESW9's. Has great depth and width for an IEM; James Hetfield in songs like Enter Sandman seemed to start singing somewhere above my head rather than right in front of me.
 
Do note that all these were perceived with annoyingly-easy-to-break seal. My previous Livewires offered such great seal I only broke the seal if I 
 
1)Looked upwards all the way
2)Popped them out with my thumbs
 
and survived even things like sneezing, PLUS very minimal background noise.
I am sorry for making such a hoo-hah over the seal and the lack of isolation, but comparing these to a pair of customs half a price, they should by right, have everything plus better build quality (the shell of the EM1's is so smooth compared to the Livewires and so solid-feeling).
 
With these, shifting my head even slightly breaks the deal.
 
If Mr. Lopez does not get back to me about my refit request (I don't mind paying for impressions *again* and mailing them out, but...), I will sell these, go for the JH5's, and forget I ever knew this brand.

 

[K.I. Unlimited]

Update: thankfully Mr. Lopez has gotten back to me, so I will do another set of ear impressions and get a refit.
 
He deserves the benefit of doubt.

 

[Anaxilus]

Good to hear.  Hope it turns out well for everyone.

 

[K.I. Unlimited]

The fit now seems perfect. Same feeling of the customs being there but no pressure or anything. Now they stay on when I view 360degrees, (near) perfect seal.
 
The highs are still the best thing on these. Twinkling cute (for lack of a better word) highs...they sound slightly better across the frequency too.
 
I'll test them for noise isolation in public transport next.

 

[Vitor Teixeira]

How they do compare with the SM3?
They really are twice better ?

 

[Randius]

Quote:

The fit now seems perfect. Same feeling of the customs being there but no pressure or anything. Now they stay on when I view 360degrees, (near) perfect seal.
 
The highs are still the best thing on these. Twinkling cute (for lack of a better word) highs...they sound slightly better across the frequency too.
 
I'll test them for noise isolation in public transport next.

Nice that everything turned out fine. Do you have a chance to compare them with the SM3?

 

[K.I. Unlimited]

I don't own the SM3's...sorry.

 

[ethan961]

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