[NewEve]

Like many others on Head-Fi, I read countless of IEMs reviews…

One thing seem to characterise most IEMs reviews though… they rarely talk about tips.

Accordingly, they rarely talk about fit and the fact that a poor fit can turn any IEMs into complete lemons.

Worst of all… they rarely talk about how the tips impact the sound of a IEM — foam tips, for example in my case, or an absolute no go for both comfort and sonic reasons.

So, without talking about this at length… am I the only one who feels something is missing there?

Is there a reason this is oft omitted, or am I just weird?

 

[davidcotton]

Like many others on Head-Fi, I read countless of (C)IEMs reviews…

One thing seem to characterise most (C)IEMs reviews though… they rarely talk about tips.

Accordingly, they rarely talk about fit and the fact that a poor fit can turn any (C)IEMs into complete lemons.

Worst of all… they rarely talk about how the tips impact the sound of a (C)IEM — foam tips, for example in my case, or an absolute no go for both comfort and sonic reasons.

So, without talking about this at length… am I the only one who feels something is missing there?

Is there a reason this is oft omitted, or am I just weird?

The whole point of a ciem is that it is custom made to your ear using impressions that you have had taken at an audiologist. Therefore no tips are required. Where more confusion can come in is where some people use the term custom universals for the universals that look like customs but still use tips.

Hope that helps.

 

[NewEve]

The whole point of a ciem is that it is custom made to your ear using impressions that you have had taken at an audiologist. Therefore no tips are required. Where more confusion can come in is where some people use the term custom universals for the universals that look like customs but still use tips.

Hope that helps.

I did not know that and, therefore, was among the ones who thought one uses tips on CIEMs

I edited my original post in order for it to apply to IEMs only as I'm still really curious about that.

Thanks for the lesson

 

[baskingshark]

I did not know that and, therefore, was among the ones who thought one uses tips on CIEMs

I edited my original post in order for it to apply to IEMs only as I'm still really curious about that.

Thanks for the lesson

Yeah for universal IEMs, eartips are extremely important, and can make or break an IEM IMHO.
A lot of lay consumers will just use whatever stock tips are available OOTB and if the eartip is poor fitting, they'll go away thinking the IEM is lousy. Certain areas like bass are usually the first to be lost with a poorly fitting eartip. Case in point -> BLON BL-03, it has great reviews but the stock tips are quite bad for most folks. Change the tips to get a proper fit and then it sounds much better.

For us in the hobby, we have a collection of tips, and we try out different tips with a new IEM to get a better fit (we call this "tip rolling"), and this will give us a preferred sound signature, while reducing certain aspects we don't like eg more/less bass.

There's even custom ear tips for you to consider, which are quite pricey though. Or going to a CIEM for better fit/isolation.

I agree a lot of reviewers don't mention what tips they are using with their IEMs. But then again, cause we all have different ear anatomies, hearing health, preferred music genres/sound signatures, a eartip that is praised by someone for a particular IEM may not suit you. So do explore around with different silicone and foam tips and come to your own conclusion on what fits u the best.

 

[castleofargh]

Like many others on Head-Fi, I read countless of IEMs reviews…

One thing seem to characterise most IEMs reviews though… they rarely talk about tips.

Accordingly, they rarely talk about fit and the fact that a poor fit can turn any IEMs into complete lemons.

Worst of all… they rarely talk about how the tips impact the sound of a IEM — foam tips, for example in my case, or an absolute no go for both comfort and sonic reasons.

So, without talking about this at length… am I the only one who feels something is missing there?

Is there a reason this is oft omitted, or am I just weird?

I'd say because it's better not to say anything than to generalize about what might be completely user specific. Both the fit and the frequency response can change significantly with different tips, and while a few are almost universally recognized as horrible tips, the best stuff for you might not be the best stuff for me. And depending on ear canal size and shape, some foam tip might block the sound by being pushed over the nozzle, or happen to be the only tip that properly seals, of if some silicon tip does happen to perfectly seal your ear, then the foam is now giving slightly recessed subs in comparison. We will tend to lack a proper standard of reference.
Some biflange might seal tight at the first flange for you and leave a gap with only the seal achieved at the second flange for me. And while we'll both think they're doing the job well, that would change the volume of the ear canal "coupler", and as such would probably shift some resonance by some amount. Insertion depth is also likely to play a significant role on the signature, and again, a given tip might naturally go dip for one person but get stuck even before the first bent for someone else, or simply be longer than some other tip. All that plays a role. So while it's very easy to measure an IEM with many tips and show the variations, chances are that your own ear would show at least partially different results.

So it might be risky to declare that some tip sounds and fit a certain way based on the giant sample size of one guy doing his review. Or if they're like me, in the end they only found one tip that provided comfort and seal, and it's usually not any of those provided, so they do the review with that tip and don't even consider discussing something else because other tips just didn't work.
IMO, yes tips are pretty important in many ways, but as we all have our own ears, chances are that only you can tell what will work best for you and how. or as I said, when some IEMs come with horrible tips that please almost nobody, the dedicated thread will be full of requests for advice about replacement tips and you soon will see some trends for what seems to work better than the rest. I'd suggest to rely on that more than on a review where the guy didn't even spend a week with the IEM if he's some famous guy with a big turnover.

 

[Redcarmoose]

It’s crazy but fit IS everything. Meaning without perfect fit there is no real way to grasp what the IEM truly sounds like. You have a point in that reviewers want to come off as objective and truthful as they can. Why would mentioning a component which would completely undermine the factual ramifications of the sound section of their review be focused on?

As readers we mainly take into account that each review will in fact represent a single experience. With that we may look at other reviews which validate the perception of the first reviewer and so on. After time a nice over all consensus will emerge. Still ideas will vary from review to review. Though with some IEMs you will actually find the entire group on the same page in total agreement as to what style of tip affects the sound a certain way.

Fit is everything but still there are other factors which can also change the sound like cables and amps and source. With these ideas in mind we as readers are keeping a level of freedom of opinion, knowing that even small changes like the character of the ear canal.........and what the reviewers normal IEMs in use, the day before did........to create perception changes which will be noted in a review.

The final most dramatic aspect is that many think they have perfect fit in a review when they don’t. In such an arraignment quality will be wrongfully accessed. In these situations maybe an IEM will be described as not having enough bass, or too airy of highs. These reasons make it important to take every review with a grain of salt.

There is no replacement for trying stuff and owning stuff to really learn what it’s like. The correct tips can literally make a favorite IEM for years and years of ownership; just as the wrong tip can have someone miss-out on such a purchase.