[maverickronin]

Nobody does?  That's just completely f'n insane.  Way to stand behind your product.  Talk about planned obsolescence, worse than 80's Detroit...
 
I have my doubts about those remold services, but I haven't read both the threads.  I just don't like the idea though.  Do they have guarantees?  Sound quality, tuning, not breaking the drivers or crossovers?

 

[maverickronin]

I just thought of a much better analogy.  That's like if Beyer or Sennheiser refused to sell replacement pads for their 'phones and insisted you buy an entire new pair.  Sennheiser still makes mads for the HD414 and those came out 42 years ago.

 

[straden]

maybe 1964 does refits

 

[MaxwellDemon]

That really is surprising to hear. They don't do refitting even for a cost?
 
Well, I personally stand behind UM. But that's just because I live in HK. If I live somewhere further away, I'd probably rely on custom services of the country too.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

That really is surprising to hear. They don't do refitting even for a cost?
 
Well, I personally stand behind UM. But that's just because I live in HK. If I live somewhere further away, I'd probably rely on custom services of the country too.

 
I haven't officially heard back from Westone or UE yet, so who knows for sure.
 
If I lived there I'd probably go with one of UM's designs but I don't want to have to play ping pong across the Pacific if the fit isn't perfect the first time.  Insured international shipping gets pretty expensive.
 
Looks like I may have to look into building a pair of Thunderpants...

 

[ClieOS]

Remolding is not replacement parts. It requires you to send in a new impression, they have to take your old custom apart and redo the alignment then cast the new mold. Everything has to be done with hand so it requites a technician at least a day of work (that is if (s)he is only working on your IEM). It is actually the craftsmanship and time required that are the reason why most IEM companies do not do remolding for old products. It simple isn't making enough money to pay for the cost to keep technicians around. This is why smaller companies can do this type of work, because their companies are smaller and don't have that many bill to pay. Most custom IEM, like many other products, come with a standard one year warranty. If you don't think that is enough for you, don't buy it.
 
As for the HD414 example - Senn makes the pad because foam pad is dirt cheap and plenty fast to make, easy to overstock and still have a good demand from Grado user. If each pair of HD414 pad requires a technician a whole day to make and only a handful were sold each year, then the situation will be different. For example, Sennheiser doesn't make any part of what arguably one of the company best headphone, the HE90.

 

[maverickronin]

I know it takes some work, I'm not expecting them to do it for free you know...

 

[Hero Kid]

Can I ask how old you are? All this talk about growing out of them makes me think you must be young, in which case customs might not be worth it at this stage in your life as your ears aren't meant to be fully developed until you are ~21.
 
Personally I would go for JH audio over any of the other companies suggested for these reasons. Jerry sold UE to form JH Audio... I'm of the opinion that you would follow the man of genius behind the great products, not the brand. They also have a great and well earned reputation here, my limited experience with their customer service was outstanding. I think the refitting issue is a non one, countless users have had great success with 3rd party refitting companies such as Unique Melody, you should have no fears with using them - if you ever have to.
 
My $0.05 worth.

 

[MaxwellDemon]

Perhaps there is some misunderstandings in your questions, maverickronin. I was under the impression that any custom studios will do a refit and a driver tweak if you pay the right price. At least, I heard that UE would.

 

[JackKontney]

It's important to understand that the size/shape of the ear canal can change over time. Not just re maturation of young folk, but due to changes in your body, like gaining or losing a significant amount of weight.
 
If you buy a custom-fit suit, would you expect the maker to provide a "free refit" after you hit the gym and lost 40 pounds?

 

[goodvibes]

Quote:

It's important to understand that the size/shape of the ear canal can change over time. Not just re maturation of young folk, but due to changes in your body, like gaining or losing a significant amount of weight.
 
If you buy a custom-fit suit, would you expect the maker to provide a "free refit" after you hit the gym and lost 40 pounds?

Only if the suit cost too much for my means to begin with.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Can I ask how old you are? All this talk about growing out of them makes me think you must be young, in which case customs might not be worth it at this stage in your life as your ears aren't meant to be fully developed until you are ~21.

I'm not that young.  That's why I kept putting "outgrow" in quotes.  Its just that since your ears continue to grow and change, they will become useless at some point in the future.  I've got no idea when that's going to be, but since I was planning on selling off most of the rest of my gear in favor of one pair of customs I'm being rather conservative.  Almost all the rest of my gear will last indefinitely and can be sold for most of what I paid for it if the crap hits the fan and I need the money for something else.  As it stands, customs meet neither of those requirements, though I went in to this assuming they met one of them.
 
Quote:

It's important to understand that the size/shape of the ear canal can change over time. Not just re maturation of young folk, but due to changes in your body, like gaining or losing a significant amount of weight.
 
If you buy a custom-fit suit, would you expect the maker to provide a "free refit" after you hit the gym and lost 40 pounds?

No, not for free.  I would expect alterations for a reasonable fee though.  Where did I say I expected a free refit a few years down the line?  I know it involves work.  I gave JH a pass because they're new (probably no one's had time to "outgrow" their JH customs yet) and probably have more orders than they can fill since they're still small.  Those factors don't appear to apply to UE or Westone.
 
If UM or Fischer (which I don't entirely trust, perhaps irrationally) can make make a profit reverse engineering and reshelling other company's IEMs then the big players with access to proprietary information on their own designs have no excuse.  Take JH's cheapest model for example.  The JH5 sells for $399.  They must make some sort of profit on it or otherwise they wouldn't sell it at all.  Subtract the part, R&D, advertising, etc to get down to the labor costs and add the extra complexity in assembling a JH16 and a very generous (to JH) estimate will land you back at $399 and include some profit for JH.  Since no other manufacturer appears to refit their own customs, I would actually pay $399 to have a Jerry Harvey trained technician refit my JH16s every 3-4 years, but that option is completely unavailable to me.

 

[ClieOS]

Unless you are 12 yrs old, I doubt you will need refit every 2~3 years. If you have passed your thirty and keep more or less a constant body weight, then the chance of needing a refit within 7 year is pretty slim (chance is even slimmer if you are older). Before the time you really need a refit, It will be more likely that your IEM has broke down because of normal wear and tear and couldn't be repaired because the part needed is no longer in production.

 

[maverickronin]

I'm in my mid 20s right now.  How long do you think they'd last then if I don't gain/lose much weight?

 

[Anaxilus]

Isolation is a big deal for me which is why the UERM w/ soft acrylic and the ES5 are in the running.  The JH3A is a consideration only because of the DSP and active Xovers.  I ruled out the Sensaphonics and ACS silicones based on sonic preferences and other factors.  The other option is using earmuffs when I fly.